Bisbee at Night

I didn't want to deal with the 87F heat and opted instead to walk in the evening.  I had a lot of recyclables to drop off and used Bisbee as an excuse.  The town has plenty of drop-off points for various plastics, metal, paper and cardboard.  My flaw today was starting too late.  I didn't get going until almost 7:50pm, past dusk.  The lack of any moon light made this walk a challenge.

The goal was to walk around Old Bisbee and create a route that didn't require climbing stairs, as an alternative to the 4.7 mile Bisbee 1000 route. That's really not that easy, as most roads in town are dead-end roads and are connected by stairs.  Only three streets are through streets.  The lack of any moon (moon rise was after 10pm) created really dark corners in cul-de-sacs that surrounded me with darkness.

I started at the Copper Man statue, walked uphill to Quality Hill, then got stuck in a dead end.  This happened at least three times as I tried to map a route that was doable.  In two instances I had never been in the dead ends before, providing new views of the town that is rather quiet after sun set.  The only noise comes from Brewery Gulch and St Elmo's bar.  One of these days I'll van camp in town in order to wake up before sunrise to capture the views.  The only places with human nightlife were the various restaurants that cater to tourists:  the Screaming Banshee, The Stock Exchange, the Grand Saloon, the Old Bisbee Brewing Company and the local favorite, St Elmos.  The side streets were void of tourists.  A group of tourists asked me were Cafe Roka was.  Yes, I look and dress like a local!

From Quality Hill I went back down to the main street and walked the original route up the Gulch.  A stray dog there startled us.  It was tall, lanky and looked like a coyote with German Shepherd Dog markings.  Its tail was between its legs so it was afraid of us as well.  Later on, while looking at its photo, I noticed a collar.

I turned around here, just across from the Mimosa Market, and went uphill by the City Park.  At another cul-de-sac at N Sleepy Dog Drive off Miller Hill, I stumbled into a pack of rooting javelina.  Zeke would have chased this family had he not been leashed.  The animals scurried up a steep hillside and vanished in the bushes of a small yard under a home.  Not wanting to startle any more night life, I opted to stay on the main roads of Shearer, Tombstone Canyon and the like.

Across from the Grand Saloon I even came across what looked like a desert kit fox.  Its bushy tail and angled pointed ears were a give-away this was no cat.  It froze as it stared at me staring at him, before it, too, ran off into the darkness.  If all these  critters were within the town, imagine what was out in the dark canyons nearby!  There were people in the adjacent parking lot totally oblivious to all the critters around them.

Zeke and I managed 5.3 miles, some of it by repeating several stretches.  I avoided Moon Canyon entirely because I figured I'd see even bigger wildlife there, but adding that canyon would have added another mile to the route. By 10pm we both were tired and rested in the van parked across from St Elmos.  Now the loud screams from the drunks annoyed us and we finally drove off after 11pm.  By then Safeway foods was closed and I couldn't get Zeke a raw meat snack.  It's been a while since I stayed that late in Bisbee. Two more weeks from now, with school out, tourist season will explode with a vengeance.

http://www.mapmyhike.com/workout/2190945041