Volksmarch around Fairbank, AZ

The Arizona Trekkers, a state chapter of the American Volkssport Association, hosted a 5km and 10km around the historic mining town of Fairbank today. I had to bite. It was early enough and short enough for me to get a good powerhike in before meeting the gals at the shelter. I opted for the 10km at a brisk pace.

I used to do a lot of volkmarching while stationed in Augsburg, Germany in the mid 1990s. Volksmarching is basically fitness walking across country roads, mountain trails or even city streets. The walks are not timed but you get credit for both distance and numbers of events with each one completed. Avid volksmarchers collect the stamps on a regular basis.

I did quite a few volksmarches back East in the late 1990s as well, where there were many active groups. But out West here the participants are few and far between, and the few who do partake do so because they did volksmarching in Germany. Most volksmarchers here are older. What a shame as walking is so therapeutic. I never see a lot of walkers on these events.

A winterstorm came in as predicted, though. A highway marquee warned of high winds on my drive to Fairbank. I even wondered if it's best I didn't do this event so close to meeting the gals at the shelter. But I went anyway, questioning my sanity. The worst of the snow and wind was between 8am and 10am. The skies cleared up afterwards and the wind died down, so that 45F by 1pm felt rather nice. Meanwhile, people in New England survived Winterstorm Nemo, where eastern Long Island received 35 inches of snow. Here any snow had melted before noon.


I only took Sadie along today, since she knows trail etiquette and doesn't bark at people. Zeke and Minnie still do that. Plus taking her alone relaxes her, which is something I always worry about because stress bring on her epilepsy. She was a real champ today.

I got to the trailhead parking lot at 9am, chatted with the diehard volunteers who were outside in the snow taking on walkers. I was the first one to do the 10km (6-miler) at 9:10am. The loop took me through the historic mining town of Fairbank and then north along the San Pedro River before turning back south to the cemetery and finish. It had been over a year since I was here, and today was actually a pleasant day for a hike once the wind died down, because the honey mesquite smelled so good in the snow/rain.

The wide trail is ideal for horses as well. The mesquites along the way are trimmed high to allow for clearance for riders. The surface is compact dirt/sand that was a bit wet today and clumping around my shoes. There are no major hills along the route as the entire trail is on a plateau that looks down on the river on its western side. Historic mining relics line the path. The route today was well-marked with either red signs or chalk arrows on the ground. Getting lost would have required total inattention to the directional signs.

Snow fell hard the first two miles, but then stopped. The sun even came out in the second half as we were on the return hike. I kept a fast pace because I needed to meet the gals at 11:30am at the shelter.

The Fairbank area is an ideal winter hike. Once it stopped snowing it was quite an ideal hike as there was no wind. I walked so fast I warmed up in my ski jacket. Sadie didn't mind the cold, either.

I met several members of the Huachuca hiking Club today. They were doing a hike independent of the volksmarch and had started at 8:30am. We chatted a bit. I met a few new members and promised everyone I'd rejoin in March when the annual membership renewal is. I do miss some of the hikers. That group only did four miles in the end; they cancelled the 8-mile loop due to the weather.

This clockwise loop finished off at the cemetery before I made it back to the trailhead parking lot just before 11am. The parking lot looked full. Were people actually doing the 5km instead of the 10km? Regardless, the weather by 11am was nice for a leisurely hike across level ground.

I made it to the shelter at 11:15am, faster than expected. The skies were clear by then. Four volunteers were able to walk the dogs so that the last hour we just stayed in the yard and exercised the smaller pups. I met one very active volunteer, Laura T, who's been a big proponent of local animal rescues here. She took one of the sickly pups with her to nurse for the next few days. After the demise of one puppy earlier in the week from a wild strain of distemper, we are all worried this dog may be sick, too.