Distance: 6.5 miles
Elevation range: 4950' - 5242' Most of the elevation is at the start going into a wash, then more elevation ascending the east slope of Gold Hill.
Significance: once the largest-yielding gold mine in Arizona
Sunday's highs were only in the 50s. This prompted me to take the four dogs (Zeke, Sweetie and the pups) with me to explore the old mining trails around Gold Hill south of Bisbee-Warren. I accessed the roads off Gold Gulch Road, a wide dirt road that once was the town's unofficial shooting range. I used Google Maps to navigate me. Apparently new owners, a new house have changed all that, as a blue sign by the entrance remind passers-by that the shooting range no longer exists. I stayed on roads that were not cordoned off with No Trespassing signs. There were no signs saying I couldn't be here.
I had just pulled over when another car pulled up next to me with a small dog. Was he a hunter? No, said the man, I'm only here to hunt rocks in the river bed. Was he referring to placer gold? This area yielded the largest amount of gold in Arizona until the mines here closed in the 1970s.
The walk started out underwhelming me. I was walking on a totally exposed trail that on a summer day would be too hot for the dogs. Around me were catclaw and ocotillo. I didn't see any obvious holes in Gold Hill from old mines, so I took the main road going east that looked to end at a larger mine about three miles away. I would make that mine my destination.
The one good thing is that I was alone and the dogs could run off-leash. The road gently meandered in an easterly direction.I was high enough on some hilltops to see the borderwall a few miles south of me. Sun-burned backpacks and old plastic bottles were also indicative of this area being a well-used smuggling site and hide-out. I even saw a burlap sack, a common item to smuggle narcotics in. Tire tracks were either from ATVs or Border Patrol vehicles.
In a normal winter with its rains, this area would come alive with trickling drainages and give the flora some color. Today the dominant color was sandy brown. The cold allowed me to walk fast and not feel dehydrated. I would love to come back on a foggy, overcast day and explore more.
I decided to make three miles my turn-around distance. I used my Strava track to guide me, which showed a dead-end trail going to the north at the 2.5 mile mark. These dead-end trails usually are where mines are at. And sure enough, when I got to the intersection of this dead-end trail, I saw two tailing mounds higher up on the hillside. I had found my destination. Google Maps even told me that "your destination is a quarter mile on your left."By this point I didn't even realize that Google Maps was still running on my phone, but this tidbit was helpful to know.
The first mine was a straight-down shaft. There are several in these hills. These make me nervous, as I don't want my dogs near the edges of these shafts and risking falling in them. I continued on the old mining road that continued another quarter mile to the actual mine shaft, along a collapsed road now overgrown with catclaw and boulders that have fallen off the hillside.
The mine was partially covered, but the opening was large enough for me to crawl into and stand up in. I didn't go into the mine, though, not having a strong-enough light to guide me. The dogs weren't too worried and ran in, but calling them back got them back.
I rested here at the opening, looking out to the southeast and the low hills farther along the border. I gave the dogs their water, which they all gladly took. The view wasn't too bad, making the hike to this mine well worth it. I had never been to this part of the Mule Mountains. This was a busy mining area 100 years ago and is now dotted with small homes and trailers and open range.
I had hiked 2.7 miles to this mine. I was now ready to walk another mile back to the main road and continue east. I bushwhacked down to the first mine, cussing all the way due to all the prickly stuff hitting my legs, and had walked another quarter mile east when I had realized that I had left all three leashes back at the resting point. I had no choice but to go back up that collapsed road to retrieve them. I apologized to the dogs for going up that trail a second time, but found that staying on the collapsed road was better than bushwhacking.
It was 2:56pm when I left the main mine a second time. This was the time I had to turn around anyway, so I just went back the way I came, back to the car. The rock hunter was gone now and my Honda was the only vehicle here. The dogs were tired and so was I.
The return hike was 3.83 miles, thanks in part because I had to walk the mining road twice. It took me 1:15 hours to walk back. This wasn't a bad hike afterall and I will plan on coming back and walking the main road all the way to the bigger mine. I can do this on a wintry day with cloud cover
I stopped at the Old Bisbee Brewing Company but all the indoor seating was taken. A sign on the door warned patrons that "This is a small business, if you do not find seating available, please come back another time" so I did that, stopping instead at the Electric brewing for some cranberry ale. I kept the dogs in the car where they rested with their water. It was cooling down fast now as the sun was setting.
I chatted with the owners Natalie and Joe and talked about their business. They had three men at the counter who were drinking beer while washing their clothes at the laundromat next door. They seem worried about not getting enough patrons in. Once again the lack of a marquee facing the main road is a big problem. The owner of that small piece of land along the road, where a marquee for a small animal veterinarian is, costs them too much. Natalie opined that perhaps they should move out of their house and move into the apartment that is behind the brewery.
I got back home by 7pm. It wasn't until a few hours later, in bed, that I realized I had a dime-sized wound on my lower left leg. Dried blood now covered that wound. I had gotten that while bushwhacking down the higher mine, but didn't realized that it had bled. Now the wound was stinging me and keeping me from falling asleep.
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