This hike and bushwhack was led by Stephen S from the Bisbee Muleteam. Eighteen people, including six from the SV Hikers, participated. Weather was sunny with highs in the mid 60s.
Our welcome to the team wasn't the friendliest. While the Mule team members met at the Ironman statue in town, Susan, Holly, Ellen and I met at the parking area on Juniper Flats since we were all coming from Sierra Vista from the west and would save time and mileage parking at the trailhead. The Muleteam, which is known to chat at the meeting place for ten minutes before leaving, finally joined us at 9:30am. We were not parked properly according to the team,. We were parked parallel to the road and were to park in at an angle. Ellen and I had to back in our cars properly to the team's satisfaction. I thought this rather stark welcome was an omen for the entire hike, but once the cars were all properly aligned, ill feelings were forgotten and we got on our way.
Access to the trail has been changed these last few years.
This hike begins on the new private road that is now graded and graveled. The last time I was here was years ago to Sandy Bob, and this road was a badly rutted ATV road to the rocky flats that quickly quagmired after heavy rains. There are now several homes built a mile down the road on the rocky flats hilltop. Initially access to Sandy Bob was not permitted, but the new landowner doesn't mind as long as there is no hunting, camping and vandalizing on his property
Without Stephen's guidance, I wouldn't have been able to find the old trail down to the canyon, thanks to all the "development." Once we were on the old trail to Sandy Bob, I got excited. I've always enjoyed the hike down to Sandy Bob and it had been so long since I was in the area.
But first we did a side hike down a steep canyon. Stephen detoured near the beginning of the hike by going down a side slot I remember from at least ten years ago when Kevin and I explored it with Sara and Sammy. He said it was "3/10s down" but turned the group around, though, when he decided that the grade was too steep for some of the hikers. This detour added a mile to our hike in the end.
I stayed with my friends Susan, Ellen and Holly, although I also chatted with Elizabeth from the Muleteam, as well as Debbie, originally from Vermont but now here permanently. Other people recognized me, too, such as white-haired George and Carol, and I wanted to get to know them better, but people stayed in their own cliques as we slowly meandered down toward the canyon and spread apart.
The pace was on the slow side. We stopped a lot whenever Stephen wanted to explain something about geology or history of the area. He had prepped the path with red ribbons and added a few more for better markings for the return hike.
The oak tree in the saddle is a well-known landmark. It's the half-way point to Sandy Bob from this tree. Today we went north briefly on the footpath from the oak tree, but then got off the foot trail leading to Sandy Bob and descended down a rocky, uneven route down the side of the hill we were on. Juniper Flats was now above us and we were seeing hill tops from other Mule peaks. This is terrain I had never been on and was excited to see our destination as the ground became more rocky and the views opened up. There were no shin daggers here, but there were plenty of hedgehogs and other cacti we had to be careful not to step on.
The more we descended, the more the Drop came into view. The path ended at a rocky spur which we followed downhill. There were several pools of water here for Zeke, and he took advantage of the refreshment.
Things quickly went downhill from here. The grade down from the rocky spur quickly got very steep, as it narrowed between two cliffs and required rock scrambling. There was no water, but any sort of moisture here would have made reaching the drop more dangerous, thanks to hard rock and steep grade.
We all sighed a collective "Wow!" as we got to the end. What a drop it is! We distanced ourselves from each other, me finding a shaded spot for Zeke near the drop. Holly and Susan quickly joined me, as did George.
Stephen the leader also sat near the edge, pointing out other hilltops nearby such as "Chutey Chute" across the drop. Sandy Bob canyon, he said, was just two miles over the hilltop to the northeast. Easier said than done! By now I knew that I didn't have the energy to add another four miles to this hike. Two hours later others agreed. Getting to McEntee drop was enough of a challenge on this sunny day.
Stephen also added explanation to the name of this drop. McEntee is the name of a well-known Bisbee family that Stephen and Holly know well. About 15 years ago Stephen hiked with the McEntees to this drop. Their 16-year-old son came along and dared to sit as close to the edge as possible. He didn't fall, but his dare now was cause celebre for a name change to this overlook, creating the "McEntee Drop" in local lore. This explains why one can't find any Google searches for this geologic formation under that name.
We had a long lunch break at the drop. I fed Zeke my chicken burrito and I drank water. Susan gave me an old energy bar. I wasn't really hungry at this point, but I was thirsty. I enjoyed this break, but when the wind picked up and I had to put my bright pink fleece jacket back on, it was time to return back to our cars. As remote as this drop is, I had to wonder how many people got lost in this canyon? There was no sign of any trash anywhere along the route.
We went back the way we came. The trail now locked well-trodden. We stopped briefly at the saddle oak tree before that final ascent back up Juniper Flats and the gravel road back to our cars. We all thanked Stephen for leading this hike and then we all drove off home.
I got home at 3:15pm, ate some more tiramisu, then agreed to meet Susan at 3:45pm at the river to give all the other dogs a short hike. Sadie stayed home, but Minnie came along, walking stiffly and slowly. Susan and I are getting worried about her. Is she in any pain when she walks?
Gretel and Hansel ran along the river. Gretel jumped up on Susan, hitting her in the face and causing her front teeth to bleed. That was not good. Gretel knows better than to jump up on me, but takes liberty with Susan because Susan is so gentle with Gretel.
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