This was a nice six-mile hike in Bisbee's own Mule Mountains, a 45-minute drive from our home. The trail is not on any map; one can only get here with the help of a local.
The Mule Mountains aren't a large range, nor a very high range, and most of the land is privately-owned. Where we hiked, however, was on BLM land, away from old mining trails. It thus takes an experienced Bisbeeite to get around the old mining roads.
Paul was our guide today, having hiked this trail a few weeks ago with other locals. What I thought would be an easy three-hour hike over level terrain turned out to be a five-hour hike up and down rugged canyons. And I'm glad I did it.
Weather started out looking menacing, with dark clouds over the mountains. Rain was expected at 20% and the wind was blowing. When we met at the meeting place near the Mule Tunnel I was surprised so many showed up: eight people, all regulars. Besides Paul there was Big Steve, Hanna, Rod and Caci, Susan, Bill and I. If I had led this hike, I told Susan, I doubt as many people would have shown up.
Our hike started up at Juniper Flats two miles up a steep and winding dirt road that gave us lovely views of the town. This trail is worth the extra sweat to get to it, as nowhere else can you see the town around you like this.
And boy was it cold at the start! Bill was cold and all he had on was a long-sleeved shirt. I just happened to have a bag of clothes I had wanted to drop off at the clothing donation box in Bisbee and gave Bill a fleece-lined old coat of Kevin's. Bill never took that jacket off and I never removed my fleece. I don't think it ever reached 60F today. Bill wouldn't have made it today without that jacket.
I had been to Juniper Flats twice before and enjoyed the area. The last time was earlier this spring with Kevin and the dogs, but we were in a southern canyon. Today we followed an old rutted jeep trail going west-northwest, then took a faint trail to the right, which took us through a forest of oaks, junipers and thorny brush down a north-sloping hillside of reddish-stained soil. I could see Tombstone in the distance. After resting at a saddle with a quick snack we continued on down a drainage, which led to another drainage and eventually to the turn-around of this hike: a dramatic waterfall over a steep cliff. Today, though, there was no water in the fall. There was just a lot of wind.
"There's a marijuana field up that canyon" said Rod as we came to a narrow side canyon. "We'll be going back that way" he added later.
Paul and Susan took a high trail down while the rest of us stayed in the dry drainage area where the flat rocks gave us good traction and we didn't have to worry about thorny brush. I had never been in this remote canyon and every view I had was a new view. With a little water running this would have been spectacular.
The mountains are neither very tall nor very steep but one needs to have good orienteering skills to get around because none of the trails are marked. We stopped a few times to let the slower hikers catch up. For some, this hike was more strenuous than what was listed in the guide. I didn't mind the added challenge. I just had to be back in town by noon to join Kevin and Katie for a picnic in Bisbee-Warren.
We never made that deadline. Paul and Susan took longer to reach us. We rested, ate our snacks and when they joined us, finished the hike to the water fall. The views from this canyon were gorgeous. The orange rocks would be great nesting areas for hawks. I want to come back to this place after a heavy rain when water is in this canyon. Today the wind blew a cold breeze. I held my floppy hat with my hand to keep it from blowing down the canyon. I never got comfortable.
We broke into two groups on our way back. I walked with Bill, Rod and Casi up the "marijuana trail" although we didn't see any of that stuff. When we came across a five-gallon black plastic nursery pot, though, Rod told me that pot once held a marijuana plant. I picked up the pot to recycle it later. And when I took a break to let others catch up with me, I used that pot as a chair to rest on.
"You know, Rod," I told him, "if this pot held a marijuana plant my hands may have some residue on them!"
"I was going to tell you that!" he answered.
"But anyone who knows me knows how I hate trash in the forests. I'm always picking up something on a trail."
"Just don't let the DEA guys see you!"
Sure, DEA guys in this canyon? That's why there's alleged marijuana growing there in the first place.
We were back at our cars at 2:35pm. The hike was part rock scramble, part bushwhack, part narrow trail. No one got lost, injured or dehydrated, although we all got sprinkled on in the last 10 minutes of this hike as rain clouds covered the valley. By then we were too close to the finish line to stop to put on my raincoat.
Since we took longer than expected I never had time to stop at the recycling plant for the plastic, paper, tin and cardboard I had in my truck. Instead, I met Kevin and Katie at his boss' house in Warren, where Tommy and Debbie were hosting a memorial picnic for Debbie's recently-departed mother Kitty. They gave a loving toast to the woman.
Kitty was Old World Italian from Long Island. All the food served today was from Kitty's favorite recipes. The climax was when we all sang the Dean Martin song "That's Amore!" (When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's Amore!"). We all sang what we could to that song. Some people, especially Debbie and daughter Taylor, got emotional. The event was well-planned.
All the food was delicious: I ate grand meals after this hike: baked ziti, sausage sandwich, even some minestrone. My hand hugged that soup bowl. I only had one beer, though since I was so cold. The house smelled like an Italian restaurant. Many of the women were nicely dressed and here I was wearing hiking gear.
"You hiked up Sandy Bob?" asked me one of the guests. "My brother was out there a few weeks ago and came across a group carrying AK-47s!" Those were probably the guys guarding the alleged marijuana plants. He also told me about Mexicans who were shooting across the border into the US at a few deer hunters south of Bisbee recently. Two weeks ago two men from Sinaloa (A state in Mexico known for its druglords) were gunned down in Naco. Not to mention the low-flying USBP helicopter I saw this morning on my way to the hike, and the three large USBP vans parked nearby. There is a lot of illegal activity in this area that remains unreported.
The kicker this afternoon was meeting my English instructor today. He's best friends with Tommy and Debbie as well! I was a little uncomfortable being around him (The old army rule of not fraternizing with subordinates) and when we did talk, we did not discuss the class.
Despite the cold, I had a good time. We didn't leave until 6pm as the dark cold came back over Bisbee and even the men dressed in jackets said it was getting chilly.
http://www.svherald.com/content/news/2009/11/10/across-border-double-slaying-shakes-naco
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