I had signed up to hike Ash Canyon trail this morning with a meetup group to view the annual fall colors. My night out in Bisbee for Halloween tired me out too much, though, as I did a lot of walking around the old district to take photos of people in costume. I finally made it to bed at 1am, but I didn't get up until 7:15am! I didn't hesitate, though. By 10am I was out with three dogs (Sadie, Minnie and Zeke) to hike Huachuca Canyon. I ended up hiking all the way to the end of the trail, which ends up in the Crest Trail, then I went south on the Crest Trail and hiked up to the next trail before descending again. This was a 7-mile loop hike.
My goal was to photograph the autumn colors. There was plenty of that in the lower canyon, where water is still plentiful. The colors were mostly yellow and brown-orange, with a few reds from the Poison Oak. I only brought a few 16-ounce bottles of water, with the intent on drinking one myself and the other three for the dogs. The dogs had their water from the creek as we walked uphill. My last time up this trail was with Beth and Sadie three years ago.
There was one car in the parking area, so that told me to watch out for hikers and to leash up the dogs. We took off on a side trail that quickly ended at the creek, and resumed the hike on the road. The deep crevices that the 2011 flood had caused have been smoothed over by the 2014 flood. While the canyon road isn't passable in a vehicle a 1/2 mile from the upper trail head parking area, it's perhaps doable in an ATV.
Naturally Minnie wanted to find a "stick" for me to fetch, which always results in Sadie barking because she doesn't want Minnie to have a stick. This barking is fine away from other people as it's a great bear deterrent, but in the lower canyon I wanted the dogs to stay quiet so others could enjoy the wilderness. There was definitely bear scat in the canyon, and some scat was quite large.
I remained on alert for bears. I could smell bear once we were at the post boundary and on the Crest Trail heading south. This is such a pleasant view toward the southeast and into Mexico. Parker Canyon Lake is visible from here. This called for a short break to take in the scenery. The foothills are dotted with oaks and mesquite.
It took me 1:45 hours to make it this far to the post boundary. That didn't seem too long. Three miles, perhaps? I was ready to hike longer and decided to go "just a bit longer" south on the Crest Trail, which follows the post boundary wired fence. The only thing that made me hesitate was water. I was carrying a camera bag (which contains various lenses which I never used) with only four water bottles. I had to conserve them.
I ended up going south on the Crest Trail anyway as it meandered up and down the ridge. Views of the western slopes were spectacular. When was the last time I was in the western foothills? The western trails are less populated. I should really think about hiking there soon. Years ago I remembered coming to a trail sign. I wanted to find it again. Would it still be there, 20 years later? Answer: yes! And that's when I decided I could turn this hike into a loop hike.
Minnie was panting at this point, and I had to stop twice briefly to get her to get her breath back. By now the trail was no longer a jeep trail, but an overgrown single track going steeply up a hill. What was once open and exposed was now shaded and narrow, and the dogs were rejuvenating from the shade. A few snags across the trail did not slow us down.
The trail had now gotten a new character, of shaded northeast flora and lichen-covered trees. The trail had a thick layer of pine needles to soften the impact. This was nothing like Huachuca Canyon! The dogs were picking up speed despite the lack of water. I wanted to wait before stopping for another water break. Even I was walking faster now.
This mile-long spur trail is steep and full of switchbacks. My knees were quickly feeling the steep descent and I had to brake a lot with my legs. This tired me out fast. The dogs were running ahead of me as I kept braking. I could see the canyon floor down below, but to get there took a while. I knew now that the dogs were going to get their much-needed water break.
There was wate as soon as we got back on the Huachuca Canyon trail. Here is where I sat and let the dogs refresh themselves again, splashing around, picking up sticks, and playing with each other. I'm grateful the dogs had confidence in me to get them back to a good water source. Now it was me who was feeling dehydrated.
The sun was now lower in the canyon, giving the leaves a more golden hue. The dogs were back to walking ahead of me, splashing in the water and sniffing for whatever scent it was that caught their attention. I was on auto-pilot, just walking downhill. I didn't even realize we were approaching other people when the dogs took off and started barking. Oh shit, I was caught off guard. A young couple walking their dog was coming toward us. Minnie was the most aggressive as she didn't want to come back toward me to get leashed up. How embarrassing. So the dogs ended up walking that last mile on leash, as we passed two more groups of people. Interesting that there were more people on this trail in the late afternoon, with just an hour of good sunlight left, than was here in the morning.
Much to my surprise, my black canvas wallet was placed underneath the left windshield wiper. That means I dropped it close to the truck as I was getting ready. Someone honest found it and placed it on my truck. My ID and credit cards were all there. Whoever found my wallet, THANK-YOU!
I stopped at the Main Gate Shoppette to get the dogs each a hotdog for $1.50 each. They were tired, and rested quite well the rest of the day. My legs were tired from all the weekend walking, but I'd love to host this loop hike again for hiking club members, perhaps even bag Huachuca or Lyle Peak as well.
more later
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