Beauty Trumps Mishap at Chiricahua

Nothing extraordinary happened on this last trip to Southern Arizona. I didn’t get lost or run out of gas or make a spectacle of myself in restaurants or get stung by rage-filled insects. (For more of this kind of fun see the “mishaps” tag on the right.) I also didn’t meet any interesting people, and by interesting, I mean crazy. And by didn’t meet, I mean, I was greatly disappointed.

Though when I was hiking at Chiricahua, my new favorite National Park, I did talk for too long and with too much exuberance to strangers I met on the trail, all the while ignoring their nervous laughter and ginger attempts to get around me without getting too close. Internet, I was a little lonely on this trip, and I’m afraid it showed. And by showed, I mean scared people.

I was lonely and lacking in mishaps, so I did what any normal person would do: I fantasized about all the things that could go wrong. For example, I wondered what would happen if I stepped on that patch of ice at just the wrong angle and went tumbling over the edge of the narrow trail into the canyon. I pictured myself screaming my way down and wondering which bones I’d break – an arm? A leg? My neck? I mean, how far do you have to tumble to break that?

It’s the same thought process I have when I’m driving fast and coming around a curve and I wonder, what if I don’t turn? What if I hold the steering wheel steady and go flying off the edge, doing my own solo Thelma and Louise? What would that feel like? What would I be thinking just before I hit? Would I regret it? And most importantly, would I look as fetching as Thelma and/or Louise did just before they plummeted?

Ha ha! I don’t really think that way. Much.

So, natural beauty. There’s enough of that at Chiricahua to keep you from your own destructive fantasies. Also, rocks. Lots of gorgeous rocks. Here’s a sampling:

chiricahua national park arizona

Cochise Sleeping

chiricahua national park arizona

Homer Simpson Gaping

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Seriously, why do all these rocks look like people?

chiricahua national park arizona

Rocks at Rest

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If I’d stood under that I might have gotten my mishap after all.

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Line and Curve

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On the way to the Grotto.

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On the trail after the frightened people have run away.

chiricahua national park arizona

Sadness

chiricahua national park arizona

And beauty.

chiricahua national park arizona

Until then.

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4 Comments

  1. Manisha at 12:49 am #

    The photos are gorgeous and btw, I always see faces in the rocks no matter where I am. About the imagining what would or could happen if…I think it’s about being prepared if that crazy thing ever did happen. At least that’s what I tell myself when I imagine a terrible thing happening to me or my family – at least I’d thought ahead about what to do if that one in a quadrillion thing happen to happen. OK, so maybe I’m just crazy. 😉
    Manisha recently posted…attitude of gratitudeMy Profile

    • deonne at 2:50 pm #

      Manisha – Thanks for the kind words and commiseration. We’re kindred crazies, ha.

  2. Deborah Dash at 5:00 am #

    Those are really pretty. 🙂

    • deonne at 1:03 pm #

      Deborah – Yes, I love that park. You’ll have to check it out!

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