Elevation gain: 1665' (5276' -> 5742' ->4698' ->5276'
Significance: rock formations, abandoned mines, historic Apace trading route
Trailhead: one mile north on FR4388 off Middlemarch Road (FR345) via old mining road.
This is a hike that Rod led with the Huachuca Hiking Club. He gave me permission to cross-post this on the MeetUp, so I just cut-and-pasted the information:
Hike: 7.4 miles round trip Elevation: 616 ft (5158’ – 5874’). 993’ accumulated elevation gain.
It was anything like that!
I was up early and took my time prepping. I opted to take Zeke, but then Sadie showed an interest in going and took her along as well. She had had her Neutricks chew at 3am and it was already calming her down. I had a gallon of water and two cans of food. Temperatures were forecasted in the low 70s so I just packed my yellow sweater. This was our first warm day all week!
By 7:30am I took off for the meetup place at Fry's Foods in town. Everyone was on time and off we were. At the intersection of Moson and Charleston Road driving toward Tombstone, I met SusanM who was waiting in her white Jeep Cherokee off the side of the road. We were a convoy of four white SUVs. Off Middlemarch Road we met a fifth car, Krisanne from Tucson. She had driven down via the east Dragoon exit off I-10.
I could tell that last week's rain has added a slight tinge of green to the otherwise dull colored landscape.
I had not driven on Middlemarch Road (FR345) this far east in years. It reaches a high ridge by Soren Pass before it descends, S-curving around a narrow pass and opening up views toward the west. For people with acrophobia, this is not an easy road, although the grade wasn't too bad. ATVs and hunters were out with their loose hounds, causing us all to stop and drive slowly as to not hit the dogs. We all agreed at the trailhead to drive back via the eastern paved roads on the return home.
We had to turn north on FR4388, which at the intersection of Middlemarch Road looks more like a sandy wash. If Rod hadn't stopped and waited for all the cars to turn here, finding the group would have been hard. We were a group of 15 people. We finally reached our starting point and began our hike at 9:13am, on a sandy wash past an old mining site, a place that Kevin and I explored with Sara and Sammy back in 2005. A green hue coated the eroded site. One can find malachite and iron ore here.
Melted snow had now moistened the ground, but only a few thin patches of snow were still around in shadowed patches along the way. We even came across a dead cow slumped over the side of the road. We wondered if it was injured by a speeding ATV as there were no predatory marks on the critter.
I don't like sandy wash trails. The loose soil slows me down. We were on FR277 that lead us to the official Middlemarch Trail. It was finally showing signs of returning to a singletrack as it slowly ascended up a rocky pass of loose, decomposed granite. One has to watch one's footing here. Years of harsh monsoons have helped erode the scarred hillsides even more. I was not expecting this route to be so hilly, based on Rod's trail description. He later admitted that he had merely guessed at distance and elevation gain.
One nice surprise was the water in the drainages that we crossed. The dogs stopped at all the water breaks. I never had to stop to water them on the way out. This was surely from snowmelt and a seasonal treat. The farther north we hiked, the more mature the trees became, providing for shade. The trail, along with the assorted rock formations, were finally coming into view, and are, in my opinion, the highlight of this hike. This is where the hike became scenic.
Rod even stopped at a large stockpond visible from the high point, where Mata, David and Karen's heeler, could fetch sticks. Sadie and Zeke enjoyed the water and Sadie barked for a stick, but wouldn't head into the water like Mata did so gracefully. Sadie did annoy the group with her barking, which she luckily stopped once we resumed our hike to the East Stronghold campground.
The stockpond was not far from the intersection with the East-West Cochise trail. From here the trail sign said we were two miles to the campground. I was hiking with new SVHikers member Galen, a heavyset retired postal clerk from Hawaii who joined to lose weight hiking. He looked to have some trouble on the elevation, but seemed to enjoy the rocks. I reassured him that the main Cochise Trail was no where as rocky or steep as the Middlemarch Trail.
