Friday, November 23, 2012

The holiday weekend


We didn't do anything special this holiday weekend. With school closed since Wednesday, I stayed home and putzed around, gardened a bit and worked on my math class homework. Thanksgiving was a simple meal of chicken and mashed potatoes since our oven can't bake well.

This means I haven't hiked much, either, despite the mild 70s weather. I wanted a low-key few days off doing nothing much. This means spend time with the dogs and hang out at home with Kevin and Eric.

Early Wednesday I drove with all five dogs to Hunter Canyon. There were no shooters there yet at 8:30am, the most peaceful since hunting season began. I walked around the old campsite that has now been inundated with targetshooters who come to blow up stuff and leave their trash behind. A walk-around made me realize how shot-up all the oaks are here. What a shame. It wasn't this bad eight years ago when we moved here. Broken ceramics and glass, wood splinters, plastic bottles and beer cans litter this once inviting site. The litter seems to grow every year.

Is the Forest Service doing anything about this? It doesn't look like they are.

I walked around, took pictures, even picked up the trash. When it was time for me to go, four of the five dogs came back when I called: Sammy, Minnie, Sadie. Sara stayed in the truck and never got out. But where was Zeke? I called him numerous times, walked to the old springs and back, up the old illegal trail a little, then drove around the area calling his name. No answer anywhere from Zeke. Where had the mutt wandered off to? It's not like him to be so silent.

An hour later I finally drove home, all along the three-mile drive thinking how life would be without Zeke, a bitter feeling despite the destruction he has caused. We'd be back down to four dogs, a much more manageable size. But losing him was sad nonetheless, as he's a happy and goofy dog. How would I break the news to Kevin and all my friends? Was I an irresponsible dog owner for letting him wander off-leash?

But as soon as I drove into our short drive-way, there was Zeke, wagging his tail. He was waiting by the backyard gate. How long had he been waiting there for me? He, too, was happy to see me again and jumped into the truck when I opened the door. He didn't want to leave. Neither did the other dogs want to get out. Very weird.

And how did Zeke know the way home? Did he wander along StateRoad 92 sniffing the vehicle's tracks? Luckily traffic was minimal and visibility good that day. He's never walked that entire route like the other dogs have.

At any rate I am glad he's back. His temporary absence had me scared.

***

This morning I saw Willie again, meowing for food. I fed him some dry food, gave him some water, and both he and Bobby, his playmate, spent time in the front yard. He's such a beautiful cat; what a shame that he opted to stay feral.

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Ash Canyon (with Minnie, Sadie and Zeke)

I hadn't taken Zeke on a hike in a while and decided today would be a quick hike up the Ash Canyon ridge line, a short 4-mile hike up an old mining trail. My usual trail, Hunter Canyon, has been overrun with targetshooters and I'm not fond of stray bullets zinging past me while on the trail.

Ash Canyon trail ends at the closest ridge line to the border with views into Mexico. Today's cool weather would make this exposed hike enjoyable. We left shortly after noon.

This canyon has always been a busy canyon due to the proximity to the Mexican border. Lots of people hunt and target shoot, pan for gold, explore with their ATVs off-road. Many "illegal" trails join old mining trail that fade into the distance. But I met no one today. The few people I heard were lower in the canyon.

The Forest Service now has two new gates along this old mining trail. The first one is open and at the old trailhead parking area just before crossing Ash Creek. The second one is a half-mile uphill and is closed. And that's with good reason, as the trail is badly eroded further up the trail. I can just imagine ATVers getting stuck up the ridge line after a snowfall.

Ash from last summer's fire has mixed with the soil, making it even less adhesive. The ground is not very steady here. Further rains will erode this trail even more. There were several badly-rutted sections along the trail as I meandered uphill. A heavy rain will collapse more of this trail. I parked my truck one switchback below the second gate and walked the rest to the ridge line. This was a short three-mile hike r/t; a nice leg-stretcher, with views of the heavy burn area from last summer.

Zeke was excited to get out. He's my least trail-mannered dog. He still needs training. Luckily no one else came our way or he'd have barked at them and run toward them. Instead he ran after Minnie and sniffed all the foliage. He hadn't had a chance to get some exercise since I took all the dogs up Upper Hunter Canyon several weeks ago.

