I cancelled a hike in the Chiricahuas this morning because of the forecasted rain for mid-morning. Ten people had un-RSVPed before I cancelled at 5:30am, so that alone encouraged me to cancel. I didn't want to risk having high winds and rain during the two-hour drive to the trailhead. But I should have gone on the hike anyway. The weather in the eastern part of the county wasn't that bad.
We did receive the rain, but it wasn't as intense as it was supposed to be. It started drizzling at 6am, with a few bouts of intensity, but it wasn't the howling strong storm we were expecting. Pache came home wet and cold and then stayed inside the rest of the day, sleeping on his perch in the garage looking out the window.
All morning long I regretted bowing out, but when one hiker encouraged me to go out to check out the Stronghold at 11am, I bit. I am glad I did. Now I had an excuse with some invigorating company. Had we waited any longer, we would have finished the hike in the dark and been all the more colder and wetter for it. I took Sadie and Zeke along, my two strongest hiking dogs.
Kristin, a young woman new to this area wanted to hike, regardless of the weather. We met at the Fry's store in town at 11:10am and carpooled together to the trailhead in the western Dragoon mountains. Cochise Stronghold is a five-mile trail the Apaches used for hunting and scouting and travels over a moderate elevation with easy grade. Elevation is between 5000 and 6000 feet, so nothing too strenuous. The ten-mile trail out-and-back offers views of both east and western vallies, with striking views of the rocks. We started our hike at 12:34pm. It was cool and foggy, with just-fallen rain on the Buffalo Grass hugging the path. That wet grass dampened my jeans and running shoes real fast! The sage and juniper scented the trail nicely as we hiked up the rocky, manzanita-studded slopes.
We walked at a steady pace. There were some puddles and mud along the way, but nothing that would force us to turn around. The rocks weren't too slippery, either. We got to the Divide, the highest point on this hike, a hour later. I had a rain jacket on but Kristin just had several layers of wicking gear. Both dogs were behind me during the entire hike. Even Kristin said they were very well behaved and asked if I had trained them. No, I replied, they are just used to hiking with me. Zeke does tend to want to chase deer and cow but luckily there were none on this hike. I brought my leashes and only used them in the campground.
Once on the Divide, it was all downhill to the east campground. There were no hikers on this trail. The rain must have scared them all away. Most hikers starting on the east end are also campers, and most would have left early Sunday to head back to their homes. The only person we saw was a young man with his young Black Lab, standing at an overview a half mile from the HalfMoon Tank. The dogs barked but quickly calmed down. No cows lingered around HalfMoon tank, either. The tank was nicely filled and didn't smell too badly of cowshit. We also saw a lot of horseshit.
We never saw sunshine on this hike. The fog and drizzle followed us on this hike both going out and coming back. I was hoping to catch sunlight on the autumn colors, the trees along the creekbed were in their prime, but that was not to be. The sun adds color to these granite outcroppings, and the colors are always changing. At least the cool temperatures kept the dogs energized and we didn't need to worry about heat exhaustion. There was plenty of water in mortars and puddles along the way for the dogs.
The plan was to hike two hours one-way, surely making it to the east side by then. And we did. We arrived at 2:30pm at the campground, used the bathroom, and had a 15-minute break as we stood and ate our snacks. The dogs got their jerky treats. There were three campsites still occupied, but no one was walking around. The man and his dog returned to the campground, we waved at him and resumed our hike back at 2:45pm, hiking the way back up the way we came. We were now more tired and I could feel my
fatigue set in. I had worked up a sweat and that sweat was cooling me too much. The grey clouds got darker, the rain more intense for the few times the clouds broke open. The overcast prevented Kristin from seeing the usual break of colors in the afternoon, as the waning sun shines its last dying rays on the rocky hills around us. This is beautiful, rugged country any time of year.
The two miles downhill from the Divide were cold, dark and windy. My hands never regained their warmth. My feet felt like trenchfoot was setting in; they had been wet and cold for the duration of the hike. We saw some sunshine briefly glow against one hillside, but that, too, quickly vanished. We got back to the truck at 4:30pm, making this a hike just under four hours for the ten-mile hike. This was an invigorating hike, and I'm glad Kristin encouraged me to do it. I would have spent the rest of the day regretting cancelling the original hike.
I got back home at just after 6pm. The dogs were tired. The house was quiet as Kevin was already in bed. Luckily he had kept dinner wrapped in the refrigerator. I helped myself to a bowl of Mac-Cheese-Italian Sausage as the wind outside increased in intensity, and by midnight we had gotten the storm that was supposed to hit us 12 hours earlier.
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