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.