Carr Peak in April

Kevin was not in a good mood this morning. Sadie woke him up at 2am and he couldn't get back to sleep. What he failed to mention was that he had had three pots of coffee the day before.

"Those weren't full pots of coffee" he explained.

I didn't want to egg him on any further as I had stepped into his danger zone. He almost bowed out of today's hike because of his mood. I kept quiet for the rest of the drive to the trailhead.

Male menopause is a bitch, I tell you, and Kevin is not one who takes responsibility when things go wrong.

Steve drove up shortly thereafter and all bad moods were forgotten. The two guys talked like old friends (their personalities are both laid-back). No one else had RSVPed for this hike so we drove off for the trailhead at 9am. I sat in the back of the truckbed since I still haven't located my SUV keys (to which Kevin replied with a few expletives).

The road up to the trailhead was snow and icefree. And once we got on the trail at 9:45am we still didn't encounter any snow until we hit the aspen grove. Kevin hiked at a better pace than expected. I was the pacer and stopped to wait for him at first. This is his first peak in a few years and wanted his return to peakbagging to be enjoyable.

There were enough small snow banks for Sadie to eat cool ice. She never drank any water. The drainage creek halfway up the trail was gushing, the first time in years, and I had a few unfiltered palmfuls of that cold snowmelt.

The aspens are just now breaking out with buds.

We made it to the top in two hours. We had stopped three times for Kevin to catch up, during which he always lit up a cigarette. There was little wind and the sky was a vibrant blue. A few new trees had toppled in the recent windstorms (more are due Wednesday). There was no snow on the lower peaks like Huachuca or Lyle. The still-naked trees made looking for any more trails rather easy.

It was the better of two weekend days for this hike. There weren't any wildflowers out but I expect them out for my May hike. We also didn't see much wildlife except for a few high-flying ravens and a few young lizards. On the return trip I picked up three plastic bottles and three aluminum cans, all hecho en Mexico. How many hikers had passed by that trash and didn't bother to clean it up?

There were no people up there, either until we descended. Two army guys with a three-year-old boy were going uphill. Later we met a solo German coming up at a fast pace, and near the trailhead a young family with two small children. Most of the people up Carr Canyon Road had pulled over along the lower waterfall to see the splendor there.

I wore my new Asolo boots for this hike and got hotspots along both big toes. That is not good. The good news is that Kevin's bad mood had subsided as soon as we hit the trail. Steve and Kevin get along very well and those two talked about work-related issues. Once we got back home there was no indication that Kevin had started today in an extremely foul disposition.

Snow?

I don't remember us getting snow this late in the year. We had a cold front blow through starting last night that brought us valley rains and mountain snow. The peaks outside our window are covered in new snow. Will some (most?) melt by Sunday when I attempt my first climb up Carr Peak for this year?

It barely got into the 50s today. I wore four layers of clothes while at work. My front yard is a beautiful display of reds and yellows as the flowers and shrubs are thriving from all this rain. I fed the wild birds more seed this morning since it was only in the 40s.

Slavin Gulch Mine Trail

The sky was a dark grey this morning when we got up and I could smell rain. It was cooler than yesterday. The cooler temperatures were nice after yesterday's heat. I grabbed a jacket before taking off with Kevin to meet the rest of the hiking group in the Dragoon Mountains northeast of Tombstone. Susan led a beautiful 7-mile hike up to the high mine. The overcast sky meant less stress on Sadie and more fun in the shade.

We met at the Middlemarch road intersection with Hwy 80 north of Tombstone at 8am. The town was still asleep when we drove through. Nine of us met here: Larry and Nancy Sultop (oldest members in the club), Rod and Caci, Steve, and Peter and Susan with their dog Angel.

The dogs got along MOST of the time. Angel is a hyper, ueberbarking dog but today she was mostly mellow. She's a roamer, too which means she's always off the trail ahead checking things out. Sadie, on the other hand, learned to stay close to either Kevin or me. She got kudos from the group until we got to our resting spot at the mine, and Sadie aggressively attacked Angel. Kevin had her tied up on a short rope after that, but I pardoned Sadie so she could follow Kevin up an old flume. She then quietly rested nearby under the shade of a mesquite tree.

