After this rough weekend at the shelter where we learned that Diva was killed and another person turned in his 8-year-old German Shepherd Dog "Major" because of its terminal cancer and another woman dumped her mother cat and kitten right before closing time, it was one of those sad, reflective weekends. It was a Saturday I wish I hadn't been at the shelter.
And then last night I learned that my ex-husband's cousin's son was in a single-car crash outside Chicago last night and now in a coma. He's still alive 24 hours later which I see as a blessing, but all day long the thought of that young man, just a year younger than Erin, could die really depressed me. I remember when he was born, and I remember how happy the parents were. Unfortunately when Tim and I divorced we all lost touch.
Robin and I had talked about hiking today but that never happened. I just wanted a solitary hike with my dogs. So today I packed the three younger dogs in the truck and headed out to Oversite Canyon, the first big canyon in the southern Huachucas. I hadn't been there in years, and in fact other than that forest road (FR771) into the canyon, I didn't remember much else.
Oversite Canyon was burned in the June 2011 fire. The higher canopies were torched, and just like in Ash, Miller and Hunter Canyons, many of the trees are charred but others are not. The upper road is badly washed away and monsoonal floods have wrecked havoc on the creek beds.
The first mile on the trail is easy, along the forest road canopied by mature oaks. Another half-mile, though, and the road starts to dip and cross a dry creek bed. Here is where it gets rockier. I parked the truck just before the dip and walked with the dogs to the official trail head further on. There was some immigrant trash along the way, most which I picked up on the way back to the truck. This was easy walking and the dogs enjoyed the exercise.
Once I hit the official Miller Peak Wilderness sign, though, the trail got rough. The trees were looking dead here and there were large boulders on the trail, indicating that there was a massive rockslide recently. The higher I got in elevation, the more obvious it was that a fire came through here.
Another mile on the trail and I came across an abandoned shack near a creek. The creek was flanked by horsetail grass further uphill, giving the area a lush green appearance. This was heaven for the dogs, who all ran into the water for refreshment. I stopped here for them, exploring the shack (there was a set of clothing and a sun-burned backpack on the floor) and looked around. The western side of the shack was destroyed by a rockslide and the wooden ceiling was caved in. The rusty metal springs of a single bed remained, as well as warped wooden shelving built into the wall. At one point this was a cozy cabin for a miner. A faint trail meandered further uphill, but that came to a quick halt when I hit a rockwall. Had there been a mine here year ago? This shack looked like a popular resting area for small groups of immigrants attempting to reach Sierra Vista from this vantage point.
More later
Just ran into your blog by chance. Really enjoy reading about your adventures
ReplyDeleteKeep your adventures coming...i grow concerned when you go dark for long periods.
ReplyDeleteSorry, it was a rough week. One dog from the shelter died a painful, slow death from parvo last Tuesday (because it was diagnosed too late). My mother-in-law, an awesome woman, died on Feb 27th, the same day a cousin from the first marriage died after ten days in a coma. He was only 25 years old and the last time I really knew him was when he was three years old and playing with my son. Then a co-worker from my husband committed suicide at age 37. Kevin went to his funeral last Friday.
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