I lead another fun hike up into Slavin Gulch this morning. This was a MeetUp hike and not an official hiking club hike, although three of the five were HHC members: Ryan, Bill and I. Stacie and Robyn were new hikers. Stacie is married to a Marine and after having two young children, wants to get back into shape. Robyn, it turns out, volunteers at the Tombstone Small Animal shelter and knows Carol!
Minnie went with us this time (leaving Sadie at home), giving her a chance to shine while frolicking in the water. And oh my, what water we had! The water was not only running, it was cascading down the creek. I don't remember when it last cascaded. Minnie was in heaven and I never had to worry about Minnie getting dehydrated. She also did OK on the trail by not running back and forth between us.
We met the first group at 7:30am in Sierra Vista, then drove in my truck to Tombstone to meet two others. We drove in two cars down Middlemarch Road and turned left on FR42. This road was heavily damaged in recent monsoon. Rod was driving out as we drove toward the trail head at 8:50am, saying he had waited a while and was starting to feel sick and needed to go. We were five people and one dog at the trail head.
The high meadow was green and full of tall Lehman's Grass. This is snake country, but luckily we didn't come across any today. I had Minnie on the leash until we hit the creek, which was overflowing its banks in several areas.
When I lead a hike, I make sure all the hikers are doing fine. I make sure they aren't in any discomfort or are low on water. The two women who said they were slow were not really slow at all. Bill and Ryan stopped a lot to take photos, and that helped the slower members catch up without holding up anyone. When they did slow down on the uphill, I just waited for them. Stacie had not hiked five miles in quite a while, and today she finished the entire hike with no issues! That should boost her ego.
This was Bill's first hike into the Gulch. He had always wanted to see this canyon and joined us with a short notice. He had just returned from a trip to San Francisco. It's always nice to see Bill again, as he's a great hiker and an excellent hiking team member; he never lets anyone fall back.
We were lucky to have so much water flowing. The creek was overflowing its banks in the meadow, the first time I've seen that. I wore my water sandals but the others had to climb up on a rise to avoid the water. Minnie, of course, loved getting wet. She had plenty of opportunities to play and fetch her sticks.
The trail starts to climb shortly after that first creek crossing. The barb wire gate into the canyon has been washed away in recent flooding, making the entrance into the gulch easier as now there's no climbing over any rusted wire. The trail began to gain elevation while the creek stayed in the canyon. There was so much water we could have stayed in any of the pools for privacy, but instead stopped at the lower of two bigger pools to refresh ourselves. Another family was already at this spot. Minnie had a bit of trouble jumping down the rocks, whimpering in frustration but managing well without any injuries once she landed. (On the way back up I had to reconnoiter a trail around and back up to the trail). I took off my ragged jeans and revealed more comfortable nylon quick-drying shorts and shirt.
Only Ryan didn't go into the water, and due to medical reasons opted to watch from above as he took photos. I hope he wasn't bored.
We hiked up to the hoodoo saddle (I don't know the real name to this place). We arrived here at 11:27am, almost 2.5 hours after starting the hike! Here rocks provide for comfortable seating and tall shade trees offer some relief. I explored the saddle and discovered that water was still flowing up here. The old "shrine" is still there, still displaying an odd assortment of trinkets.
The trail continues uphill at this point, ending several miles uphill at the Abril mine. This section is an exposed section, with the trail hard to find at parts. I have not hiked this trail to the mine in five years, but plan on making this a fall hike. Instead, we returned downhill the way we came and stopped at the upper pool for another dip. A father and his two sons were here, jumping into the water from the rocks above. (This was not a very safe to do.) Minnie seemed apprehensive of the two boys and only cautiously ran into the water to fetch her sticks when the boys were nearby. Ryan and Stacie looked at tadpoles. Ryan held a red-spotted toad in his hand, which was not much bigger than a dime. The local man told Bill that this was the most water he's seen in the Gulch in 14 years.
Stacie had to get back to town by 3pm and we timed our return hike accordingly. We had no post-hike plans. Robyn drove back with Bill while I took Ryan and Stacie back to Sierra Vista. I stopped at Fry's to make sure Minnie got some raw meat strips as an award for doing so well today.
A 6.0 earthquake struck Napa County, California early this morning. I immediately thought of Darlene, but her home suffered no damage, just some broken glass. Her electricity was quickly restored.
MORE TO COME
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