Oaks and manzanitas are slowly coming back to life. While there are plenty of charred trees from last summer's fire, new growth is slowly taking over. This is most obvious in the sunlight. We had some sun near the ridge although both Miller and Carr were shrouded in fog. My thin bright yellow sweater was almost not enough to keep warm. It was a typical autumn overcast sky. Yesterday's drizzle over the peaks left the ridge line smelling of fresh sage. What a lovely aroma!

It looks like the USBP is making this ridgeline a new look-out into Mexico. The top has been graded flat. This is a perfect spot to watch the border, as evidence of smuggling traffic is evident here. Having an active USBP presence here will deter the smugglers and keep the trash and drugs out.

We didn't stay long at the top. The wind began howling and I wanted to get home and start grading papers and get ready for the (short) workweek. Targetshooters and ATVers were busy in the lower canyon making noise and I was ready to get out of the area.
I stopped briefly in the lower canyon to let the dogs drink some creek water and run around in the cool stream. Target shooters are killing off some sycamores by firing at them incessantly, then leave their trash behind for others to pick up. The leaves are still changing colors, but soon even the stately sycamores will die from the stress.
This coming week is Thanksgiving week. I only have two days of work this time around. Weather is expected to hit the 80s in Tucson this Thursday, with above-normal temperatures all week. I think I'll do two more hikes this week. I'll get Alicia out as well. Hopefully she's feeling better again.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Mt Wrightson via the Gardner Canyon-Cave Creek trail loop

One thing I learned today is that there is no easy way to ascent 9453' Mt Wrightson south of Tucson.

Ellen and I got together at 7am to drive to the Santa Rita's Gardner Canyon Road on the eastern side of this mountain range. This is a fee-free area and also 30 minutes shorter than driving to Madera Canyon on the western side. The downside is that this 14-mile loop hike is steep and a real butt kicker. We just didn't know that at the time.

The drive to this little-used trailhead took just over an hour. The turn-off to the forest road is north of the cattle town of Sonoita off AZ83. This is a popular hunting/ATV area and we saw several hunting parties camped out along the primitive sites along the way. The trailhead is 11 miles west (straight) on Gardner Canyon Road, a wide but badly-rutted forest road. It felt like an old washboard driving on that road!

A large coyote crossed the road, ran up a hill and turned back to look at us as we drove by.

It had been several years since I had explored this area. I'm not sure why it's been so long since my last visit; it's very pretty here and one can get lost in many of the low canyons. I dread the day Rosemont mine wants to destroy this area with its $1.2-million mine construction nearby.

We made it to the remodeled trailhead and started the hike at 8:17am, still cool and dark from the shade. One large pick-up was already at the small trailhead parking lot, but we didn't see anyone else. The starting elevation here is 6200'.

I had been here a few years ago with three dogs to explore the Garner Canyon trail, but didn't make it past the Walker Basin road turn-off a mile uphill. The first thing I noticed today was the lack of water in the creek bed. In my previous times to the Santa Ritas, Cave Creek was always flowing. Today the creek bed was mostly dry. That didn't bode too well, although I brought plenty of water for the dogs and me.

From the Cave Creek trailhead we took the .4-mile Link Trail to Gardner Canyon, which switch-backed to the gated trail head for Gardner canyon, an old mining trail on a low ridgeline that's now mostly exposed. This would be a very hot summer hike. This wide trail then follows the creek for most of the first mile, but even here water was not plentiful. What little water there was was stagnant and contained algae.

We hear a distant hunter in Temporal Gulch, the canyon south of where we were.

Sadie and Minnie stayed close, with Minnie always up front while Sadie stayed by my side. We were alone on this trail. Minnnie sniffed everything and Sadie followed.

The first 1.2 mile (it seems longer than that!) to Walker Basin is relatively easy. But just before the open area of the Walker Basin turn-off, the lower burn area becomes visible. The Florida fire of 2005 decimated the trees here. The old Douglas fir remain as broken-off charred stubs in the sky, reminding people of the once-lush forest here. New pines are anywhere from 2-4 feet tall, and some are very close together. Many of these young trees will require culling down as they mature as they are too close to one another. There are also many blow-downs that will perhaps never be removed since so few people hike up Mount Wrightson from this direction. The new green stands out in comparison to the old burned trees, something I hope to see happen in Miller Canyon in a few years.

