Spring Break 2025 - Chaco Canyon, Canyon De Chelly, Chiricahua NM, Saguaro NP, Billingsleys, etc.

Wow, what a great Spring Break we had!  We left Sunday afternoon after Stake Conference and drove to Ross and Lerlyn's in Aztec, NM.  We had such a beautiful drive with amazing scenery getting there.  Monday morning Ross, Paul and I went over to Chaco Canyon and had a great day walking among the ancient ruins there.  It was a bumpy drive for the last 13 miles of dirt road to get there, but so worth it.  (Lerlyn didn't feel up to the hiking and stayed home and made a wonderful dinner for us to come home to.)  We spent another night with them visiting and playing games and having a great time.  

Tuesday morning we left to head over to Canyon De Chelly.  It was another scenic drive to get there and then we spent an awesome day visiting all of the overlooks into the canyon.  You can't go into the canyon itself without hiring a guide, but there was a great young guy at the Visitor's Center that answered many questions for us both times we stopped there.  It was perfect weather again for this wonderful day. That afternoon we drove over to Pine Top-Lakeside where we spent the night.  We had some rain and snow here and there in the driving and overnights, but all of our daytime weather was just perfect for our outdoor activities.  

Wednesday morning left and we drove over to Chiricahua National Monument via the Salt River Canyon, etc. We arrived with a few hours of afternoon left to start our activities there.  We explored the Faraway Ranch section of it, watched the movie at the Visitor's Center, drove the loop drive and checked out the stops along the way, had a picnic, and hiked the short Sugar Loaf Mountain Trail and the Massai Point Nature Trail. Then it was time to head to our little studio/extended-stay motel in Willcox, which is about 40 minutes from the park.  

On Thursday we got an early start arriving at the park before the Visitor's Center opened to do the hike from there to the Heart of the Rocks Loop and return trail which ended up being about 8 miles round trip.  It was a beautiful hike with lots of amazing work done by the CCC including several very long stone stairways.  It was perfect weather.  It started out in the Lower Rhyolite Canyon Trail in the lower canyon forest and then climbed to upper Rhyolite Canyon, Sarah Deming Canyon and then to the top of the ridge where it met the Big Balanced Rock short trail and then over to Heart of the Rocks Loop that has many of the most unusual named rock formations.  It was classed as a strenuous hike, but didn't really feel like it was.  I didn't breathe hard or break a sweat because the trail was very gradual and the weather was not hot.  The rock formations that you could view along the way and then be right among at the top were so crazy cool!  Loved the whole thing.  On the way down I just glimpsed the long, dark tail of a Coati Mundi that was crossing the trail in front of us.  I sure wish I had seen the rest of it! When we got back from the hike we had a picnic by the Visitor's Center.  The only thing I was sad about was that they didn't have a park bag I could buy.  Both Chaco Canyon and Canyon De Chelly had them.  Then it was time to head back to Willcox for the night.  

Friday morning it was time to get back on the road and start the trip home. Along the way we stopped off at the Saguaro NP West Mountain Unit.  It was a quick stop, but really awesome place...maybe even better than the East one.  Then we drove over to Florence AZ to see John and Marge Billingsley.  Paul had been in the bishopric with John back in Farmington NM years ago.  They are wonderful people.  John and I had connected on Facebook a few years ago and he had invited us to stop by if we were ever down their way.  It is good that we did because John was just starting hospice care the day we came.  He was not in good shape, but it was so good to see them both.  After that we tried to take one scenic route through a canyon that ended up turning to dirt quite a ways in, so we had to turn around.  It was a really beautiful canyon with a crazy little town (Tortilla Flat) and a beautiful lake.  We found a good picnic spot along the way back and then went a different way to get to Chino Valley, our stop for that night. It snowed there that night. 

Saturday we planned to go home through Flagstaff and Jacob Lake, but when we got to the turn for Flagstaff the road was closed due to snow, so we rerouted to go through Page instead.  We enjoyed more beautiful scenery and got home about 2:30. We put things away and then headed up to take Bean to dinner in Cedar City.  After dinner we drove up the mountain a ways to see the snow. It was a nice time.  The whole trip turned out very well.  Our car is very in need of a wash due to the rain and snow, but it did a great job and we got wonderful gas mileage.  Happy Spring Break 2025!  It was a BLAST!!!