Sunday, February 27, 2011

Ash Canyon in the snow

I woke up to snow this morning. By 10am it had all melted. Two hours later another storm front moved in that brought us more flurries. I was busy with Spanish homework but had to get out and play. By 2:40pm I had all three dogs anxiously riding with me to the Ash Canyon trailhead where we powerhiked up to the ridgeline near Nipple Peak.

I don't think I have ever hiked in these mountains during a snowstorm. I had been up Nipple Peak after a snowstorm last year, but never during an on-going storm front. The rain we were supposed to get today never materialized, and this front seemed to linger over Tucson longer than predicted.

And it was cold up there! Luckily there were no gusts of wind, it was only gently flurrying, and I could feel sweat build up underneath my layers of fleece and polypro.

The mountains were shrouded in storm clouds and I feared getting stuck in a potential blinding storm. I had no watch and my cell phone had died on me, so had something happened to me I would have been at the mercy of the Border Patrol. I thus had little time to linger anywhere and this hike truly was a quick up-and-back-down hike. The four-mile hike took me 90 minutes. It flurried only gently in the mountains, but the dark sky always warned me to hurry up. I wasn't about to try my luck with Mother Nature.

The lower elevations were muddy, but shortly after leaving the trailhead and ascending up the rocky jeep trail, snow quickly accumulated. It was around three inches deep at the start, but grew to 4-6 inches at the ridgeline. My dayhikers and jeans were wet by the time this was all over.

The dogs, especially cold-loving Sara, had fun. They romped around in the snow, bit into the white stuff, and frolicked and pranced around me. I didn't need to worry about a backpack or water as they had what they needed right on the trail.




We were the first ones on the ridge today, breaking the white, pristine fresh snow with our clumsy footprints. The views in all directions were hues of greys and whites. We didn't come across anyone until we almost made it to the trailhead, where four Bud-drinking adults and a tobagan-holding boy were trying to slide down the steep trail. If they planned on sliding down that rocky trail they needed to get higher up in elevation!

I made it back to the truck at 4:07pm, just shy of 90 minutes. This was a nice-enough and fast workout and more fun than the three-mile power walks I've been doing lately. I don't feel like I benefit from walking unless I do at least three brisk miles.

I am so grateful to be able to have the mountains so close for a quick hike like today. I truly needed the exercise after several weeks of sequestered studies.

I was chilled and hungry when I got back, and by 5:30pm Kevin had a roast beef ready.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

East Hunter Canyon Road

I did not do any major hiking this weekend due to a sleuth of assignments I needed to finish. This was hard on me, as the weather this weekend was back to its unusual warmth. It nearly hit 80F this afternoon, and instead of reading the last few acts of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" I took all three dogs with me to walk the entire three-mile loop off East Hunter Canyon Road. The trailhead is just three miles from my house.

I hadn't been up this road in I believe a month. There were a few target shooters in the side trails, as usual, but no one off the main trail. It's these shooters that I am afraid of, and take the dogs off the road to get away from the sounds.

All three were delighted to get outside. I walked a pleasant pace, just wearing a t-shirt and my jeans and carrying my Canon S90 with me. The sun was just dipping below Miller peak, which created a bit of a haze in the west, but otherwise the warmth, the lack of any cool wind, made me realize how much I long for spring to pop up in the high desert.

It's been so warm lately that the honeybees are up from their hibernation and eating the miniscule pollen they are finding in my birdfeeder. The rosemary bush, which normally has its blue flowers available for the bees, all died off in the coldsnap from ten days ago.

I stopped briefly at "Site Boston," the sycamore-shrouded campsite popular with target shooters. Unfortunately, many shooters shoot at the live oaks instead of targets they bring, and to my horror discovered another downed oak tree that had collapsed from the bulletholed wood. How long the tree had layed there I do not know, but its leaves were already dry. Broken glass from beer bottles and plastic also lay around. Drunken rednecks had once again shot up my forest.

Now shooters are aiming at the next oak to kill off, as the neighboring young tree is showing signs of smallarms damage. A forest ranger had told me that shooting at live trees was against Forest Service rules. Apparently shooters are either not aware of this, or the Forest Service is unable to enforce their laws. Either way, this dead oak is the second tree to fall in this area in the last two years. At this rate Site Boston will be nothing but a barren hole along a foothill.

I tried not to let the dead tree annoy me. We resumed our loop hike first walking in a northerly direction before the trail curved west and then turned sharply east again, returning back to Site Boston and our final stretch.