Kevin and I both find the Dragoons a mystical place. This was once Apache country. I can still feel their spirits when I hike among the rocks or gaze into the cracked or agave-covered granite ledges. If this were my home I would have fought to the death to keep them for my children, too.

We had never been on this trail but had always wanted to explore it. The trail head is easy to find (it's where all the ATVers seem to flock) and the sign leads straight down the trail, up the rocky but narrow canyon that was once an old mining road. What I didn't realize is that the trail went quite a ways slowly into the mountains. Agaves, hedgehogs, oaks, mesquites, yuccas, pigmy pines and other shrubs line the trail here. One could rockhop among the cacti and get lost in the wilderness. The western slopes are perhaps the prettiest part of these rugged red rocks.

Starting elevation is around 4600' and ending elevation at the mine 6100'. We could see the San Pedro Valley and the Whetstone skyline.

Penstemons were in bloom here. "I've never seen it so green here!" said Rod. Other shrubs were also in bloom, some more fragrant than others. One shrub bloomed with white stinky blossoms that reminded me of a locker room. Before Nancy and Larry turned around, Nancy was giving Susan and me wildflower identifications; Nancy is a member of the Arizona wildflower association. Both Lary and Nancy, however, turned around at the mile mark and went home; the grade was just too much for their aging bones.

"They used to lead some of the most beautiful car camps" said Susan of the couple after the left. Nancy and Larry had joined the club when I was still in college the first time in the early 1980s. I'm quite humbled. They surely lead great hikes to all of Arizona's splendid corners.

We continued uphill along the rocky creek bed. There's still some water in the gulch but the big pools are drying up. The dogs enjoyed the cool water and there was enough there for them in the lower canyon, but once passed the highest pool there was just open rocky ledges and spiny shrubs. The sky was a drab grey-white which made for dull pictures, but there was no harsh shade in the close-ups. The only people we encountered were families in the pools. The higher trail was just for us.

I was proud of Kevin, he kept trekking on. At times the slow pace from some of the members irked him as he wanted to build up momentum going uphill, but he made up for that on the return hike when Steve, Kevin and I walked back without stopping the first three miles.

It was Peter's 68th birthday today (!) so after the hike we all gathered at a steakhouse in Tombstone. That town is not known for good restaurants among the locals but Susan wanted to treat Peter and we all joined in. Kevin was at first reluctant but I talked him into joining the rest of the group since we seldom have time for good fellowship. I ordered a cheeseburger that he and I both shared. When we finally got home he made himself a real meal of steak and went to bed, and Sadie was right behind him. She was exhausted as well but you wouldn't have noticed that while on the trail.

I wore all new gear today for this hike. The shirt and pants were comfy. What surprised me is that of the three pair of hiking boots I bought this month the most comfy so far have been the cheapest: the $39 Columbia Coremic Ridge made in Vietnam.

My gear has arrived!

I ordered an ultralight tent, sleeping bag and backpack from various online vendors across the country. Everything arrived today. My GoLite pack is smaller than expected, and Kevin's convinced I'm going to have a hard time packing everything I need for the trip.

My new Asolo FSN 70 GTX boots also arrived, I wore those tonight during the nightwalk with the dogs. They are lightweight but provide strong arch support. They were more comfy than expected.

The one thing that is going to make this hike a little uncomfy is the required 2-pound bear cannister. That thing is a deadweight! It doesn't have any accessories on it to tie it to the pack. I may end up having more stuff tied around my pack than expected.

"Send it back!" said Kevin as he walked off into the bedroon, unimpressed with my attempt to pack light.

I'm not going to send the pack back. I'm going to do my best to pack whatever I need in that pack.

Lazy weekend

School assignments kept me from taking the trails this weekend. Yesterday we drove down to Parker Canyon lake to meet with a trail maintenance crew but somehow missed the group. We drove around some forest roads, checking out trailhead parking areas, no luck. We ended up driving home by noon. I compensated last night by taking the dogs out for a star-lit walk through the neighborhood. I did the same tonight with a stronger breeze. I could see dust illuminate from my Petzl headlamp. Both nights it was in the 60s. No wonder my tomatoes are growing fast now.

