Chiricahua National Monument & Kitt Peak National Observatory

Here, for the nominal cost of achy knees and sore feet, I present to you the Chiricahua National Monument. This area was once referred to, by the Chiricahua Apache Indians, as the “Land of Standing Up Rocks”. The Apaches were believed to have been in the area nearly 100 years before Columbus made his first visit. Cochise and Geronimo roamed throughout the surrounding area, resisting the tide of the American pioneers. The Apaches’ resistance to foreign invaders had been going on since the Spanish first showed up in the 1500’s. The Chiricahua finally surrendered in 1886 and were ultimately resettled on reservations in New Mexico and Oklahoma.

The National Monument status was granted in 1924. However, the formations began 27 million years ago following massive volcanic eruptions which deposited ash thousands of feet thick and covering more than 1,200 square miles. A few (million) years later, following major uplifts and significant erosion, the formations took shape. And what amazing shapes they took.

Ja Hu Stafford and his young wife Pauline (I don’t know if young means 12 or 20) built this cabin in 1880. They were some of the early settlers and were probably lucky to have survived the Apaches. In 1888 they were joined by the Erickson’s, a Swedish immigrant couple. By 1917, the Erickson children had bought out the Stafford children and turned the working cattle ranch into a guest ranch (which entertained guests until 1973).

The Erickson's called the ranch "Faraway Ranch", and for good reason, it was far away from everything (and still is). This triangle probably is not the one that called guests to dinner, but it does frame one of the great views from the ranch house. And now on to
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Kitt Peak National Observatory

Located atop the 6,875 feet high Kitt Peak, above the Sonoran Desert and only 60 miles from downtown Tucson, sits Kitt Peak National Observatory. It is home to a collection of 23 optical telescopes and 2 radio telescopes. The largest of the optical telescopes has a focusing mirror over 8 meters across (more than 25 feet) and the cradle weighs over 275 tons (be warned, I am recalling that from memory…).

One of those 23 is a telescopes designed for solar observation. It is actually 3 telescopes in one building and at one time they were the three largest solar telescopes in the world. The largest of the 3 is still the world’s largest but the two smaller telescopes have lost their 2nd and 3rd place. A most amazing structure, it stands over 100 feet tall and that angled shaft on the right goes more than 200 feet deep into the mountain. It does its magic with mirrors (no smoke, that would reduce the clarity of the images it produces) as do all the optical telescopes on the peak.

The solar telescope was in use by a group from Goddard Space Center during our visit. The bearded gentleman came out and explained to us what they were attempting to do. He said they were having trouble adjusting their instrumentation to work correctly with the telescope. He implied the final adjustment might be made with one of the boots he was currently wearing (a form of correction to pesky electronic equipment I was familiar with). The rest of what he said about their experiment went right over my head.