An old rusty metal sign directed us uphill. All the directional signs are in metal here, which helps the hikers as wooden signs would have been destroyed here. I don't think the Forst Service uses metal signs anymore, though.

The trail got steeper past the Walker Basin area. I had to stop to rest a few times and the dogs looked tired and thirsty. Ellen also said she was exhausted and gladly rested. The burn area got more intense and more severe the closer we made it to the Super Trail below Mount Wrightson, and we think the sun reflected off the many rocks nearby making the heat more intense. We made it to the Super Trail by 11:30, over three hours since we started the hike. "That's a mile an hour!" said Ellen. Yikes.

A lone trail runner in purple tights passed us running downhill, but she was the only person we encountered until we made it to the Baldy Saddle, where we opted to eat lunch and rest some more. It was 12:30 and I debated whether we had time to bag the peak without losing daylight. I was tired, but meeting two young men, and soon thereafter another group of five people going uphill encouraged us to go ahead.

An older man had his 12-year-old Border Collie Happy with him, which got Minnie barking. I had to leash both dogs here for a while until Happy was out of visual range. Once we made it to the peak, though, a quick sniff-and-greet relaxed all the dogs and we were able to chat with everyone on the peak. Mike, the owner of Happy, brought his two Norwegian friends to bag the peak, Norwegians who were here at UA for research in human geography. Ellen took time out to gaze northward to see if she could spot the Cave Canyon trail. We learned later that that trail is not visible from the peak.

The sky now was looking overcast from the Southeast. There was no wind at the top. In fact, it was much warmer today than yesterday hiking up Carr Peak. We descended at 1:30 (!) knowing that the overcast sky was not going to clear up anymore and we had to focus on getting back to our car before sunset. We never saw the blue sky again today.

We made it back down to the Baldy Saddle just before 3pm. The next loop trail was the Cave Canyon trail, which appeared daunting because it starts uphill around a lesser peak north of Wrightson. I had never been on this trail and the metal sign wasn't clear as the the name of the trail. "Cave Canyon" and "Florida Saddle" were both on the sign without any mileage. I should have read up on this trail before leading this one with Ellen. What if we missed a turn-off? We trekked on anyway. I wanted to explore this trail finally.

It was clear this was not a very-used trail. The single track faded in parts. I kept look-out for any turn-offs leading downhill.

Once we sumitted the lesser peak more vistas to the north and northwest opened up. This was a lush, northerly trail only partially burned from the Florida fire. A thin layer of snow covered the trails. The dogs were energized here. But the trail didn't look familiar and I focused on the general area of where our truck was in Cave Canyon. It still looked so far away. My last time on this trail was in late 2008 with Sammy and Sara, hiking the other direction but turning around before the steep ascent because the dogs were tired. It turns out that turn-around was a lot lower than I thought.

Cave Canyon is a steep canyon. We were lucky we went up Wrightson via the Gardner Canyon and came down Cave Canyon trail. Both are steep but Cave Canyon seems steeper and more unstable in the upper region, although there are fewer blow-downs here.

Once we found the turn-off for the lower Cave Canyon trail, I quickly remembered the ridge line and the creek bed, but even here water was lacking. Once we were two miles from the trailhead where the trail levels off, what was once a wide mining trail shrouded with oaks, manzanitas and a few sycamores had overgrown into a single track. This area suffered massive landslides into the creek the year of the Florida fire, changing the flow of the creek here.

"I think I was the last person on this trail four years ago!" I told Ellen. By now we were losing light fast. It was past 5pm and what saved us was the open area around the creek. We could tell some of the trees were in fall color but it was too dark to photograph the splendor.

We made it back to the truck at 5:50pm. Both dogs could barely jump into the backseat. I had to help Minnie. This was Minnie's first long-distance hike and she did great considering she got no train-up. She went from a usual 6-mile hike to a 14-mile hike.

Both dogs napped quietly on the drive home and lacked all energy. I'm sure they were glad to be back on terra firma; both were rewarded with an extra can of dog food to replenish their bodies. My shoulders were sore from the heavy backpack and I didn't stay up much later, either.

