Chiricahuas: SW Backpacking

This year’s Southwest Backpacking trip takes place in the rugged Chiricahua Mountains of southern Arizona. The arid and imposing landscape has made the Chiricahuas a stronghold for humans and nonhumans throughout time. Ancient Indigenous cultures made their homes here, moving on in times of drought. The Apache came to dominate the region a few hundred years before Spanish settlement. In the 1800s, miners and settlers propelled the U.S. military to wage a protracted and brutal war on the Apaches, and the Chiricahuas formed the last refuge for leaders like Cochise and Geronimo. The steep mountains also shelter ecosystems of tremendous biodiversity and beauty, providing exceptional habitat for rare birds and mammals.

Water is rare in the Chiricahuas, and our week will be structured to prioritize access. We will combine short stretches of backpacking with stationary camping. Signal Fire will provide a reader with stories that testify to the diverse cultural history and contention of the Chiricahuas. We will examine the relatively recent establishment of a border here, and discuss the stories that have been told to make an imaginary line into an iron fence.

Participants: Callum Angus, Berkley Carnine, Lee House, Gregory Jones, Maya Land, Elena Levi, Kristin Link, Michelle Moncayo, Lauren Moran, Jeff Schwilk