January 20, 2007 - It was a fairly cloudy morning in
Tucson and according to the weather forecast, there was a chance for snow in Cochise County
in the region of Chiricahua National Monument.
Still, Joel and I were determined to drive there and adjacent are a couple of photos of
snow covering the highway. This is located south of the town of Dos Cabezas, AZ.
The road had obviously not been plowed. Joel stopped his white Ford Mustang
right on the highway to snap photos with me. Cochise County
is higher in elevation and has a milder climate than Phoenix and Tucson, but snowfall in southeast Arizona
is still a remarkable event!
As we were leaving Chiricahua National Monument about two hours later,
we spotted a southern Arizona plow truck. Goodness! I don't think anyone in this part of the state knew these even existed! :p)
No worries about the chilly weather though, for it was 58 degrees when we returned to Tucson in the early afternoon.
Chiricahua National Monument
In many respects, the photo on this page were a great disappointment, for we
arrived at the Chiricahua National Monument in the morning and
learned much of the park was closed. We were not charged admission and were only able
to drive to the visitor center, which consisted of the first 20% of the park.
We were disappointed, but we did out best to enjoy the place.
Visibility was poor and some of the best scenery for
jutted rocks, canyons and mountain views were inaccessible to us,
so I snapped a photo of the brochure. It looks so beautiful! No doubt
I will be back during sunny skies! :)
At the visitor center, the beginning of the Lower Rhyolite Trail was covered in snow.
I came across this snowy yucca and had just poked my head against one of it's thorny leaves. Ouch!
One more photo of my buddy Joel. This guy is an Arizona native and true desert rat ... he
definitely was not used to snow!
