Distance: 8.9 miles, r/t from the Slavin Gulch trailhead
Elevation gain: 2086'
Time: 6 hours
Significance: beautiful vistas; exploring one of the biggest zinc mines in the area
This hike was the result of Ellen asking me if I had any New Year's Day hikes planned. Knowing that she enjoys mines and caves, I suggested this one. She seemed interested, and I made this a Meet-up hike.
Initially I had nine people signed up, but then four dropped out, including HollyW. I had Ellen, Rod, Celeste and her husband Cisco and son Quiton (on PCS leave from Korea) and Chris from Tucson.
We started the hike at 10am. It was only in the 40s and I was wearing four layers. We got to the lower chute at 12:38. Ellen right away was interested in exploring the mine higher up. Chris and Quinton had done the mine years ago and both said it's a challenging hike. "It's going to take an hour to get to the mine." said Chris. He turned out to be right.
So they all opted to return to their cars. It was just Ellen, Rob, Zeke and I and I started up the steep spree, knocking rocks down as we ascended. I could tell that Zeke was nervous but that little dog stayed by my side.
I almost turned around because this wasn't a safe ascent. My pack was pulling me down and I had trouble keeping balance. Anyone of us could slip and fall hard. But in 0.2 miles we found the lower adit, flooded with water from which Zeke drank. This was the only water anywhere in the gulch! And then we started coming up to other things: a shack, a pit, and discarded rusty equipment. Manzanitas were growing over these things, making things hard to detect.
We climbed one more tailing pile and came to the main shaft with "DANGER" written above it. This is exactly what Ellen wanted to explore. Danger doesn't stop that woman. Rob was excited, too. This was his first trip into the Dragoons and he was in awe of all the rocks. And now he was in a mine!
Both Rob and Ellen packed gloves and flashlight and wanted to go into the mine. I was hesitant, but their lights were bright enough for three of us, and I used my cellphone's light as well (which isn't as bright as a real flashlight)
The Abril mine lives up to its name. It is one huge mining complex! We could even see where once tracks were laid. We'd go down one tunnel only to come across an intersection. We spotted a few bats on the walls, too. Which way forward? Luckily someone had spraypainted arrows to direct traffic. The ground and walls were solid and not once did I feel frightened. But would we get lost?
Ellen was ecstatic. She loves mines and caves and this made her day. She climbed up higher tunnels. She spotted an air hole. We only turned around when we hit one wet tunnel that got wetter as we continued on it. This is the biggest mine I've ever been in.
The main shaft, we discovered, was where the Soren Pass trail ends. Once we were on that trail, I knew where we where. I was last here on November 2nd, 2015 with Sadie, Minnie and Zeke. We walked up the road a bit for more vistas, Rob continuing to saw how absolutely stunning these rocks were. I have to agree, I love hiking in the Dragoons in cool weather and today was perfect for that.
Two ATVs came tumbling down the road. IT was a family of five just driving around. They turned around at the mine. One ATV sported a Trump flag.
We only turned around because of daylight. We had spent two hours exploring the mine and it was now 2:20pm. Hiking Slavin Gulch in the dark is not safe as the trail is rocky and mountain lions live here.
Getting down was not easy. We opted for the chute, using old cables and wood for support. Rob went down first, then I with Zeke, and then Ellen. Ellen saw the trouble I had, so she ended up going down the boulders. Zeke and I had to jump at one point, he ten feet and I two feet. I could tell he was afraid. I was nervous. When Zeke landed, he fell and hit his head on the ground. Luckily he didn't get hurt as he landed on dirt, but this could have ended tragically. I don't ever want to put him in this kind of danger again.
We rested once we got down from the chute. I put on all my layers again as it was now cooling off. I gave Zeke more water but he was more interested in just resting. The dog was tired. But when we got up to continue our return hike, he promptly got up and walked. A few steps later, I took a bad fall forward, cutting my right hand below the little finger and bruising my right knee. Some manual pressure on the cut after a few minutes stopped the bleeding. I can be such a klutz. My jeans, however, didn't rip.
We met a group of five young people hiking up to the mine. They were from Jerome and had an Aussi shepherd with them. It was 3:30pm, rather late to be out hiking unless they had plans of sleeping in the mine? A mile from the finish we met another young couple going up. By then I was glad to be done with the hike.
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