The San Pedro Rail-trail

True to his word, Kevin walked with me along the San Pedro railtrail off the old Mill ruins near the ghost town of Charleston. Our goal was to walk four miles north on the rugged slag, and return the same way. It was as boring as it sounded.

It turns out, however, that the railtrail here isn't officially opened yet. I thought it was opened two or three years ago, but the slag was not packed down and made walking tedious. There was also a sign that warned of "No Trespassing, Property of San Pedro RailRoad." How long had that been there? Whenever I walked here in the past, I must have gotten on the railtrail north of that sign and never saw it. A lot of hikers and birders must be trespassing on it every day.

Dogs can't read and apparently neither can I. We started our hike along the river, where the dogs could get water, and got back on the railtrail a mile north. It was still cool and my hands were chilled, and walking in the sun was preferred over chilling in the shade. There was minimal evidence that the trail is used by illegals walking north.

This railtrail is all that remains of the 1888 San Pedro/Southern Pacific Railroad, a 60-mile stretch added to the mining rails of Arizona's pre-state history. It starts at the border and ends north in Benson. It follows the San Pedro River most of the way.

Once we were 1.5 miles north of the trailhead, though, the scenery turned into a dull, sand-colored mass of nothingness. The hills had flattened out and even the river had taken a bend away from the parallel railtrail. This would have been a murderous stretch on a hot day, as this trail is exposed. On a hot day the slag would also burn the dogs' paws. I would have preferred to at least walk along the river where the dogs had easier access to the water and where I could spot a few birds and delight my brain in something other than dull hues of brown. Kevin's mission, however, was to walk four miles out and back and not worry about the scenery, and I went along with him today.

I really was glad to get this walk over with. Like Kevin, this walk was more of a mission than a nature hike. The walking was just too tedious for me on that unsteady slag, and the mind couldn't occupy itself with any semblance of natural beauty. The annual grasses were all dead, the mesquite were barren and the low-lying catclaw menanced passers-by.

The one exciting thrill was seeing what looked like coati run across the trail and dash up a steep slope. Two deer also sauntered in the distance. The dogs chased the bushy-tailed little critter up a steep slope before we got close enough to identify the animal.