SusanM, SteveT and I met at 10am with all of our dogs (six total!) at the Hereford Bridge trailhead parking area just west of the San Pedro River. Steve and Trace were the first to arrive, then me and my four barking dogs, then Susan with her gentle Allie. The only person we encountered was a trailrunner at the site who parked his Ford F-150 to run the three-mile loop.
Susan was right when she said the trail had been mowed. No longer were six-feet-high grass blades slicing and dicing me as we followed the trail south, first toward the river and then to the kill site. The first half-mile south to the first maintenance road is always overgrown and grows dense with vegetation by late summer, making this section hard to follow if left unmowed.
Weather was mild, upper 50s and overcast. This is the kind of weather that's ideal for this exposed trail. The only nuisance today was all the tumbleweed along the access trail to the river. It had piled up over six feet high.
"I was hoping the equestrians [who use this trail] would have cleared this!" said Susan. So had I! Picking up tumbleweed and tossing it off the trail was the least fun part about this hike.
The dogs splashed around in the water. Allie stayed with her mom on the banks but my dogs got wet and wild. Minnie goes nucking futs whenever I throw her a stick, then Sadie wants said stick but never bothers to run after it. After a few fetching rounds, we resumed our walk to the kill site.
The site is not marked from this vantage point, so Susan led the way. On the southwest bend of the loop trail, there's a partial old stone wall, perhaps remnants of a dam. That is where we cut off the trail to continue walking in the narrow wash. Exposed roots of acacia and mesquite dangle along the edge, desperately clinging to life. I can see how flash floods would seriously erode the canyon, perhaps change its course, and bury whatever ancient bones may still remain buried. The dense desert shrubbery would make walking here at night treacherous, but provide valuable shade during the day. Heavy footprints in the narrow wash allude to recent human traffic through here; a perfect course for border crossers to hide from the USBP as they would be below the horizon.
Trace flushed a large covey of quail on our return hike. That dog gets so excited when he sees birds. His hunting skills come out and he's enjoyable to watch.
I was a little disappointed that all we saw was a plaque describing the kill site. We could have driven to this site from Palominas Road! At least it made a nice hike destination. I also discovered where the trail diverts around the homes in Palominas and travels west-east rather than north-south. No wonder I could never find the trail once I reached the homes off the trail, because there is no through-way in town.
We used the rock ledge at the plaque to sit on, eat some snacks and give the dogs some water. The rock ledge is where once the BLM had a wooden sign designating this as the "Lehner Mammoth Kill Site." All that remain of the sign are the two wooden posts that once held up the sign. At least it made a nice place to sit, free from pokey desert flora and fauna.
Sadie and Minnie rested in the shade. A cool breeze refreshed us before we resumed our walk back on the western loop back to the parking area, a 1.52-mile route. The total mileage was just under 3.5 miles. My GPS tracker stopped briefly so I don't have an accurate tracking of the entire loop, but I do have the return walk from the kill site recorded.
This isn't a bad hike, just a boring hike away from the river if one is alone. The proximity to the border makes this a hike I would not recommend doing alone, but it makes a nice half-mile addition if one is doing the loop hike.
I was back home shortly after 1pm. An hour later I had to get ready for my last evening shift at the night school. Once there, I got a group text from my son Eric: he had landed in Baltimore! His six-month deployment to Niamey, Nigers is finally over, but I won't sigh with relief until he is back at his assigned air force base with his wife Margaret.
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