Today we did a small hike up Hunter Canyon to the old homestead. The dogs got hot fast but there was plenty of water running in the canyon for the dogs to enjoy. I had gotten sick from drinking from my water bottle, to which Kevin asked

"Are you sure you didn't drink from the dogs' water bottle?" Had I poured back doggie drool into the bottle from a previous hike and had forgotten about the doggie germs? The bottle was full,though and void of any doggie floaties...still, the thought of drinking doggie drool is enough to make me queazy.

I felt fine by the time we got home.

None of my new camping gear has arrived yet but we continue to talk about upcoming hikes. Now Kevin wants to hike in the Gila Wilderness the weekend of Memorial Day and check out the Silver City Blues Festival. According to the sponsoring website, it's the largest blues festival in the Southwest.

It was a warm weekend. It hit the 80s both days but now a storm's brewing over southern California. I hope we get some of this rain. My front garden is looking so colorful and the area pink penstemons are in bloom. A neighborhood house has a yard full of pink penstemons and I got a stray seed from that growing nicely in my front yard. Those flowers are such long bloomers and invite the hummers.

My SAG support...Kevin!

Ever since I told Kevin about the JMT he's been my silent-then-vocal supporter of the trail. He went on-line a few days ago and bought 30 packs of Mountain Side backpacking meals, the kind we used to take along the AT. I didn't even ask him to do that.

"I'm looking forward to this as much as you are" he told me today, and is helping me plan this trip and go over all my gear. I got all the stuff from the AT days in the garage, but this time I'm going ultralight. I have to get all new stuff since my back isn't as strong as it once was. And as soon as school's out for summer I have to go through the garage, clean the damn thing, and get all the backpacking gear organized now that Kevin's back into our old hobby again.

It would be so cool if he could do this trip with me! He'd love the scenery.

He wants to do a mini-trip over Memorial Dayweekend in the White Mountains along the Blue River wilderness. That's a five-hour drive to the high ridge. It's also known for its bear and elk residents. But that's OK as I already bought a NPS-approved bear canister, which are required in Yosemite.

I went on-line and bought a Big Agnes Seedhouse SL one-man tent for $229 via Campmor.com. The tent weighs in at 2.14 pounds and offers a whopping 22 square feet of space. Most one-man tents offer 14-19 square feet at about the same weight.

Campmor.com out of Paramus, NJ is still my favorite "adult toy store for outfitters" as you can't beat their variety and prices, although I also discovered basegear.com out of Portland, OR that offers great stuff, too at very affordable prices.

Ironically the day before my JMT invite I ordered two dayhiking boots via sierratradingpost.com: the Columbia Coremic Ridge for a mere $39
($59 via Amazon.com!) and the Vasque Ranger Bungee Cord/Stormy sea boot for $59 ($99 at Amazon.com) Both arrived two days ago and I've worn both pair. Both are very breathable and comfortable, but I think I'm actually favoring the Columbias because they have a reinforced rubber toe. With the way I trip and fall those reinforced toes are a must for me. I'm tired of bruised and black toe nails!

I also bought a sleeping bag rated down to 32F: Mountain Hardwear UltraLamina 32 Sleeping Bag for $189 and 1.14 pounds. My Thermarest pad cost $124 but weighs a mere .9 ounces.

Darlene keeps sending me Facebook messages for great advice, most which I already follow. "Go on-line and join the JMT yahoo group, that place offers great advice!" she wrote me. So I did just that and read the posts on ultralight gear. Most people hike this alpine trail in trail runners. I need ankle support since I am a klutz.

Darlene sleeps in a bivy but I prefer a tent just for privacy. I'll be up with my headlamp writing in my travel journal. I also will take my Canon XS camera for those breathtaking landscape shots. This will mean added weight but it's one thing I'm unwilling to sacrifice. Who would want to hike the JMT and not have a decent camera with them!! Of course, the pics alone would keep me busy for weeks after the hike just editing and enhancing them for the web. That's a lot of work.

