Ellen proposed this hike, a repeat of the hike we did the Friday after Thanksgiving. We had turned around with 1.2 miles to go on that hike because three other hikers with us didn't want to go further. It was too steep for them. I told Ellen then I would like to come back and finish the hike. Today was that day. It was just the two of us.
We met at 0840 at Hunter Canyon. I was early and explored a new mountainbike trail right off the parking area with Zeke and Gretel, managing a mere half-mile as a sort of warm-up. When was this trail built? Has it been that long since my last visit to Hunter Canyon? When Ellen arrived ten minutes late, we all carpooled with her. She had even put her rear seats down for the dogs and laid a blanket for them.
The road to the trailhead is badly rutted for a car with a ground clearance under seven inches. Ellen's Toyota FJ Cruiser Radar can easily manage ruts and boulders in the road.
We went straight on the trail, forsaking the lower mines from the last visit.
We started at at the cattle trough going north on the road. At 0.6 mile we turned west on an old mining trail, now blocked off by boulders. That old road continues northwest for 1.4 miles when it stops at a ravine. We continued up this ravine for 0.25 m, rested a bit, then bushwhacked up and around the hill until we got to the top 0.8 miles later, following game trails. This part was very slow going, up loose and steep, rocky terrain covered by dead grass and pinon-juniper forest.
It wasn't until we hit a second mass of Jumex cans that I knew we were approaching an old mining area. Illegal border crossers carry their Jumex juice cans with them on their treks up these mountains, then leave them behind before leaving the mountains. Jumex is a popular brand in Mexico.
The views to the south opened up nicely the higher up we got. We had picked a good day for this hike, with highs in the 60s and partly-cloudly skies. I wore three layers on top and never peeled off any layer, never feeling too cold nor too hot.
The dogs held up nicely, too. Gretel was comfortable hiking with Ellen, watching her closely, while Zeke stayed by my side. Their one big vice was staring Ellen down for treats, even after having their own lunch
We rested at the mine shack at the top. I fed and watered the dogs here while Ellen went to peed, exploring some mines on her way back. One mine on our descent looked more like a cave, with a steep drop right at the opening, and three wooden planks across for support. A very faint mining road to this cave took us to this finding. There is still quite a bit of minerals to be found here if one looks closely, or knows what to look for.
We will come back to this area again, perhaps starting from Sunnysites Canyon to the west. The roads to this mining area seem to have originated there. This is a part of the Huachucas I have always found interesting, but seldom get to because of the badly-rutted roads.
We went down the way we went up but going straight down instead of around the hill, down the ravine and back to the old mining road. I discovered the remains of a coatimundi, taking its sun-bleached skull back with me.
We hiked a total of 6.97 miles in 4:09 hours and never saw another human. I got home at 3:24pm, just ten minutes ahead of Kevin.
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