Hiking in the Chiricahua National Monument
April, 2006
In the late 1800s the Chiricahua Mountains were the home of the Chiricahua Apaches and their chiefs Cochise and Geronimo. The rock formations are compressed volcanic ash from a volcano that erupted some 25 million years ago, displacing more than 100 cubic miles of material with an explosion 1000 times the force of the Mt. St. Helens eruption, creating a caldera (volcanic crater) 13 miles in diameter and spreading a 2000-foot deep layer of volcanic ash. Water and ice have eroded much of the compressed ash, leaving thousands of these formations.
The "Organ Pipe" Rock Formation
Eileen in a Grotto Formation
Panorama with Thousands of Rock Pillars
The Mark & Eileen Home Page