.

This is a hike that must be done by any avid hiker, but I doubt I'll be doing it any time soon. I'm glad now I never led this hike with the hiking club as no one would have joined me. This would be a great training hike for the Grand Canyon, though. Hiking up Mt Wrightson via Madera Canyon is still the more scenic and cooler option.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Carr Peak with Minnie and Sadie: an icy treat!

It was a good day today. I spotted my feral cat Willie sunning himself in the front yard this morning. He's a kitten I volunteered to foster from the Bisbee Animal Shelter, along with two other kittens last year. The other two kittens tamed down and were adopted out, but Willie never overcame his distrust toward humans. We agreed to keep him. He was neutered and had his ear clipped slightly to reveal his feral beginnings. Last year he stayed inside most of the year, but with two new dogs that like to chase him, he's opted to remain outside rather than put up with Zeke and Minnie.
I now only see Willie once a week or so. I'm always relieved to see him. Cats don't live long in the desert with great horned owls and coyotes hunting them. Willie still meows when I call him, but runs off when I get too close.

Today was our first freeze of the season after a storm that blew through Friday over Saturday with a cold front and high winds. I had taken the citrus trees inside last night but forgot about the tomato plant. Oops. It was 63 degrees inside the home this morning but my feet and hands were cold. I had no desire to hike in this cold and putzed around until the early afternoon. I knew if I didn't leave by noon for my hike, that I wasn't going to hike at all.
I opted for another quick hike up Carr Peak with Minnie and Sadie. The peaks didn't looked snowed over from our vantage view in the valley. I didn't bring gloves or a hat. I wore a medium layer of polypro under my bright yellow sweater and orange wind jacket. That was ideal for today, although my bare hands got chilled near the peak where the frost also was rather heavy. We started the hike at 1:26 from the Old Saw Mill trail, the same trail we took last month. I kind of like this trail to the top. Today's theme was ice. There was frost and ice in the northern corners of the trail. The flower are all dead, except for a few isolated survivors whose colors shimmer in the waning sunlight. The few remaining colors glistened in the sun: some reds, greens and yellows remained that created nice photographs. But this month's primary color scheme was shades of brown.
A man wielding an airgun came down. A few minutes later my colleague Carl and two women came down, along with a Weimeraner who spooked my dogs. Both Minnie and Sadie listened to my commands to "Be Nice!" and didn't run off barking. Other than that, the trail was my own all the up and back. Ideally I should have started an hour earlier for better sunlight. Once I reached the lower aspen grove I was in the cool shade. A mile from the peak I began to hear crashing noises, like the noise I hear when squirrels drop nuts from high branches. But instead of nuts it was falling ice I was hearing. The southwestern sides of the higher elevation trees had ice melting and dropping to the ground. Despite the cold there were flickers and a few other birds chirping. A young hawk flew near me but I wasn't able to photograph it.
We got to the peak at 3:12, almost 1:50 hours from the start. What took so long? We didn't even stop for water breaks along the way. Did I really stop that much to take photographs? I gave the dogs water, fed them some canned dog food, and we quickly departed 12 minutes later due to the cold. There was no wind at the top, just lingering cold. We were barely off the peak trail when the sun finally set to our west, now adding a deep, cold shade on the way down. At least we were on the descent and had nothing to slow us down. My hands were cold as I kept them in my pants pocket to stay warm. Minnie is catching on to proper hiking etiquette. While she prefers to hike ahead of me, she doesn't chase things as quickly as before. She minds my commands. And her stamina is getting better.
We made it to the truck at 4:50pm, making this a 3.5 hour hike. We got home at 4:20pm. The dogs rested but I changed my clothes and took Eric out to eat tonight at Chili's where I enjoyed a free Cajun Chicken pasta meal for Veteran's day. (Despite my free meal the bill was still $31!) I'm glad I was able to get a November hike for Carr. The current cold snap will last all week. I'm glad there was no snow this time. That's something I expect for December.
If all goes well tomorrow, I'm hiking up Mount Wrightson with Ellen and her friend Jon early in the morning. I plan on taking Sadie with me. '