Saturday, May 23, 2015

Old Tombstone Railroad Bed

This was a level 5-mile hike that EricT hosted for MeetUp.  ClaireJ and EricS were the others (we were four people) I took Zeke on this hike.  This was advertised as a sunset hike over Tombstone. We got back at dark.

I had to rush to get to this meetup on time, having gotten home from the Eureka Mine Hike just two hours earlier.  We met at the Haskell Ave post office on the west side of Tombstone, away from the touristy stuff.  The post office is not easy to fine, being off the main road.

This hike was more fun than expected, with the turn-around at the old trestle bridge 2.5 miles into the hike.  This was my first time here.  I got to see the real Tombstone and not the artificial touristy part.  

The entire trail was on the old railroad bed, in a straight-line distance traveling northwest that meandered briefly around the edge of town, south of SR90 and the hotels there, before disappearing into the desert of creosote and prickly shrubs.  This, I discovered, is where ATVs like to roam, away from crowds and on unmarked dirt roads. Their dirt trails linger in the air as they pass by in the distance.  On the high points one can see dirt paths  meandering all over the area, popular with both horse and ATVers.



The trestle bridge alone was fascinating to see.  EricS later read up on the bridge, that only a few years earlier had lost its vertical suspension poles.  What we saw was the last remains of eroded wood ready to fall apart.  The trail continued on the other side of the bridge, but it was too late in the day to explore any further, so we returned via a very sandy wash, around to an old dam that surely must be a sight to see during heavy monsoonal flood. 

The sun was now setting when we got back on the railroad bed after the dam, as the Dragoon Mountains lighted up orange at sunset.  What a sight to behold, and I didn't have any decent camera to capture the shot as my cellphone is too weak.  Coyotes were howling nearby. I will have to come back here to capture that image.

 



Eureka Mine to Sunnyside Canyon (7 mile loop)

This was a combined hike with both the Huachuca Hiking Club and the SV Hikers and advertised as a clean-up of the old Eureka Mine.  Everyone was encouraged to bring a trash bag to haul out some trash. This mine, situated high up Sunnyside Canyon with views to the south, makes for a challenging but pleasant hike in the southern Huachuca Mountains.  The section along Sunnyside Canyon is also part of the Arizona Trail.

This was my first time to this mine.  There was water in Sunnyside Creek for Sadie to drink from. The return down the mine, however, was hot and exposed.  We had expansive views south into Mexico

Eleven people showed up. Steve Sch, BillK, Laurie, Joe, Rod, JohnS, Whiteney, Paul, Britton, Brian, Sadie and I.  We had met on post, cut across Fort Huachuca, and the drive took us a long 1:15 hours.  This made for a long day. 

We ended up collecting 48 pounds of trash.  Kevin let me drive his old Chevy S-10 pick-up to haul the bags of trash away.  So much more was left behind, as the mine and the look-out is used by illegal border crossers. 



Hike Narrative by RodC:

A mixed group of 11 hikers from the Huachuca Hiking Club and the Sierra Vista Hikers meetup group assembled at the Ft. Huachuca Main Gate AAFES gas station around 0730, and consolidated into four vehicles for the drive to trailhead.  Proceeded about 30 miles (1 hr, 15 min) to the trailhead via the West Gate, Cimarron Road, SR83, Montezuma Road, and Sunnyside Canyon Road to the parking area in Scotia Canyon arriving around 8:45 AM.  On the drive in the hike leader missed the turn to Sunnyside Canyon, but discovered the mistake before we got to the deep Scotia Canyon stream crossing.  All four vehicles then backed upped to the Arizona Trail parking area on the plateau between Scotia and Sunnyside Canyons.

 


Started hike heading SE on AZ Trail towards Sunnyside Canyon.  Noted two vehicles parked near the Miller Peak Wilderness Boundary in Sunnyside Canyon as well as four campsites along the road while driving to the trailhead indicating this area as a very popular destination for the Memorial Day weekend.  Looked for, but did not find, petroglyphs near the wilderness boundary previously pointed out by Zac Ribbing (Coronado Forest Trails Coordinator) on the March 29, 2014 work weekend.  Water still flowed intermittently in Sunnyside Creek, but the stream flow had decreased significantly since the 28 Mar 2015 work weekend event. The water trough, located in a corral about 1.3 miles from the trailhead, was full of water supporting a community of aquatic critters and plants.  K9 Sadie had plenty to drink on this part of the hike.



