On the way to Hidden Pasture

One of my hiking friends, Steve A, emailed some of us diehard hiking club members last night to see if we were interested in doing a short-notice hike toward Hidden Pasture north of Benson today for Labor Day. I have heard of this place and yet have never been there. Kevin and I had no other plans so I figured why not.

Thus a plan was born. Everyone that Steve emailed responded with a positive: Steve, John S, Rod, Gina and I. We met at 7am in town to carpool to Benson to pick up Rod. I drove my Ford Escape with Minnie and John, and Gina drove her Jeep with Steve and Rod.

Getting to the trail head was shorter than expected; it was 48 miles from us, on FR 35 off J Ranch road from interstate I-10. There was lots of traffic here, but no one else was at the trail head.

Here's where I discovered that my full camelpak of water and snacks was still on the kitchen floor. Steve and Gina shared some stuff with me, thankfully, but this is a first for me. Luckily there was water for Minnie, or else this could have been the nightmare hike from hell, as temperatures were in the upper 90s on a cloudless sky.

We were on the trail by 9am, and the heat was rising. Steve had us hike up the Ash Creek bed, where many pools of water had accumulated. Parts of this rock scramble were like being in an Arizona Highways edition, but away from shade or water and this was one grueling hike that only got hotter as the day progressed. I couldn't enjoy this as much as I could in cooler or wetter weather, and the others agreed. We could feel the heat reflecting off the rocks.

I kept my eyes on Minnie the entire time. I was afraid of coming up to a rattler. She never veered far from the trail, but her obsession with sticks lasted all throughout this hike. She brought me sticks, branches and stumps of various sizes, from a foot long to over five feet.

According to the GPS systems that Rod and Steve had, we had only done five miles round trip. It felt longer than five miles (I was thinking more of eight) but the heat had us all slowed down. All around us were granite hill sides, mesquite, fishhook cactus, cholla and prickly pear. It was all exposed. It was a dumping ground of rocks, a "badlands" that is neither good for agriculture nor ranching. We never came across any trail signs; the entire path was marked by cairns. The end of this unmarked trail is three miles one-way. We had made it 2/3 of the way, according to Steve.

Rod and John took turns leading the way. Steve stayed in the back with Gina and me to take pictures. He showed us a few Apache metates, some that were hidden by dirt that he brushed aside. How quickly history can be buried by sand and dust. John didn't seem interested in that park and hiked forward, only to have to wait for us when we finally came up to him.

No doubt this is a wonderland at the right time of year. Much cooler temperatures and more water would be ideal, like after a nighttime blizzard, when the rocks would melt the snow by daybreak. I'm sure two weeks ago, while waters in Slavin Gulch were running, this place was ideal, too.

I'm sure mountain lions live here. I saw two hawks fly overhead, and indeed this is a perfect hawk habitat as they can build nests in the cliffs. I also saw a few lizards, dragonflies and butterflies.

I had bad allergies all day today, which only got worse once on the trail. My eyes were burning so badly that at times I couldn't see my footing. I've never had a case this bad before, and especially not on a hike. What is the allergen? Rubbing my eyes only made it worse, too. I perhaps didn't drink as much as I should, but once we got back to the cars we sat there and drank lots of water; I finished off the quart that Steve had given me. I was in no mood to drink any beer or salsa that Steve had packed, although on a normal day I gladly would have accepted a beer. We talked about upcoming hikes, as there are many trails in Happy Valley I have never been on! Minnie dug a little pit to cool off in the sand as we chatted for quite a while about the hike and other hikes. Traffic roared nearby but never came to our trail head.

The trail head is also popular with target shooters shooting at the oaks and sycamore here, and I picked up some brass and some other trash.

I was tired now, and barely could stay awake. Plans to eat out for dinner were cancelled, as I was also feeling nauseous. It all felt like classic heat exhaustion to me. John even drove for me from Benson to Sierra Vista. Those 20 minutes were enough to rejuvenate me to take over and drive the rest of the way home soundly. Minnie quickly drank her water and rested the remaining of the day. The full Camelpak was still on the kitchen floor. I shared the pork bones with all the dogs. Eric was at work and Kevin was already in bed when I got home at 4:30pm.

Photos to follow.