We were now passing other hikers. I had to leash the dogs before entering the campground, which of course the dogs resented. We found an empty picnic site where we took three tables and sat to eat. The dogs got their canned food, I ate several tangerines. (I had left --Surprise!--my wrapped hamburger on the kitchen counter again.) The shade felt good. My legs were a little tired, more than I expected. I blame that on dehydration. I really need to drink more during the hikes. My GPS read 4.1 miles to this point, a bit longer than Rod's write-up. I knew then that this hike would be longer than 7.4 miles.
I didn't realize that the trailhead was a mile outside the campground on the edge of the national forest boundary, down the dirt Stronghold Road, past a few historic homesteads and the old family home of Richard J Shaw, born in Illinois in 1905 but whose parents moved to the area in 1916 to relieve his asthma, a tactic many pioneers used to settle here. Pancho Villa and his boys were still raiding the area, though, so it wasn't ideal living. The family returned to Illinois but then came back in the 1920s, grew an orchard and expanded the stone homes. When Shaw died in 1994, he donated four acres of his property to the Fort Sill Chiricahua-Warm Springs Apache tribe. The historic ruins are now fenced off and no one is allowed in them.
The Horse Trail begins just before the Shaw house on W Ironwood Road. It doesn't look like a horse trail nor did it look heavily used. Usually horse trails are covered in horse shit, but this trail was clean. It was a scenic single track that skirted the valley we were now climbing gently out of. We did meet an equestrian who stopped to chat, perhaps surprised to learn we were locals. He was a friendly, loquacious man, but the dogs were getting warm and I moved on to find shade and wait for the group.
The Horse Trail added 2.5 miles. I'm glad I did this trail as it gave me a perspective of the small valley the Shaws lived in, but that extra mileage started my fatigue. Even the dogs were slowing down and showing fatigue, digging into the soil after every break to cool down. When we got back to the Middlemarch trail I noticed my left ankle was tingling. Had I pulled a tendon in it? The right one was also tingling, but not as much. I had to stop more than usual, and Holly, Susan and the rest waited for Mel and me.
By 3pm we got a radio message saying that the other group had arrived at their cars and were taking off. We were still an hour away. We came back the same way on the trail as we hiked going out. Now the dead cow smelled stronger, the snowmelt was less obvious, and everything looked dryer than this morning. I was glad to be back at the truck. The hike was 5.55 hours long and 10.6 miles, over three miles longer than what Rod had posted. Even with the agreed to Horse Trail addition, this was a long hike. I hope this didn't dissuade new members from joining. I reminded Holly and Susan that SteveA's Horse Trail detour was an option we agreed to and not a fault of the hike leader. Luckily the water in the drainages kept me from running out of water for the dogs. The 71F and cool breeze also kept us refreshed.
We drove on US181 toward Pearce and Gleeson and took Gleeson Road back to Tombstone. This is a popular Ghost Town route, as many of these small ranching communities have historic sites open to the public and old mining trails meander up open hillsides. The extra 50 miles around the mountain range took as long as if we had driven back via Middlemarch Road. We got to Tombstone by 4:45pm, ate a mediocre meal at the Longhorn Restaurant (best known for its historic building; the food is just OK and overpriced).
We didn't get out of the place until after 6pm and by then it was too late for me to stop by and visit Chip. The best part about this restaurant was seeing the costomed actors in 1880 attire come in and eat after their work shift. Tombstone's economy is based on Old West tourism. To me, the town is a redneck hotbed of rebels and renegades, but that's my local perspective.
The sun was setting as I left the town at 6:25pm. I stopped at Fry's for raw meat for the dogs, who were both now exhausted and napping in the back of the truck. Once home, both slept soundly. Neither one moved the rest of the night.
My ankles only got worse as the night went on. I sure hope I didn't pull something in both feet. Despite the long day and sore ankles, I'm glad I did this hike with the group. I have hiked the Cochise Stronghold trail several times and always wondered where that Middlemarch trail led. Now I know! I can cross that trail off my bucket list. I probably won't be jumping at the next chance to do this trail again, though. This hike really taxed my feet going uphill on the return hike.
http://www.mapmyhike.com/workout/2742880168
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