Saturday, July 28, 2012

Huachuca Canyon Trail

I haven't hiked up the Huachuca Canyon Trail in perhaps eight or nine years. It's accessible only via Fort Huachuca, which means those not affiliated with the military will need added documentation to get here. Years ago I'd walk the lower canyon during my lunch break, just to get away from the noisy office. It is rocky the higher up it gets, and ends at 3.3 miles at the post's boundary and a vista toward the southwest and west.
Beth and I met at the first parking area after work last Thursday. We drove the 1.7 miles to the most upper parking/picnic area at the water gauge. It was 3:35am when we, along with Sadie, started the hike. It was all into the sun, so I either had the sun in my eyes or Sadie and her furry butt to look at.
There wasn't as much water in this canyon at all, not after all that rain from the previous week. I hadn't packed any additional water for Sadie because there's usually water trickling down the lower canyon here. Instead we just saw lots of California Sisters (butterfly) fluttering just above the surface. The water remained in the shallow creek nearby. The more flowing water was higher up, near the trailhead for the Huachuca Peak trail.
I noticed last year the severe erosion in the upper section of this trail. There are crevices over three feet deep now that weren't there a year ago, all created from the flash floods from last fall. Today there are even deeper and more ruts and I fear the trail will be totally obliterated in a few more years. The many large rocks also made the hike uphill at times treacherous.
We made it to the boundary line at 5:05pm. The pinon pines here have grown and hidden most of the view. The old jeep trail that continued south here is also overgrown with grass and young saplings. We didn't stay long here since we had to hike back to our cars in the waning sunlight, but we did enjoy a few moments resting on warm rock. Beth really seemed to like the solitude. We heard nothing but the sounds of the wind whistling through the trees.
I need to come back here and hike south along the boundary. After all these years here there has got to be some changes along the route. This would be a nice trail to explore with two or more dogs. I only brought one dog today because I had to stop by PetSmart before meeting with Beth and I didn't want the dog to suffer in a warm van (despite the windows being down).
I didn't pack any food for either Sadie and me, but she was well rewarded for her efforts when we got back home at 7:30ish. Our hike back was in the cool shade. I felt so energized once we got home. Hiking twice in one week is really great for my psyche. Beth leaves in five weeks to return to her main office in Phoenix, so I will miss these mid-week hikes of adventure.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Brown Canyon Trail

Beth and I were originally going to do this together at 6am. She had sent me a message asking me if I was still going, but I didn't see that message until 2am during my usual wake-up. I responded that I was going to be there. She must not have gotten it on time as she didn't wake up until 6:30am.

I ended up doing this trail by myself with Sadie and Minnie. Beth and I have done this trail now several times this summer, usually mid-week after Beth gets off work, around 4 or 5pm. It's a five-mile loop in the lower canyon and is popular with hikers, joggers, mountain bikers and equestrians. It starts out at 5000' and gradually gains in elevation as it goes into the canyon, but then the trail turns sharply south and back to Ramsey Canyon Road to return to the parking area. A creek flows along this route, shaded with alligator juniper, oaks, sycamores and cottonwoods. It's a plesant conditioning route.
I took off at 6:06am. It already felt humid. Dew still glistened in the grass. It was peaceful this early in the morning. I never came across anyone else until that last mile, when two older joggers spooked me. Both dogs were off-leash although I watched out for others coming in the other way, as there was fresh horse poop on the trail. Our rains from recent storms has added so much green to the area. Even the smaller drainages have water in them. Both dogs frolicked around.
At the horse trough I rested briefly and decided, since it was early, to venture toward the hidden waterfall further up the trail. I had always wanted to see this fall while water ran in it. The waterfall is not far from the trail, although it is not marked, but enough people know about it that there is a trail from there. Illegals use this trail to hide themselves, leaving their food, backpacks and other trash hidden in the tall grasses. It's an area so unlike a desert landscape. Being there in the slot is like being on another world.

Sadie was by my side the entire time, but Minnie still has a habit of following a scent and then taking off. She did it again while Sadie and I climbed uphill. These climbs are no problem for Sadie and I pushed her along, but Minnie decided to stay low and sniff around. She never attempted to climb with us. When we got to the top of the pool from the lower side, though, she was nowhere to be found. I screamed out her name incessantly, afraid she had run off again. Please, I thought, don't let her get lost here in the forest. I didn't panic, nor did I stay at the pool area long (just long enough for a few photos), but continued to call her name as loudly as possible.
As we descended back to the regular trail there was Minnie, panting profusely with white foam around her snout and running toward us. Had she decided to hike back to the truck by following our scent, and then heard my cries in the distance? If so, she must have gone quite a while before she was able to hear me again. We were lucky this time, but this incident is another reminder that Minnie needs watching. Like a young Sara, Minnie is fascinated by scents and wants to follow them.

I let the two dogs rest back at the trail junction so that Minnie could get her breath back. I continued up the trail to the upper falls, zigzagging to the vista before climbing back down more rocks to the upper water area, now lush with tall grasses. This was also a treacherous area as the dropoff is steep here. Hikers could slip and injure themselves and not be found right away. Even screams may not be heard from hikers above as the cliffs hide the audio upward. There is no cell phone service here, either. I was very careful descending, both for me and the dogs.
Sadie is a pro at this mountain climbing but Minnie is still very unsure of herself. She came close to ledges a few times and was near falling. But since she was back with us, I gave the dogs the opportunity here to rest a bit while I enjoyed this view. I would not have descended down to the upper falls if I knew they couldn't make it on their own back up. I packed up eight weather-damaged backpacks on my way back to the trail, all heavy with moisture. I knew I wasn't going to be able to carry them all back to the truck. I managed to get them back to the trough, hoping someone not carrying a heavy camera and leashes could carry them back to a garbage can somewhere. My arms by now were too tried to carry them another mile. The rest of the hike by now was the usual uphill along Brown canyon Road, a private trail with secluded homes. Recent rains have further eroded sections even more, so mountain bikers would have to procede here with caution. I have slipped here before on previous hikes. Minnie sniffed a large pile of bear scat lying in the middle of Ramsey road. Bears are now coming down the mountain in search of food.
We got back to the truck by 9:30am. I hadn't felt this energized so early in the day. I miss those morning hikes and should really do them more often while I have the time. The dogs, however, both were tired, and in an unprecedented moment, both took to our bed after the hike to rest.

Monday, July 23, 2012

The eastern Huachucas

We have been getting much-needed rain these past two weeks, and this past week alone brought some storms across the southern part of the state. Sweeping waters in Carr Canyon on Thursday resulted in a swift water rescue of two young adults. We needed this rain as my shrubs were dying from drought. Everything has recovered for now, from the photinias to the oleanders. Grass has started to sprout that had been dormant for so long. I may have to cut the grass soon. I can see the green lush grass from my yard as I look toward the mountains. So on both Saturday and Sunday I took the dogs to the lower canyons. On Saturday I walked around Lower Carr Canyon, on Sunday I walked around Lower Ash Canyon. It's almost strange to see the desert so green. Ten months of the year the grass is a brown, crisp dead. Not now! All kinds of flowers are blooming now, all flowers that have been late this year to bloom because of the powerful fire from last summer. I didn't get to Carr Canyon until around 3pm, after a storm had blown over. This was great photography, as the sky was a dark grey and the temperatures were cool. TBC