She also eats powder shakes for breakfast, straight out of a plastic bag. It's low weight but I doubt I could stand eating shakes for 3 meals a day.

"Keep your pack weight down to under 30 pounds" she says. I'd like to try 20 pounds, with the rest going for camera equipment. I've got some experimenting to do!

We are meeting in Yosemite on 13 July (our wedding anniversary!) and taking off at ohdarkthirty the next day with hiking permits in hand. I can't wait. Oooh. The only concern I have now is the rising cost of gasoline. It's already a $1 more than last year at this time. This weekend prices in town ranged from $1.78 to $1.83.

I'll start a separate blog for that hike. The trailhead is 900 miles from here, a long day drive if I were ambitious, but why drive through the eastern Sierra Nevadas at breakneck speed? I plan on stopping for four nights and taking my times. It's going to be an excuse to see Mono Lake finally. That place at sunset is a photographer's dream.

Oregon is out.

I must be a popular hiking companion (either that or my photographs are enticing) but now Darlene's asked me to hike the John Muir Trail with her this July. Darlene is an old high school friend, that is, we both went to Kaiserslautern American High School in Germany but at different times. She graduated in 1973, I followed five years later. We befriended each other 12 years ago via a high school reunion internet community and have been exchanging hiking reports ever since.

Last fall she invited me to hike with her up Kilimanjaro. I told her I couldn't make it in August. And besides, the air fare alone would be outside my budget.

I haven't backpacked since my days in New Jersey along the Appalachian Trail (AT), but the JMT is an experience I always wanted to do.

I have to research this trail some more as it comes as a bit of a surprise to me, but I remember years ago telling Darlene that I would love to do the JMT someday with her. Perhaps that day is this July.

It would be a two-week adventure and it's only the southern half, from Yosemite down to Independence. The week after this trip school starts up again.

Oh, this is so tempting. I've always wanted to experience the rugged wilderness of California. I've hiked in the mountains there on day trips, but nothing worth writing Backpacker Magazine about. Now is the time. And although I hadn't planned on this for this summer, if I don't do this trail this summer I may never make it back up there.

I'll have to postpone Oregon for another time, though as it looks like I'll be running out of time for neat stuff to do. I've got Arches National Park for 21 May, Humphrey's Peak over the July 4th holiday and now the JMT.

Decisions, decisions...and I'd have to do this hike without Sadie. She's going to go nucking futs for the few weeks I'm gone.

Lutz Canyon

Today was the big day to hike up Lutz Canyon, one of the steepest trail in the Huachucas that crawls 3.5 miles to the Crest Trail. I hadn't been up this trail since that mild January day last year with all three dogs, on my way up to Miller peak. I had forgotten how steep it is for someone still getting back into shape.

We didn't make it very far. Kevin had a hard time getting his MoJo. I felt dry-mouthed at first, but after that first 20-minute break a mile up, felt better. The longer we hiked, the easier it got for me, despite two rest stops and smoke breaks for Kevin.

"Is it like this the entire trail?" asked Kevin about the steep grade.
"It gets worse after the Upper Bear Mine" I told him. Facing steep uphill grades is pretty standard when hiking up mountains! He was a little irritated with me for taking a lot of pictures of him, but his irritation was more because he didn't feel strong enough today to hike long or steeply.

Lutz Canyon is a pretty trail but definitely not a trail for the casual, out-of-shape hiker. The canyon is a narrow, steep side canyon of the more wider Ash Canyon. There is more water here. The lower section up to the lower mine (now shut) is shaded by mature oaks. The old mining trail is quite obvious here as it is deeply rutted and erosion over the years has exposed the tree roots along the trail by a good three feet. It wouldn't take much of a landslide to wipe away the landscape. Fallen rocks have also added to the difficulty of this trail as getting good footing at times is treacherous.

The creek below was running and the dogs took advantage of the added refreshment. Sara found every opportunity to slide downhill to the cascading waters. We were higher than Nipple Peak--which never left our view--and could see the distant mountains of Mexico. I love the vista into Mexico. One of these days I'm going to make it into the heart of that country.

