Elevation: 5231' - 6864'
Significance: Scenic vistas, Spanish colonial history
Take the daily park shuttle to Montezuma's Pass and hike back, taking a one-mile diversion to the actual border
https://www.arizonahighways.com/explore/hiking/joes-canyon-trail
Summer vacation has officially started and the official Memorial Day weekend has begun. Why travel anywhere when we live in a tourist destination?
I met KimG, TheresaD, HollyW at the Visitor's Center at the Coronado National Memorial. This is a small patch of land that borders the international border. Spanish Conquistador Coronado and his band allegedly traveled nearby, using the San Pedro River as a water source, on his way north looking for the Seven Cities of Gold. I don't hike here very often because dogs are not allowed on the trail, but today I made an exception. This is a trail that KimG had recommended. I had last done this in 2003 with Kevin and 18" of snow.
We took the 8:30am shuttle from the Visitor's center to the parking lot at Montezuma Pass, a six-mile meandering drive up a dirt road. Vanessa, a young blonde park intern with spiky hair, was the driver and also historian, who gave us an overview of the area. We were all eager to get started and listened restlessly. One other man was in the shuttle and took off on the hike. We never saw him again.
This was Kim's and Theresa's first time on this trail. Both were excited about the scenery. Weather was in the mid 70s and breezy. We really lucked out, because it can get hot and dry in May. Our unseasonably cold weather continues. It was dry, though. The only flowers we saw were the red flowers of the ocotillo. A few agave were also in bloom, but the trail was void of any color.
We bypassed the actual peak from where one can view south into Mexico. The half-mile hike to the overlook is worth hiking to, but everyone wanted to get the official border. Hikers attempting the 800-mile Arizona trail have to hike this one-mile detour to official get started.
The border here is a mere barbed wire. That wire isn't very obvious as one hikes down the trail, but the white border marker does stand out. The marker has been repainted with silver. Security is provided by sensors and the ever-lurking eye of the surveillance blimp above Fort Huachuca. US Border Patrol regularly drive around the area.
We sat at the border for a good 30 minutes. A bench has been installed just north of the marker to sit and enjoy the view. Theresa brought her binoculars and looked south through the lenses, telling us that a man was looking back at us. There was a small ranch south of the border and we could see some tractors and other equipment in the yard. Other than a few isolated buildings, there is not much habitation here. Fifteen years ago this was a popular smuggling route. Today we saw no evidence of border crossers. Gone were abandoned backpacks, rusty tuna cans, sun-bleached Electrolyte bottles.
The hike back up to the ridgeline was all uphill. Once we got to the ridgeline, it was all downhill back to the visitor's center. My phone ran out of battery juice a mile from the finish line, as the trail narrowed and got steeper as we carefully maneuvered down the rocky trail.
We finished off the day drinking coffee at the local Brews Brothers in Hereford. We sat there for another 90 minutes chatting in the cool air. I paid the price for this jolt of caffeine because later I couldn't fall asleep. I finally got tired at 4:15am and fell asleep. Needless to say, I skipped the sunrise.
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