Mileage; 2645
We left Grand Canyon relatively early and set out across some beautiful countryside most of which was National Forest land, particularly cool were the Saguaro cactus like toy soldiers spread
across the scrub land. Driving into the park was interesting with five stream crossings.Cochise Stronghold named after "Chief Cochise the greatest of Apache warriors who died on June 8, 1874 in his favorite stronghold. Interred secretly by his followers the exact place of his burial was known only to one white man - his blood brother Thomas J. Jeffords." When you stand among the craggy rock laden
terrain you can just imagine why why it would be a great place to hold up and defend yourself against an attacker.The morning camping routine is setting in, the ritual hiss of the cook stove and the intoxicating smell of coffee wafting over the camp is pure bliss. The sun is rising and sparkling through the Juniper trees, doves are cooing and there is a small stream trickling away near our site. The air is chilly 46 degrees, but not cold (especially after last night). We packed up our camp this morning intending to leave early, but were drawn to stay and explore the rocky trails and towering boulders that rise above us and all around us. The whole place is various shades of green, brown and orange. Even the giant rocks have a green glow from the lichen.
We were enamored with Cochise Stronghold, even the plants and animals have fantastic and exotic names that are unfamiliar to us like: The turpentine bush, beargrass, Alligator Juniper,
Shin Dagger, Desert Spoon, Javalinas (wild pigs), Kuatamunde (some sort of bear?) and the Ring tailed Cat. It is a shame that this campground is actually closed. Although there are pit toilets, there is no running water we had to bring our own. We are definitely planning on coming back to this area to climb and explore further, it was simply magical.
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