Cochise Stronghold (West to East and Back)

I had joined a dog-friendly hiking group out of Tuscon about a month ago. This morning I finally had the chance to meet some of the people when I joined them on a hike to the Cochise Stronghold trail, an old Apache trail traversing the northern Dragoons through a pass. This trail has both a western and an eastern terminus. It is the eastern terminus that is more developed, but a parking fee of $10 per car is now required to start from that side.

The group started the hike from the east side; I started from the west side since it's closer and fee-free and met them a mile from the eastern trail head. I took Sadie and Minnie with me.

We had had another bout of rain overnight. We have already gotten more rain than expected, but I knew the rain would stop at sunrise. And it did, but fog remained over the Dragoons for most of the day. It was cooler than I expected.

For me to make it to the trail head in time I needed to leave the house at 6:15am. I was 35 minutes late and didn't drive off until 6:45am. Rainclouds obscured any light. There was heavy fog all the way as well so that it took me 90 minutes to drive 45 miles.

The sky finally broke over Middlemarch Road north of Tombstone. A rainbow popped up but lived only a short time.

The trail head to the western terminus is off FR 687. The road is quite passible for most of the ten miles on it. I could have taken my van. I don't remember the road being this level. I don't remember much of the road at all, though, because FR 687 ended at a ranch house and turned into FR 688. I didn't read about that anywhere, yet I proceeded down that road anyway. I didn't recognize the old trail head until I parked the truck and let the dogs out.

Nothing looked familiar once I was on the trail, either. It was 8:20am when we started, a good hour later than planned. The only thing that was familiar to me was the Divide, a saddle at the high point.

The trail on the western side immediately climbs for 1 3/4 miles. The sun was just beginning to color the boulders a reddish hue. Raindrops glistened on the trees. Manzanitas were a bright red from their wet bark. The aroma of sage was around me. It was a very pretty morning hike as the trail switch-backed up the canyon, with red rocks on either side of me.

Then I came across the waterfall. I never knew there was a waterfall here. This is the first time I not only saw it, but heard it: a gently bridalveil coming off high cliffs and splattering into a creek below. I didn't stop to explore as my mission was to hike as far as possible to catch up with the group coming from the other direction.

After passing the waterfall the rising sun began a golden hue over the higher peaks. This was invigorating. Even the dogs enjoyed the water along the way. Small drainages off the cliffs were pooling with water. I never had to break out my water for them.

Once I hit the Divide it was easy going downhill. The trail never became a challenge except for wet rocks. This was much more traversible than Slavin Gulch. My only complaint about today's hike was that I got wet from sweat and fog and never warmed up, even during the short time the sun came out. The fog that lingered on the eastern Divide moved more westward over the day. A waterbottle was leaking its contents down my back, which is why I kept my red raincoat on. That raincoat later provided me some warmth.

Hoodoos, crags, mesquites, pinon pines, yuccas, prickly pear, bear grass, chollas, shin daggers dotted the landscape. Mature oaks protruded from rock crevices high above me. The trail allowed for a vista far into the eastern slopes. What beautiful country.

I couldn't believe there was very little I remembered of this trail. I remember the hoodoos, the stock pond, the nature signs at the eastern terminus, but very little else along the way. It had been too long since I was here! I also discovered another trail, Trail #277, that branches off a mile from the eastern side and goes to Middlemarch Canyon. That must be explored at another time.

I finally met up with the Tails to Trails hikers. They were barely a mile into their hike, so I told them I'd hike down to the far end and come back. Bill, a dear hiking partner I've kept in touch with since late 2008, followed me back to the parking lot with his young white Labrador Bella to look for his leash he had dropped somewhere. It gave us some alone time to get caught up with the latest news. He found the lost leash placed on his back fender.

By the time we were on the return hike I started feeling tired. We finally stopped near the stock pond to freshen up. I had been in such a hurry to get caught up with the eastern hikers that I didn't take time out to stop and drink. After seven miles I needed water! Since the dogs had water around them they could drink at will and I saw no need to stop for them. In my haste I didn't stop to let ~ME~ drink. I felt tired the rest of the day because of the slight muscle cramping.

Bill and I caught up to everyone back at the Divide. Bill went back east with his older pals with an arthritic dog, while I went farther west with a younger group and their six dogs to explore the waterfall. I got to meet the group founder, Aleyna, and her younger friends and their Goldens, pits, terriers. Sadie kept her distance (she prefers staying close to me) but Minnie loved romping around with the others. I have never seen her in play like this. When she plays with Zeke it quickly turns into one of them getting aggressive, but today she was all puppy.

I chatted with these young women, all living in Tucson. All are smart and outdoorsy, with nice dogs from various breeds. I'm glad I finally caught up to them and met some of the group members (the group right now is at 187 hikers) and I would like to hike more with them. What keeps me away is the distance; most meet up in the Tucson area and do shorter hikes. For me to drive the distance I prefer a more challenging hike.

But who knows, that time may come. We hiked down to the waterfall creek to let the dogs romp, then tried to find an off-trail to get closer to the falls, but that was not meant to be. From our vantage point the cliffs were too high and too steep. We got close enough, rested some more, and when the gals went back on the trail to return east, I continued on west with Sadie and Minnie. We were alone again, and here is where I found a dry rock and fed them their lunch. Both were starving.

I met one more male coming down the trail who was spooked by Minnie. I let him pass and then continued down the switchback with her on her leash. I had to hold her back because she was tracking the man's scent back to the trail head parking area.

It was just before 2pm when we made it back to the truck. That seemed so long for a ten-mile hike, but I did stop four times to chat with others. That's still just under five hours, the same time it took us a few years ago to hike this distance.

The drive back didn't take so long since I now had sunlight and no heavy fog over me. But dark clouds remained over the Dragoons, with blue sky breaking south toward Sierra Vista. I was chilled, the dogs were tired, and when I got home around 3pm I was famished as well. Luckily Kevin had a great chicken meal ready for me. The dogs also got extra treats.

I'm looking forward to going back to the Dragoons. There is so much more still left to explore there. The last time I was in the heart of that range was when Sammy and Sara were much younger and we went on road trips. This area will forever have sentimental feelings for me.