I briefly took the dogs down an illegal trail to get away from incoming vehicles. It was also shadier there.

This entire adventure took no more than 70 minutes. It's not going to replace any awesome hikes I could have done this weekend, but it's better than nothing. We are expecting three more days of springlike warmth before another cold front hits us from California

Saturday, February 5, 2011

San Pedro River Trail to the International Border

Distance: 10.3 miles
Time: 5 hours
Level ground around 4400'

Today's hike down to the border was a much-needed walk for me, after the emotional week I had with pets, work and classwork. The cold snap cleared out for a lovely day in the upper 50s today, with only a slight breeze.

Twelve people showed up for this. Twelve people! Suddenly the hikers are joining me on the local hikes, and I'm enjoying the fresh, spunky blood. Cheryl, Frank, Big Steve, Paul, Rod and Cassie, Eric, Marlene, Andrea, Michael, Carol and I (with Sadie, of course) joined me for breakfast at the Morning Star Cafe in Palominas at 8am. Our meals were promptly served and we still were able to leave at the scheduled time of 8:30am for the trailhead.

I discovered that the BLM has moved the trailhead parking since the last time I had done this trail with Kevin over a year ago. The old road to the trail off Highway 92 (one mile east of the San Pedro River) is now gated shut and we went under the gate to get to the trailhead .6 miles away. I learned after the hike that we could have parked just .2 miles further south on the dirt road, walked another .4 miles and made it to the trailhead. A new restroom is now at the expanded parking area. There's also a shaded picnic table. The actual trail hasn't been diverted and
still crosses a wide wash before gaining some high ground on more compact soil. Lots of dead tumble weed and thorny brush line the old jeep trail here, though.


We were a spunky bunch today. Many had never gone to the border and the excitement of seeing the steel eyesore got some of the new members silly. A border patrol agent saw us walk down to the border, I let him know what our intentions were (he wanted to make sure we didn't trigger off any sensors) Some were fun to watch as they "pretended" to climb the border and run across the field into the shallow ditches, as many illegals are photographed doing. I had to remind some that even pretending to climb the fence was considered tresspassing.

The walk to the border on the trail is rather boring but the company today was lively. On a hot day this exposed section is dry and redundant, with the actual river at times over a mile away. The exposed section makes this rather safe for the day hikers (this trail is only open during the day as per USBP and BLM rules) as any drug or human smugglers would prefer the cover of the sycamore-canopied river instead.

I kept going from fast to slow groups to mingle with everyone. There were several new hikers today I wanted to get to know, and we generally walked at the same pace.

We made it to the border at 11:30am. The majority wanted to walk another .5 mile down to the river to see the border fence there. I gave in but reminded everyone that that only added more miles to the grand total hike. An eight mile trail turned into a 10.3-mile trail and the new trailhead parking adds .4 mile either way anyway, making this a new 8.8 mile stretch.

There isn't much to see along the border. An old customs house remains as several abandoned homes line a hilltop on the Mexican side, but there is not much life here. Heavy rows of dead tumbleweed jam up against the Mexican side of the fence ("That's one thing that can't get across!" said Eric) A lone Mexican rancher worked on some pipes onthe southern side of the border with his two barking dogs. He was a bit too far for me to start a conversation with, but I was tempted. He didn't seem too interested in us Gringos anyway and worked his task as if we weren't there. Sadie, however, barked at the two Mexican dogs who barked right back. This was all the excitement we saw, as birdlife was little and we only spotted a few ravens and flitting titmice. No raptors this time, although Cheryl spotted a herd of around 12 mule deer grazing near the border.

Several USBP vans were watching the border along the river. This would have been an ideal place to have lunch, but most wanted to just go back. The group broke off into the fast and the slow group and I stayed with the slow group. My lack of hiking in two weeks was evident, as I was getting tired and enjoyed the lunch break near the fence with the "slow" group.

Michael stayed with the slow group. I have to laud him for helping to pick up any trash along the trail. There wasn't much there, half a small plastic bag, but it's nice to see others doing what I enjoy doing: keeping our trails clean.


Rod and Cassie fell behind but Michael and I stayed until they arrived safely back at their car. It was almost 2pm before I left to get back home. I was tired, hungry, and relieved that our water was turned on. We had had no water during the two-day cold snap and my body was crying for some hygiene.

I really liked today's group again. Sadie was also on her best behavior, staying by my side the entire time and staying out of other people's path.