Elevation
Significance: Old copper mine off the Hamburg Trail.
This was a hike Ellen asked me to join earlier in the week. The original intent was to find a cave in the area. The Hamburg mine is located just up from the Comfort Springs and Hamburg trails in Ramsey Canyon, a lush canyon that did not burn in the 2011 fire. This was my first time exploring this mine.
We started just before 6am. It was 60F with a slight breeze. Clouds came later, but we noted that the parking area was already filling up so early.
Zeke was my canine buddy today and he held up well. Our route took us from the parking lot up the paved road, cutting across the old Brown canyon road to the old horse trough and wilderness. We didn't come across anyone this early. We kept a steady pace as we climbed up into Brown Canyon, passing a wilderness camper's site before tackling the last two miles before reaching Ramsey Canyon. This camp site had been occupied by a camper who had been here for over a month. He left his cooking ware and trash hanging from a tree. Had he left for town to resupply? We both noted the camper's need for a glass measuring cup, hanging in the tree with his ladle, spatula, grilling rack and pot
"You walk faster than I normally would," said Ellen as we neared a scenic overlook into Ramsey Canyon. It had taken us less than three hours to reach this point, faster than she had allotted. I felt good now, energized and unhampered by heat. I felt better than I thought I would, considering I woke up with stomach cramps.
I found another rock painted by volunteers of the Sierra Vista Rocks group. This little white rock displayed a golden paw, the second of two rocks I found with a dog theme. I took the rock. If I make it to Indiana later this summer, I will relocate that rock in the Indiana Dunes.
There was water running in the upper Ramsey canyon. I let Zeke stop as much as he had to to drink. The gallon of water I was carrying was mostly for me. Birds were chirping and butterflies were out. Golden Columbine and Indian Paintbrush were the two common flowers. Ellen swore she saw the rounded ears of a small black animal, but we couldn't locate anything. It had moved too quickly. If it was a bear
cub, we were best at leaving it alone.
The Hamburg trail is a steady, steep climb to the Crest Trail. It's a beautiful canyon with lots to see and hear, but we were only on it for a mile before turning left (south) on the Comfort Springs trail, then quickly turned right (straight south) on the abandoned trail that leads to the old Henry Hamburg mining site. Ellen called it a social trail, but I could tell it once was the main path into the mining site, with rusty mining equipment scattered all over the area.
This site was our destination. It was once a busy place, mining for a variety of minerals such as Lead, Zinc, Copper, Silver and Gold. An interesting feature I found was the old brick firehouse building, constructed of both native rock and bricks from the "Evens and Howard" brick company out of St Louis, MO (1857-1930s). Most of the metal left behind when the mines closed in the 1930s was recycled for the World War II efforts by a local man, Tom St John, so what is left now are parts of heavy or large pieces of iron and sheet metal.
The site is now heavily shaded and overgrown. Ellen had her waypoint and climbed up a steep hillside looking for the potential cave. All she found, however, were batches of stinging nettle that immediately caused her to break out in burning hives. She thought they were young mint plants. I'm very familiar with the effects of stinging nettle as it grows rampant in Germany, but I didn't expect it here in the Huachucas where poison oak is more common! The nettle only grows in the wetter north slopes. Ramsey Peak is visible from the area.
The stinging nettle kept Ellen from wanting to find the waypoint. "Let's go over to the pit!" she then said "I'm done looking for the cave!" The pit, it turned out, is from another mine across the site that was filled with water a few months ago when Ellen was last here. We climbed up this steep hillside and made it to the pit, which today only had about a foot of water in it. This was easier said than done, as the steep hillside was covered in dry pine needles, preventing us from good traction.
This was the extent of our exploration. We hiked back out the way we came, now meeting people heading up to the Crest Trail and others that just wanted to look for birds. We again stopped at the scenic overlook of Ramsey Canyon before returning the way we came through Brown Canyon.
The sky was getting darker, it even rumbled once around 11:50am with three miles to go to the finish line, but it never rained on us. The forecast was for a 20% chance of precipitation all weekend but we had missed the chance. We ended up having good weather for this hike: temps between 60-84F, overcast, and slight breeze.
The hottest part of our hike was the last half-mile on Ramsey Canyon Road and the exposed heat of the sun. There was also lots of traffic we had to dodge.
We got back to our cars at 1:36pm. I was starving by then and contemplated heading back to Culver's for another spicy chicken sandwich, but instead drove home where I quickly heated up some cheese tortellini with Ragu sauce.
I witnessed Minnie step into the kiddie pool to cool off. Finally! I bought that plastic pool with her in mind. She didn't stay long in it, leaving behind lots of grass on the water's surface and mud on the bottom. I also noted that Gretel's ears are finally lifting, but it will be another month before they are erect.
The pups both went into the crate at night to sleep. I didn't even have to coax either of them!
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