Arrived at the bottom of Piano Hill after 2.4 miles of relatively level walking.  The town of Sunnyside was religious commune in the late 1800’s operating the Lone Star Mine in Sunnyside Canyon. “Residents often went to church in Lone Star camp 3 miles away, plus daily prayers at meals and in school.  A music teacher had a piano hauled by a horse team to her house on “Music Hill,” and gave lessons and played for communal singing.” ( http://www.apcrp.org/SUNNYSIDE/4_Sunnyside_Cem_Mast_Text_022513.htm ). The story of Piano Hill was that the draft animals had balked at hauling up this piano on this steep section of the wagon road, and it had to be man-hauled up instead. Piano Hill climbed about 200 vertical feet in a third of mile (10% grade), versus the 400 vertical feet in the previous 2.4 miles from the trailhead (3% grade). Suffice to say this hill greatly slowed the pace of some hikers, but at least we didn’t have to carry up a piano.



Did not hear any trogons squawking in the canyon this time, but Bill King said he saw a bird flying by with a red breast which could have been an Elegant Trogon.  Did not see much wildlife on this hike, but then 11 noisy hikers and one dog probably chased most of the wildlife away.  The group consolidated at the mine site, and continued up the AZ Trail and Copper Glance Road topping out at the ridgeline overlooking Copper Glance Mine at the collapsed shed.  Picked up smuggler trash around the shed, took photos and selfies at the Copper Glance Canyon overlook before eating lunch. 



Most of the group were now burdened with trash bags as we bushwhacked back down via the overgrown Eureka Mine Trail.  It was pointed out that it would have been better to go up the Eureka Mine Trail and carry the trash back via the Sunnyside Canyon trail/AZ Trail. Future hikers on this trail should take loppers and saws to remove some of impeding vegetation. Stopped at the upper Eureka Mine (5.4 miles from trailhead and 1.5 miles from lunch spot) to look for malachite and azurite (copper ore minerals) in the mine tailings.  At the 5.8 mile mark, we came to the Eureka Mine Road and were out the woods.  This road is a steep descent with little shade to Sunnyside Canyon (1.3 miles with a 700 ft elevation drop).  The road dead ends at the Eureka Mine about 0.4 miles from this junction, and is mostly level and shaded.  The group elected not to go to the lower Eureka mine, and we headed down the road back to the shadier and cooler canyon below.

Arrived back at the trailhead by 1:20 PM after 7.6 miles of hiking where the 48 pounds of trash picked up at the shed were dumped into Connie’s pickup.  At the AAFES gas station meeting parking lot, Paul discovered his vehicle had acquired a flat tire during our absence.  Brian and Rod assisted Paul in changing the tire. If you are going to get a flat tire, a parking lot at a gas station is the probably the best case scenario for this mishap.  Thanks to all those who carried out trash, and apologies for the bushwhack route down.

 

Saturday, May 16, 2015

TV Hill-Split Rock Canyon and Blacktail Pond loop

This is a hike that Big Steve led. I cross-posted it to the Sierra Vista Hikers and at one point, had five people signed up. This morning all had un-RSVPed for various reasons. I think the primary reason was the wind. We have had strong winds for over two days now. Rod, Paul, Steve, John, me and Sadie were on this hike. We started this hike at 7:50am.

While it was in the low 50s and clear at the start, the day promised to be 70F and overcast. And that's how the weather was once we were high on the ridge. The plants still had some morning dew as we hiked by.

