The Chiricahuas With Friends

Took our good friends Mark and Judy to the Chiricahua National Monument an hour and a half northeast of here yesterday for a hike through Echo Canyon and Massai Point. Beautiful weather and warm temps.

The Chiricahuas were formed ten to fifteen million years ago, when tectonic plates spread and subducted, lifting up mountains and dropping valleys, while erosion formed the canyons and exposed the rock. The rock was then eroded by wind, rain, ice, and sun. And finally, lichen (the green that covers many rock faces), which contains a mild acid that eats into the rock, across the expanse of geologic time, forms these amazing structures.

Judy's glam shot.

Me, Patty, and Judy.

Mark and Judy, glad for a respite from the Iowa cold.