On our way to the Gila Wilderness we planned to break up the drive by camping at the tiny City of Rocks State Park. The forecast was for a bit of rain and it was certainly stormy and windy by the time we arrived. Just in case, we chose a campsite beneath a natural rock arch with the hope that it provided some semblance of shelter. Sure enough a couple hours after we had the tent set up we had our first wave of the storm hit us. Heavy winds slammed rain horizontally into our tent which was struggling to stay upright. Sheets of water slid over the ground and under the tent such that much of the floor was soaked. Thunderous lightning ripped directly overhead. It was extremely intense. During a short break in the storm I got out, assessed the damage, used every stake we had to sturdy the tent and then quickly crawled back into the warm sleeping bag. Although other storms hit us, ear plugs helped mute them and we managed to sleep.
In the morning we spent a little time walking around, through and on top of the ignimbrite rock spires. Although reminiscent of Joshua Tree, most spires are less than 20-30 ft high and the boulder garden is not extensive at all. It's possible to walk from one side to the other in about a minute. Virtually the whole place is a campground which kind of takes away from the exploration of it but it does mean there are some very neat campsites tucked between the boulders. It was an interesting place worth visiting and from the look of it had some pretty decent bouldering. After our brief survey, we continued on to the Gila.
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