The Chiricahuas are a beautiful mountain range in far eastern Cochise County. Getting to any trail head on the western slopes takes at least two hours. I had to leave the house a 5am to meet Ryan in town and together we drove to Willcox to meet Jim, today's hike leader. Two other gals were to meet us there, but they were late and didn't join the hike for another 1:10 hours. The forest road to Rustler park was heavily damaged from the fire, and recent monsoons swept part of the road through mud slides.
We started our hike at 8:30am at Rustler Park, hiked two miles up a rocky fire break, and picked up the Crest trail and hiked south until we got to the peak three hours later. Several pools of muddy water provided Sadie refreshment, but I had carried plenty for both of us.
Jim's wife Jackie stayed behind to wait for Beverly and Nina, who drove in a separate car. We didn't wait for long once we got to the trail head. Damage from the 2011 fire and flood were everywhere, and the camp ground is still closed so that the forest service can remove the dead trees that still threaten to fall over. Removing the many dead or weakened trees will take some time.
There were plenty of fascinating mushroom growing everywhere once we got on the Crest Trail. Elevation leveled out as we hiked south, past two meadows overrun with yellow flowers. Views to the east showed heavy landslide damage. Even the trail at times was weak and gave way, causing me to fall twice. I was feeling tired and therefore was slower than normal. I didn't sleep well the night before, either.
Jim kept us fascinated with his stories of his Search and Rescue team. He knows all the trails in the Chiricahuas and he'd be a delight to have on more hikes. He carried two radios and some survival gear on him, always keeping in touch with Jackie to see if she saw the two missing women. Contact was sporadic at best.
Damage from the 2011 was obvious all throughout the hike. Dead Ponderosas stood like charred sticks across meadows. What once were lush forests were now cleared meadows, with new ecosystems developing. I had never been on this section of the Crest Trail, so I have nothing to compare this to.
Jim sat at the saddle just before Chiricahua Peak, but Ryan and I made it up the hill. There is now a partial northern vista where dead trees clear a view. An old survey marker marked the elevation, but otherwise there wasn't much here. Not all trees perished and there were still enough to continue the life cycle.
We noticed a recording device hanging off a tree in Barfoot Park as we returned the way we came, there to record bird calls. How interesting! We didn't find any surveillance cameras, though. Jim told us the drug smuggling in these mountains is worse than what the county sheriff's office wants the public to know. Judging from the daily arrest records I look at, that is what I expected to hear. Douglas, AZ is the town at the border and the cartel bring their loot up through there.
We were a mile from our cars when we finally found Beverly and Nina. I saw Bev's tripod first, then recognized her. They had explored the Crest Trail from near the parking lot. Beverly excitedly told us they had seen a bear coming down a hillside, but was unable to photograph it.
We all gathered back at the cars and agreed to have a late lunch in Willcox, but Jim got called to a rescue mission in the Dos Cabesas area: a man had gotten dehydrated and was in distress (the paper later said it was two men and a dog that were pulled off the mountain). My camera battery died at this point, as I looked east toward the peaks off Mascot Mine road. This is a hike I've never done, up Dos Cabesas.
The four of us ate at Isabel's South of the Border Mexican restaurant in Old Willcox. Sadie napped in the truck in the shade. It was a decent meal that perked me up. I felt much more energized after that water!
A spectacular light show broke across the sky as we got off the interstate for the last 40 miles to Hereford. Rain fell hard an hour after I got home.
MORE TO COME
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