Saturday, September 30, 2017

Elephant Head mountain bike trail (Santa Ritas)

Both Kevin and I were up before sunrise again.  A 22-ounce can that once contained Pedigree Chopped Ground Dinner with Chicken for Dogs was lying in the hallway, a three-inch round hole exposing the inside of the can.  Both top and bottom lids were still intact.  Which dog risked its teeth to open and consume the contents?  Most likely it was Sadie, as she has a chicken addiction. This is the first time I've seen a tin can be destroyed by the dogs. Normally they sacrifice aluminum cat food cans for their discreet 2am meals.

My original plan for today was to drive out to Mount Wrightson and bag the peak.  Today was "Fee Free" Saturday, at least on the Coronado National Forest website in honor of "National Public Lands" day.    I didn't leave until 10am, though, so that I could help support the Buena Football club's car wash at the Arby's in Sierra Vista this morning.  Both Kevin and I were there at 7:30am and volunteers were still waiting on a hose, and then again at 9:40am when I came around a second time for my Ford Escape.  The same four JV players were there, along with JV coach Hernandez and two parents.  I was surprised only one of my JV players in my Engish class was there, and he had been washing cars for almost four hours.  I was disappointed to see so few students volunteering for their own benefit.


This three-hour delay, of course, later affected my hike with Zeke in the Santa Ritas.  I arrived at the Mount Wrightson trailhead just before 11am.  The parking lot was not packed as I had expected for a Fee Free Saturday.  I noticed fee stubs in windows and on dashboards.  Was Mount Wrightson not part of the National Public Lands?  People around me whom I asked weren't sure.  To play it safe, I drove down the mountain and instead opted to explore a mountain bike trail that skirts around the famed Elephant Head rock, a place I've yet to explore!  I pulled off the paved road to continue westward, following the main dirt road past a displaced campground until that road ended in a dead end.   There was no "Fee Area" sign her so I parked the truck, continued on the road that crossed a dry wash, opened the gate with a trailhead sign, and continued on the trail that meandered around mesquites, prickly pear, oaks and tall grasses at the end of their seasonal life.  I could see Green Valley in the distance and Elephant Head ahead of me.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/coronado/recarea/?recid=25450

My one obstacle was the mountain heat.  Despite a warm breeze, the ground was warm and the sun unfiltered by any clouds.  Zeke panted behind me the entire time, only once getting sidetracked by a wily desert hare that enticed him with a fleeting jump across the mesquite-dotted landscape.

Elephant Head slowly came in front of me, but I must have lost the trail.  There were so many crisscrossed trails, either biking trails or well-worn cattle trails, that confused me.  I only saw one trail marker.  Another was stomped on the ground and a second one leaning against a mesquite.  I should have read up more on the trail description before attempting this trail.  On a cool day this would be a lovely trail just to the big rock outcropping, but even I felt the heat.  I stopped at least three times to let Zeke rest, who was clearly warm and needed all the gallon of water I had with me.

I ended up getting lost and climbed up a rise to find the trail, but then just used my GPS app to get off the rocky hill cluttered with prickly pear and ocotillo.  In a lower elevation mesquite grove, I found a rusty name tag for "Anita Woodward, G.V.H.C" which I know is the Green Valley Hiking Club.  (Turns out Woodward and her husband Jim write trail reports for the Green Valley News; her last one is dated 2015) How long ago did she lose her name tag, and what was she doing in this grove away from the trail?  Was she lost, too?

I found the main trail again and decided I would hike 20 more minutes south on it.  I was now just below Elephant Head along a level plain and it reminded me of Half Dome, where Ellen was this weekend with her friend Anna.  But my attempt was quickly halted by an angry cow and her calf, whom she was protecting right on the trail under a mesquite.  Zeke ran toward the cow, I yelled "NO!" (as if Zeke would listen) and when the cow stomped the ground a few times before lunging toward me, I knew I was better off getting out of her area and turning around here.  Obstinate cows are not written in the official trail description and there were plenty around me watching!

I now returned the way I came, this time making sure I didn't lose the main trail.  We stopped two more times for Zeke and water.  We were in the sun for 2:20 hours and only hiked 5.6 miles!  I do want to come back here in the winter and explore the area.  One of these days I can claim Elephant Head as one more peak I have bagged.  Today was not the day.
http://www.mapmyhike.com/workout/2496450755
The official trail is 13 miles long, but I know members of the Huachuca Hiking Club have done this hike within the past year and it was more like nine miles.  Perhaps they shuttled this hike, or they bushwhacked across the poky terrain for the rock summit.  I was alone on this trail today, with no visible recent use of the trail.  The beauty around me and the mystery of Elephant Head, however, are already calling me to try this hike again.
http://www.gvnews.com/sports/great-hikes-devil-s-cache-box/article_b483dc5c-0059-11e3-a22c-001a4bcf887a.html










Sunday, September 17, 2017

Carr Peak with Ellen and Zeke

Ellen asked me a few days ago if I wanted to hike up Carr Peak with her.  Of course I said yes, even though I had hiked up the peak two weeks earlier.  I hadn't hiked with her lately and she's always good company.  She needed to hike up Carr to get in shape for her Half Dome attempt later this month.  Zeke was my canine companion.  We started the hike at 12:35pm.  It took us 2:36 hours roundtrip.

