Today was the last day of my four-day weekend. I woke up to a partly sunny blue sky. No rain clouds hovered over the mountains. I couldn't let this nice weather slow me down. While I lollygagged in the morning, I took Sadie, Zeke and Minnie with me to explore the rest of Thunder Falls in the Patagonia Mountains. I wanted to see where Forest Road 4701 ended, and to explore some of the mines. I did more driving than hiking today.
Sweetie stayed home because of yesterday's erratic behavior. I knew I'd be driving past open cattle ranges and didn't want to take the chance with her chasing cows. While she sulked being left behind, I knew this was the better decision, especially after yesterday's behavior.
I was last on FR4701 in January with the hiking club. I thought I knew where its location was, but I ended up driving at least six miles out of my way before I realized that FR4701 was just past the historic town settlement of Harshaw. It's the first forest road south of Flux Canyon, the canyon that is now closed off to the public because of mining operations so secretive, that the company has NO TRESPASSING signs posted off Harshaw road, with threats of legal action should anyone even stop to photograph anything. The signs and the secrecy behind what is really going on here has me wondering what is truly going on here.
Forest Road 4701 is still open for hiking, thankfully, but for how much longer? Back in January the hiking club parked right off Harshaw Road and hiked in. This time I drove my Ford Escape as far as I could go, with three anxious dogs eager to get out and explore.
I drove two miles up and over this scenic one-lane road. Mines are scattered along it, with tailings rich in malachite and azurite, minerals that indicate the presence of copper. A creek at this point leads to the waterfall .6 miles, but I continued on as far as I could go. The road gets heavily eroded just before the large Thunder falls mine. I parked in a shady turn off and continued my hike uphill.
As it turns out, the road comes to a dead end a half-mile uphill from the Thunder Falls mine. It looks like an earlier landslide covered up the highest mine shaft. The road comes to an abrupt end with no indication it continues. Mature pines offer shade and the views east extend to the Huachucas. I turned around here without a break to get back down to the main mine and explore that area. Here again a heavily-eroded creekbed washed away the road that was once here, ending in a lush box canyon. Smuggler trash is evident. I picked up the recycable stuff and later dropped it all off at the recycling bins in Patagonia on my way home. This area was burned in 2013 (?) and many of the dead pines stand as burned, broken pencil sticks. Many of the trees look freshly fallen by recent wind storms.
The interesting thing about Thunder Falls is that the old shafts are not clearly visible. I found a lower one near the dry creek bed, but climbing uphill to explore proved not only futile, but also dangerous. The dogs were ahead of me and their motion set the loose tailings to tumble downhill toward me. The upper hillside is growing back with manzanitas and pine, but I opted to return back to terra firma.
This hike from the truck up to the end of the road and along the mine bottom was just 2.8 miles. I now returned the way I came, stopping again at the Y-intersection, parked the truck once more and explored the lower road. This was a eastern-sloped mining road that ended .4 mile at a grated mine opening with views again of the east. The shaft was closed off to protect the bats that are now taking over. I could see inside the opening and recognize it as a large opening big enough to provide shelter for border crossers.
The sun was now dropping low and I didn't want to be too far from the main road while it got dark. My total mileage hiked was just under four miles today. I needed an "off" day and I'm sure the dogs didn't mind.
I was parked briefly at a Forest Service marker when a large white Ford F350 came uphill. Lucky me I was at a spot wide enough for two vehicles. This truck was driven by a Pennsylvania couple from Altoona, PA, out road tripping across the country. They were looking for a scenic spot to camp for the night. They had been on the road escaping Pennsylvania's harsh winter this season. They were in Florida during the brunt of the cold and were on their way to California for next week before heading back home. Dave is a retired physical plant operator from Penn State, and Maureen retired after 29 years in Special Education. They sleep in the back of their F350 and boondock whereever they can. They are driving a F350 because it offers 4x4 capability. They travel like I do! I stood outside their truck as we chatted about the local area (I did warn them of nightime smugglers) and gave them other ideas for scenic boondocking. In fact, Santa Cruz and Cochise County in Arizona offer endless opportunities for the boondocker; they came to the right place!
We could have chatted more, but now the sun was setting low behind the hills and I was getting cold. Dave and Maureen decided to camp at that spot for the night while I resumed my return trip back to Harshaw Road. Pick-up trucks were now heading out of Flux canyon. I parked briefly at the Harshaw Cemetery, a little historic site off the road where many of the first settlers are buried, many with Hispanic names.
The Patagonia hills are a regional secret for the outdoor recreationist, but the trails and roads through the hills are slowly getting swallowed up by foreign-owned mining companies. I need to get back into these hills before the rest of the land is taken away from us and the history in it is lost forever.
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