Elevation: 4329' - 5480'
Significance: riparian habitat with waterfalls, interpretive signs, historical sites, vistas. Hike uses both the Nature Trail and Madera Creek trails.
$8 Day use fee or Coronado National Forest pass
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It had been a while since I saw her. The last time we were together, we were with HollyO in New Mexico last September. I had to cancel our planned hike in March. Today was the make-up and weather was ideal, with mostly sunny skies and temps in the low 70s. We agreed to hike the Nature Trail in Madera Canyon, meeting in the Proctor Road parking area. This is the first pay station.
We met at 10:20. I noticed right away that Nina had lost weight. "Yes, I lost 20 pounds" by starting a fasting diet she heard about from a friend. We didn't hug because of this pandemic, and we kept our distance when we hiked or when we stopped to rest and talk.
This is Nina's playground. She showed me part of it last year when I flew back from Carol's birthday celebration last year, but a good half was new to me. The parking area was crowded with older birders and I missed her car when I first drove up. She was not late this time. We went down to the waterfall that was still trickling before resuming our hike uphill. The trail has a west and an east loop and we did both as a loop.
The trail was busy with families, photographers, people picnicking as it meanders uphill. The creek gurgled the entire time. Zeke appreciated the shade and water. We stopped often to drink and chat and we got each other updated on the happenings in our lives. Her husband is a regional supervisor for the Methodist Church, which currently is doing online sermons. She doesn't have a job right now and has more free time, which she fills up with making music videos for her church. I just hike, although there is plenty I could be doing right now.
There is plenty to see on this trail. The Nature Trail is named after native Iowan Bud Gode, who moved here in 1998 with his wife. A lover of all things related to biology and nature, he became very involved with preserving and protecting Madera Canyon. Gode died in 2005 and the interpretive trail was named in 2007 in his honor.
While the grade is easy, there is lots to see on this trail that requires extra time. Every tree species along the way is labeled, with a short description of the tree. Bat houses are erected for the bats that help pollinate the flowers in the summer. An unknown pioneer's grave is noted, as well as the grave of homesteaders from early in the 20th century. This place was busy in the frontier days! Many of the mines are now shuttered and mining roads are now hiking trails.
There are two picnic areas along the way that offer picnic tables, Nina thinks the portapots that are next to the shuttered restrooms were donated by the Friends of Madera Canyon.
Nina was quiet today, perhaps tired or stressed out, but she was clearly happy to see me and mentioned several times how thankful she is that I drove "all the way out here to see me!" Why would I not? Nina has a special talent of soothing my hyper mood. She can calm me down with her wise words of support. She knows I'm not a religious person, but she still respects me for my difference. I respect her because her church is more progressive than the standard Methodist Church today, which broke into separate churches when the Church authorized rights for the LTGBQ community. I would spend more time with her if we weren't separated by 80 miles.
She asked me about a mutual friend of ours, one with whom she had a bitter disagreement early last year. It dealt with the treatment of illegal immigrants. He, being bi-polar and an altrighter, said some awful words to her that she felt betrayed her trust. He had always asked for help when he was feeling down and she was always there for him. And then that comment... He has since moved away and I hear news about him through yet another friend. I filled her in on the news and she seemed at peace, but it's obvious that his words have permanently scarred her.
Nina comes here to Madera whenever she can. This is her hiking ground like the Huachucas are mine. She lead the way, stopping to show me several unique trees or flowers, including the purple periwinkle that adorned one side of the creek. Perhaps, I said, these flowers were once part of a homesteader's garden that have now gone wild. The flowers were only at one spot along the way.
We rested at the amphitheatre picnic area before resuming the next part of the trail, the higher trail that Nina said is the original Nature Trail. Signage said it was 2.7 miles to the even higher RoundOut, the last parking area in Madera Canyon, but our GPS tracks showed less than that. Here the trail leaves the creek and now meanders up a hillside, offerening views to either the west and the Green Valley, or east, toward Mount Wrightson and the crags. One can hear the traffic below. The trail then descends as it nears a B&B and finally the parking and picnic area.
We finished the hike here in the parking lot, at a shaded picnic table with an elegant trogon's barking sounds above us. How can such a beautiful bird have such an awful sound? Zeke appreciated the rest. The poor dog has done a lot of hiking lately; I should give him a break. All my dogs are now getting old and are having a hard time with the distances I make them hike with me.
We walked briefly on the road on our return hike, then cutting back to the trail by the amphitheatre. This way we cut out the ascent back up the Nature trail. Traffic was light. When we got back to the amphitheatre, we took the west loop of the trail to the end, passing the White House ruins, the pioneer graves, ancient American Indian mortars, and a curious deer that showed no fear of Zeke.
The hike took us five hours. I was tired and hungry in the end, more because of the time on the trail than the distance or elevation. I thought this would be a 5.3-mile hike, according to my Alltrails app, but we actually did two trails: the Nature Trail and the Madera Creek trails that came to 6.9 miles. Despite that, I wanted to have a post-hike meal with Nina like we always had in the past. Our only option was stopping at Culver's in Sahuarita, where we ordered via the drive-thru and then ate in the shade of a strip-mall parking lot, sitting on a median with our cars next to us. It wasn't the most enjoyable experience, but these are pandemic times. Zeke rested in the car in the cool shade while we ate and chatted next to our cars, then said our good-byes till next time with an elbow bump.
My original plan was to stop in Tucson on my way back and shop at Costco, but I was too tired and drove home, then went straight to bed. It was a very long day, but a very good one.
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