The first 2.5 miles were up the steep, exposed jeep trail to TV Hill. While the views were nice, the steepness really hurt my knees. Now I can say I've done this hike and don't plan on doing it any time soon, like so many of the northern mountain trails in the Huachucas. We had nice views of Huachuca Peak to our south, and the Whetstones to the north. Fort Huachuca was to our northeast. The largest military solar array is visible from this vantage point. The trail to Split Rock Canyon from TV Hill was narrow and followed the side of a ridge. It felt more like an "illegal" trail with the many rusted Jumex cans littered off the trail.

I had to put on a third layer at the start. The wind was a cold wind that persisted until we were on the ridge line protected by scrub oaks and pigmy pines.

My legs still were recovering from the steep hike last weekend. I had to stop a few times. In the end it was Steve and I who made it to the Blacktail Pond first. Not that I was racing anyone, but John stopped at the saddle due to lack of energy, and Paul and Rod kept a steady pace in the rear. The pond was 4.7 miles from where we started.

"You are not alone!" said a deep male voice as I reached Blacktail Pond. That scared the shit out of me. It was a man in heavy camouflage. It turns out he had been sitting in the shade of some pines hoping to kill a deer with his bow and just wanted to warn me. (Bow hunting season started today). The man probably didn't expect three more men to come in behind me. He left a few minutes later, perhaps because he realized we were a chatty group and he wasn't going to catch anything this morning. He had watched a bear get into the pond, wash off, and leave, two turkeys and several birds before we arrived.

My last time at Blacktail pond was with Ryan last late summer, when the water was high. This time the pond was at its more normal low level. No streams were running into the pond, and the falls in Split Rock Canyon were dry, too. Sadie walked up to the pond twice for her water, but otherwise stayed with me higher up on a rock as we ate our lunch and chatted a bit.

It had warmed up nicely by the time we started on our return hike, which was just under four miles. It's a steep trail but not as steep as Rock Springs Trail last weekend. Views into the fort are visible from the upper points of the trail.

I was tired by the time we made it back to our cars. I sat on the ground while the men chatted, feeling hunger creep up in me. No one wanted to go out to eat with me, so I stopped at the post Burger King for a Whopper, fries and a large Diet Coke. I stopped at the shoppette to get Sadie a thick hotdog. I came back home to an empty house, with Kevin in Phoenix and Eric at work.

Saturday, May 9, 2015

Huachuca Peak the long way up

https://www.meetup.com/Sierra-Vista-Hikers/photos/26110121/437267540/#437265577

I had eleven (!) people show up for my hike today up Huachuca Peak. One came from the local meetup (Brian), the others came from the Huachuca Hiking Club. Several people I hadn't seen in over a year: Brenda and Gordon were also there. Bill from Sahuarita showed up to bag his first climb up to this peak. Ellen was there as well. Others, like Big Steve, Paul, Jim, JohnS and Rod were HHC members. Ages ranged from 32 to 77. It was a robust group. Sadie was my loyal hiking dog.

We met at 7am at the Main Gate Shoppette. By the time everyone had signed in, it was 7:20am and we carpooled to the trail head up Huachuca Canyon. Rod insisted on driving up further on the road, but I wanted to keep the cars parked safely at the parking lot. His discontent with my stubbornness was evident in his trail report which he emailed everyone. (Rod is the club secretary.) We finally got on the hike by 8am, passing a large group of birders at the start of the trail.

The water that was in the canyon last fall had dried up for the most part. Only a small section of pooled water was on the trail near the Upper Huachuca Trail. I wanted Sadie to drink as much water as possible from streams. Although I brought a gallon of water in two jugs, she had four more bottles in her pack. She didn't seem too interested.

We hiked up to the end of the Huachuca Canyon trail where it T-intersects with the Crest Trail/fire break. The Crest Trail is more of a wide jeep trail here, with several "illegal" trails coming up to the old wire fence from the west. I had never taken any of these illegal trails down into the western slopes.

Rod and Paul were the slow ones today, but they still hiked at a consistent pace. We waited here for them and I made sure they were rested before we resumed our hike. I stopped whenever I didn't see Rod and Paul in the distance. The crest Trail here gets steep as we climb uphill for a mile. While there was no longer the musky scent of bear, we saw several piles of scat along the trail.