Ellen resigned her civil servant position on Fort Huachuca.  Her experience dealing with the "Good Ole Boy's Club" is what made her resign and take up a more lucrative position with an engineering contractor on post.  Her story tells me that opportunities for talented woman engineers hasn't changed much since my days with the army.  I hope she is happier now.  Her last week is next week and then she's on vacation for a while.  Her attempt up Half Dome is a part of her time off.
 (photo by Ellen P)

Not much had changed since my last hike up the peak two weeks ago.  The same flowers were in bloom, although the red sage is now finally popping up in small patches among the sea of yellow flowers.  It was breezier today, so less butterflies and insects were out.  There were more Golden Columbines near the aspen groves.  The aspens have just about lost their leaves, too.  We didn't see any eagles or hawks, perhaps because of the breeze.  The water that was still trickling down the rock wall has dried up, so I had to stop to give Zeke his water.
 

The one cool wildlife experience was nearly stepping on an alligator lizard near the peak.  I first encountered an alligator lizard two years ago along the San Pedro River trail.  It looks at first glance like a smooth snake, until its legs become visible.  What was a lizard doing so far high in elevation, where it surely was in the upper 50s?  We saw another one on our way down.


Zeke is always at his best behavior when he's the only dog around.  He stayed by my side the entire time.  At the top he had his own can of food to enjoy, yet still tried to schmuse treats out of Ellen.   We met several other couples today, all who praised Zeke for his good trail etiquette.

We were back at the truck at 3:15 and I was back home 30 minutes later.  Even Kevin was still up.


Sunday, September 3, 2017

Along the river


Minnie has gotten lazy with her daily walks.  While she barks with delight when she sees me get ready for our 5pm drive to the unfinished subdivision where I walk the dogs, she dislikes walking the entire 3.5-mile loop now.  Ever since my return from Alaska, she has fought me when she walks more than 1.5 miles.  Kevin didn't walk the remaining two dogs during my entire absence and Minnie got out of shape in those six weeks I was away.  Minnie is my "Fat Girl" and needs the exercise, so I seldom relent when it comes to walking her.  She slows me down and she pants the entire time, but I want to make sure she gets her daily walk in with the others.

Minnie is a smart dog. She's learned to turn around and walk back to the truck and wait for me to return with the other dogs.  She has memorized the route. She waits patiently by the truck for us to return and is always happy to see us. Yesterday she got out of the truck to pee and then stayed by the truck.  She didn't even walk around the block.  The dogs and I managed a meager 1.4 miles without her, walking a short loop nearby rather than the entire 3.4-mile loop.  I didn't want her to be outside where coyotes could overtake her and thus cut my usual walking route in half.  I can't keep on appeasing Minnie, though.

So, to avoid another trick by Minnie today, I opted to take the dogs to the river and walk the bed for as long as I could.  I hadn't taken the dogs here since earlier in the winter, and Sammy managed the 3-mile walk.  Walking along the river thus put me in a melancholy mood.  I miss Sammy's gentle demeanor, his steady, quiet gaze, his long, loud howl whenever he heard a siren within a mile's range.  His howl would get the other four dogs to howl in unison, and sometimes the neighborhood dogs would join in. His voice is forever silent now.

I was curious to see how low the river would be.  Our monsoon hasn't been a good one this year and it officially ends on September 30th.  No rain is expected in the ten-day forecast. As expected, the riverbed is dry enough to be walked far enough to make a 3.4-mile out-and-back walk, replicating the distance I normally walk with the dogs after work.  The sand in the tributary wash where we walk to get to the river was caked dry and splitting. Minnie was getting tired, contemplated going back on her own, but completed the walk. There were pockets of water for the dogs to drink out of, so being thirsty was not a problem.

It was late in the afternoon when we started walking.  The wild grasses that grow along and near the river are currently over three feet tall. The county is STILL working on repairing the bridge overhead. Progress is slow with the workers, as this bridge has been closed to one lane for almost a year.

The riverbed was mostly smooth, and a shallow layer of dead ash and cottonwood leaves are starting to blanket the bed.  I am not ready to depart from summer just yet. I spotted three raptors and perhaps two were the same bird.  Migrating eagles and hawks use the riverbed for nourishment along their flight south. It's so pretty under the canopies this time of year.

I passed one young couple with a small child.  The father picked up the boy when he saw the dogs, and I made a detour up and over the river to give the couple some space.  My dogs don't mind people and small children, but other people may not know that. The dogs continued their romp until we got to the bamboo grove at the 1.7-mile mark.  Water was resurfacing here and dogs were sinking into the wet sand.  We returned the way we came.