Hunter Canyon (for the last time this month)

The Coronado National Forest will be closing all its areas effective tomorrow due to the high fire risks. I decided on taking all three dogs there one last time for the usual 3-mile loop. I don't usually wait until just before sunset to do this, but with Kevin back from Phoenix I wanted to chat a bit with him before going on my evening walk.

The dogs enjoyed their romp in the cool early evening air.

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There was a new sign at the trailhead: FIRE DANGER EXTREME. Another letter posted at the forest sign reminded people that no shooting was allowed under the fire restrictions. This was no larger than a standard office letter and drivers couldn't see that from their vehicle. Neither sign has been here before.

Usually the only people I see in this place are target shooters and USBP agents and a few illegals scammering into the high shrubs, but today I met a young man who was collecting caterpillars, the ursine giant skipper (Megathymus ursus) that tend to be seen around here in July. They are mostly brownish-black with their upper wings tipped in a dull orange-yellow.

He was parked off the road with his hatchback open. I thought he had car trouble, but he was just putting away his gear and getting ready to drive back to Tucson. He seemed very passionate about the butterflies, telling me of their wide black-and-orange wings and that they fly around "zipping at 60mph." He also seemed to know about all kinds of wildlife here in southern Arizona. But he was not a trained biologist. He was more like me, an amateur naturalist.

I could have chatted more with him, but it was already 7:10pm and daylight was running low. I don't like to be in the canyons this late, especially when illegals are known to pop up after dark.

It was nice to see the different colors of the canyon this late in the day. A blooming yucca had its white blooms open, several birds twittered around, and a few other weird sounds were audible tonight.

I made it back to the house by 8pm. We don't know when the forests will re-open. Did the Coronado National Forest do the right thing? Perhaps they should have targeted the campers first, as they tend to start careless fires like the one in Bear Wallow up north (a fire in which the mens' two dogs were allegedly tied up to trees while they went day hiking!)

The closure is an inconvenience but I also see why it's necessary. I've seen too many careless and destructive people in these forests who think it's their right to do as they please. For me the closures mean no easy work-out with Sadie, no touch with nature and driving elsewhere. But where? Around here the only recreational trails are in the national forest. The only other options are the trails around Bisbee, or the San Pedro trail, but so many are vandalized by illegals with their trash and careless use getting to where they want to go.

The fires across the state are not getting any better. The big Wallow Fire allegedly has now encased the pretty resort village of Greer. The ecacuations of Eagar and Springerville are now mandatory and the fire's last reported size is 389,000 acres. I think it's going to surpass Arizona's largest wildfire to date, the Rodeo-Chedeski fire of 2002. The Murphy fire is at 67,525 acres and the Horseshoe2 fire is at 116,264 acres.

There are now also new fires near Flagstaff which sound like they were purposefully set.