We made it to the lower mine by noon (!) and rested here. The vistas were splendid enough, with Highway 92 and the valley to our east, distant Mexico to our south, and the peaks behind us. I could have gone higher but Kevin's legs were done. Oh well, at least we got a work-out. I'm just happy that Kevin wants to get back into shape. We probably did four miles r/t: two hours up (!) and an hour down and 30 minutes resting. We never made it to the snowline, but from our vantage point I couldn't see any snow at all higher up.

We met a mother-son-friend trio on the way down. Originally from Naples, NY, the son now lives in Tucson. He was taking his mom on a weekend hike to Upper Bear Mine. He normally hikes around the Old Pueblo but there's still quite a bit of snow in the higher peaks there. They were slow, but at least they were outdoors! If only my own kids could get in touch with nature, I'd be happy. Erin is still too much of a party girl and Eric is too much into finding himself.

It was 77F when we got home at 2:30pm. I may just hike this trail again to Miller peak in two weeks. By then the thick snow layer along the Crest Trail should be passable. I'll open it up to the club, but doubt anyone would be interested.

Donna invited me to a car camp in Moab, Utah in late May with a Tucson meet-up group. I joined. Now I'm going to have to get ready for a week in southern Utah the week after school gets out. YAY! The dogs will have to stay at home, though as the group's hiking in Arches National Park. But oooh do I love southern Utah and those red rocks.

An hour after coming home I read about the 7.2 earthquake in Baja, Mexico. People in Los Angeles, Yuma, Phoenix and Las Vegas felt the 30-second temblor, but we here on the border didn't. A few hours later Malibu had a 4.1 temblor. Looks like the entire Pacific plate is cracking open.

http://azstarnet.com/news/state-and-regional/article_0b380013-ce0f-5b2f-a7dc-c6e7c48f5445.html

San Pedro River

I spent the morning working on a biology exam but needed a break after noon. Mid afternoon was time for me to get out of the house, with the dogs, and drive down to Palominas. I wanted to photograph the wildflowers that grow so thickly near the Palominas church. I had to drive Kevin's truck because I couldn't find the keys to my own.

Try driving a pick-up with three large dogs in the cab!

There were no wildflowers except isolated batches of poppies, so I walked around the old Trading Post restaurant, closed for almost a year and barely standing. The inside looked like an abandoned storage shed. The windows were dirty and the front sign barely visible from the road. One strike of lightning and that building would go up in flames.

The dogs were antsy to get out so I drove another mile to the river where we did a quick half-mile loop along the riverbed. I hadn't been to the river at all this year and wanted the dogs to have some fun.

The river (Easterners would call this a "Creek") wasn't nearly as high as I had expected. In fact, it looked pretty low. Only the first two feet from the water were still muddy. Cottonwoods were already leaved out and other shrubs were budding. The noxious tent caterpillars were also already spinning their webs high in the trees.

I spotted a Vermilion flycatcher and a sheen green beetle. A falcon flew overhead. Plastic bottles littered the riverbed in spots, left over from illegals crossing over from Mexico.

Sara ran into the water several times. Sadie and then Sammy ventured in. They sniffed the grass, dug around in the muddy sand, and Sara rolled around in some scented weeds. On the drive home Sara sat in the back because she was still too wet for the carpeted interior of Kevin's cigarette-stinking truck.

The sun was bright out today, gone is the storm from Thursday. It hit 76F with little wind.

Dead Mexican

The US Border Patrol found a dead Mexican near Ash Canyon on Thursday. Agents say the man had been dead for 24-48 hours.

When I told Kevin this news he replied "I was looking for one last week" when I told them that whenever I go to Ash Canyon I always feel I'll come across a dead body (or drugs).

Another dead Mexican was found the next day in town. It's a bit disconcerting to know there are people dying in the mountains so close to home.

Things are getting weird around here. The death of rancher Krentz has opened a lot of eyes, as officials say the killer most likely was a scout for the drug cartels in Mexico out looking for US law enforcement.

http://www.svherald.com/content/news/2010/04/02/body-thought-be-illegal-immigrant

http://azstarnet.com/news/local/border/article_4c3c0075-c428-5ede-9a2a-a63c611efa6d.html