Montezuma's Pass

Montezuma's Pass is the high point on Forest Road 61 which straddles the southern slopes of the Huachuca Mountains and the border with Mexico. It travels all the way to Nogales along the AZ-MEX border. It is a very scenic drive across the alluvial plains. It can also be a dangerous drive best avoided at night because this is a popular drug-smuggling route.

The pass and the parking lot is at 6575'. Hikers on the Arizona Trail park here, hike south for 1.7 on the Yaqui trail down to the border, then return to the parking lot to officially start the hike on the Crest Trail going northward and up into the Huachucas. Most of the pass belongs to the Coronado National Memorial. Dogs are not allowed on the trails within the park boundary, but an illegal trail behind the restrooms and on National Forest land takes one a half-mile farther south to some conglomerate outcroppings and pretty views of the border, as long as one knows where to take a slight uphill to continue the trek. This was our Sunday destination for this week.

This is a very short hike with great views into Mexico. The burnline from the Campini fire was quite obvious.

We started the hike around 8:20am as the first ones in the area. I had Zeke and Minnie, Alicia brough Luna, who has grown so big in the last two weeks. She could easily grow up bigger than Minnie! These three dogs play well together, and Luna seems to enjoy the attention she gets. Today Zeke and Luna were a pair while Minnie watched from a distance, often sniffing areas on her own. I led this hike and quickly got us off the trail and going further down the slope than expected. I forgot about a subtle turn uphill in the beginning and led us through a cholla-infested, slippery area. I could tell Alicia was not having fun, and Luna kept getting thorns in her paws. Luckily I found the trail before we hit the boulder.

We sat on these conglomerate rocks for around 30 minutes as the dogs around us played, romped and sniffed. The burn line south of the border was visible, and for a mile or so the burn line followed the border road until west of Bear Canyon where it took on a more wild form toward Parker Canyon Lake. Looking at the area now it didn't look so dangerous, but for two days this was heavily fought off by our firefighters and the reason we cancelled an army reunion with some of Kevin's friends in OKC this weekend. The fear of another wildfire as we had last summer is still fresh in everyone's mind. We weren't on the trail for long. By 9:30am we were back at the parking lot, chatting some more and letting the dogs play as slowly cars pulled into the parking lot. By the time we finally departed the area at 10am three groups had set off to hike Miller Peak. I'm so glad I got my hiking in yesterday, as today was warmer than yesterday.