Monday, January 30, 2006

My favorite place on earth is a gorgeous little corner of Southeast Arizona called Chiracahua National Park. When you think of majestic canyons, the obvious one to consider in the USA is the Grand one, whose magnificence can not be overstated. However, when you drive into the Chiracahua NP, there is an incredibly intimate feeling about this canyon. To get there from Tucson, you must drive about an hour on bad dirt road, and that time may be used constructively to clear your head of all the spirit-killing appurtenances of civilization. I went in the dead of winter, and saw fewer than 20 people the entire time I was in the park. The road to the heart of the canyon follows its deepest crevice along a stream. Looking up either side of the canyon walls, you are treated to breathtaking vistas of hundred-ton boulders balancing on pinnacles just inches wide. Everything seems deliberately placed with a delicacy that belies the gravity of the ornamentation. Even in freezing temperatures, the trees are so aromatic that you feel you've never smelled clean fresh air before in your life, and if you take the time to notice, you'll see some species of birds for the first time. This is a place of profound beauty, and while I'd like to keep it a secret, I wish everyone could go there at least once. This is a sacred place.

8 comments:

Knight Of The Storms said...

wow,

sounds great, which I was closer so i can visit

Ariel said...

I was driving through AZ and saw a sign for that. The daemon I was married to at that time was always too busy to stop and smell the roses...

Anonymous said...

Wow. It looks grea. I sure do love your blog name!

Anonymous said...

Great place.

phlegmfatale said...

Thanks, knight - from your blog it looks like you're a Yugoslavian transplant to Malta - I understand there is a particularly impressive canyon area in the former Yugoslavia - tell us about it?

Ariel - sounds like the daemon is a past-tense relationship, I hope? Good for you. Then it will be therapeutic for you next time you're in Tucson to veer off the road to see the majestic sights. Oh, and if you only have a few days in the area, you MUST go to the Saguaro National Forest which is East of Tucson. There's another west of town, but it's not quite as impressive. If you have time.

Thanks LBugButt - I thought the name said so much with so few words! Tee hee. You're welcome here anytime.

Oh, and LBB, Becky and Ariel- you will bless the day you saw Chiracahua. I promise.

Knight Of The Storms said...

yea I presume u ve seen the diary from the rafting trip on my blog- if you didnt its in the July entries from the last year, there are some cool photos,
its the River Tara Canyon in Montenegro, second deepest canyon in the world, here are few links

http://www.durmitorcg.com/rafting_eng.php
now its safe forever, there were plans to build the power plant there but the free peoples of middle earth have managed to defeat Sauron ( for nice pics click on the Tara gallery):

http://www.durmitorcg.com/taraeng/buk_bijela.php



if anyone wants to visit feel free to contact me I will be more than happy to to the right people,
next summer I am definitely going back, once you taste that water it stays in your blood forever

phlegmfatale said...

Wow. Thanks for the links, Knight. The photos are spectacular - and the winter Tara pics linked to one of those pages are breathtaking as well. Wish a trip to Montenegro were in my near future.

phlegmfatale said...

You should do, ben heller. Chiracahua goes to 11.