The Bisbee Shrines

Christmas was very uneventful this year. Eric slept in, Kevin was nursing another hangover and I was bored. No gifts were exchanged because that is what Kevin wanted.

This isn't how I want to spend Christmas, void of love and joy and holiday spirit, so I opted to hike up the shrines in Bisbee and spend some time reflecting on the year. The drive there is longer than the hike is and I didn't plan on spending all day in Bisbee. I took Sadie and Minnie with me. Those two hike well together and both now enthusiastically jump into my truck whenever they know I'm hitting the trails.

I parked in Brewery Gulch near the Old Bisbee Brewery and walked up to the adjacent street, OK Street, and continued walking uphill. There were other people walking around the streets as well, but no one was hiking up Chihuahua Hill, the name of the hill on which one finds the shrines.

I had hiked up the shrines a few years ago on Thanksgiving, but had taken a longer route further up the canyon. The Bisbee Loop hike has a connector trail that takes one up this way; maybe next time I'll do that added route with a group.

Today I took the shorter trail which starts off from the right side of a private driveway at the end of OK Street. The house there is a pretty green hillside house shaded by a mature oak tree and guarded by two psychotic chihuahuas which barked the entire time we were within earshot.

I let the dogs off their leashes once we were on the trail. Minnie can be quite a puller when she's tracking a scent, and Sadie is quite powerful, too. Both were taken by the smells along the way, sniffing ever nook and cranny as we hiked up the steep and loose shale on the trail.

A quarter-mile up the trail there is a grey cross on a steep switchback, and near there is a fainter trail going up what at first looks like a rockslide. This trail meanders uphill, first to another shrine near an oak tree near a rock edge that today was covered in red string and other seasonal ornaments. Views of the mining trails are obvious here. We continued going uphill toward the big shrine, which we could see from below.

The hilltop is actually a collection of several shrines. The main one, and perhaps the one that started the pilgrimage up to this small hilltop, was built and maintained by Adolfo and Mary Vasquez in 1980. There are several metal and wooden crosses at the top. I'm not sure of its history, but since 1980 there have been other people building smaller shrines for other deceased people. It's nice that the town of Bisbee and the adjacent Phelps-Dodge owned mine don't mind the personal touches left here. There is even a metal BBQ grill at the top and two benches, so obviously this place gets plenty of local visitors. I can imagine this being a very popular spot in the summer.

This hilltop is a special place. Not only is the view of Bisbee from here beautiful, there are many unique items people leave behind in crevices, from Buddhist trinkets to plastic dinosaurs, wine bottles and other items left behind in a person's memory.

I didn't stay long. The sky was turning grey and the sun was slowly making its way on the other side of the mountains. There wasn't much more I could explore here with what little light I had left. I let the dogs take me back down. Minnie followed our scent flawlessly, so that the descent was quick and easy.

I like Bisbee. Several bars in Brewery Gulch were open and locals were there chatting away. This town doesn't care so much about making a lot of money; the shops stay open to get together with old neighbors and friends. I don't see this in Sierra Vista at all.

I sat at the curb watching some dogs, even took several photographs, only to realize that one of the dogs was actually Zelda, a Ridgeback mix that belongs to Ken, a Bisbee shelter volunteer I met over a year ago when I spent so much time at the Bisbee Animal Shelter. I joined him for a beer at St Elmo's, chatted about old times at the shelter, and departed an hour later. I was back home by 4:30pm to a quiet house. Kevin was already in bed (still nursing a hangover?!) and Eric stayed in his room. Several phone calls to family went unanswered.

This was a quiet Christmas indeed.