Views here are to the west, with the silhouettes of the many ranges. An orange haze today made distant peaks like Baboquivar peak, sacred to the Tohono O'odham tribe, barely visible, unless you knew were to look. The oaks in the western slopes looked dry but were still mostly green and still looked healthier than they did a year ago, when many were displaying yellowed leaves.

We had to hike single file now as the trail narrowed steeply uphill before reaching the more level section. The last mile was on the eastern slope of the ridge and shaded. We made another stop at the intersection with the Upper Huachuca trail, where a sun-faded jacket hung over the aging forest sign.

The section between the Upper Huachuca Trail and the intersection with McClure Canyon is one of my favorite sections. This is Pine Park, a high grassy area dotted with mature pines. An abandoned helopad left over by Fort Huachuca is now overgrown with grass. During the Vietnam War era, the Army used this area as one of seven air-assault training areas. A second helopad is near the Knob by the Lower Huachuca trail.

By now the stronger hikers remained up front: Bill, Brian, Jim, Ellen and me. Gordon, Brenda, John stayed with Rod and Paul. I let the stronger hikers go up ahead as now my shins were hurting. We were at five miles and still had another mile to go! Sadie, too, took every opportunity to rest in the shade as we waited.

This last mile spirals around to the peak. The southern portion of the peak is a vast limestone wall that is prominent from the western slopes. But this peak is well-hidden by other peaks nearby. Mature pines, oaks, junipers and plenty of agave and sotol cover the terrain, with several openings into the vista. We passed what looked like the death scene of a wild turkey, as its feathers covered one small area. Raven gawked overhead as they circled us, perhaps uneasy about all these humans coming to the peak.

"Rod and Paul will meet us at the Rock Springs trail!" said Jim, so on we went to the peak. We made it to the peak in 3.5 hours. Everyone's GPS was giving us a different reading, and my smartphone app had turned itself off after the there-mile mark. I ate some day-old rolls Kevin got from the Texas Roadhouse in town, drank some water and Sadie ate an entire bag of smelly salmon jerky. She still stared Ellen down for more food, and others nearby. (I fed her an extra can of Iams when we got home.)

We spread out on this rocky, cactus-studded peak. The sun was warm but not as warm as it normally is in May. Today's weather was on the cool side, but perfect for hiking. Perhaps it was in the low-to-mid 60s. The longer we sat here taking in the views, the cooler the breeze became, so after 30 minutes we descended. Rod and Paul had made it up after all but had sat in a different area, closer to Gordon and Brenda.

The wild onions were just now coming up and weren't very fragrant, but I showed Bill the fossilized coral and other embedded remains left in the limestone. I can only imagine how these fossils made it at an elevation of 8000 feet.

We took the steep and little-used Rock Springs Trail down. This is a very steep one-mile! There was no water, but wild Irises were growing in one section, and young shrubs in another. It's been over a decade since I ventured UP this trail trying to find the peak, but got lost and ended up in a rocky cliff area where I then opted to return downhill. We had to watch our footing the entire time. My shins were aching going up the peak; now it was my thighs and left knee that were hurting. I fell once, but luckily no one else endured any missteps.

When we all regrouped at the bottom, along D Break, we decided to continue north on the steep D-break because of Gordon's sensitivity to poison oak, that is found along the creek further down. The last three hills up D break before we leveled off and finished off the trail going down the Lower Huachuca trail were very painful. We all looked tired.

We met a lost birder here who then followed us back to the cars. The sign for the Lower Huachuca trail is no longer posted at this saddle, but I found the trail behind young manzanitas. Jim and Brian were ahead of me. We rested again in the shade along Huachuca Canyon Road. Sadie parked at one woman's huge dog, but she seemed very exhausted as well.

We made it to our cars by 2pm. There were still birders out at the trail head. One took our group photo and then we departed. Jim, John, Steve and Brian went home and the rest of us went to Culver's for a post-hike lunch. Sadie spread out in the back of the truck, parked in the shade, and got her meal when we got home at 3pm to a quiet house: Eric was at work and Kevin was already in bed.







More tomorrow