Distance: 5.7 miles
Elevation gain: 1059'
Significance: old mining road
Today's 0630 hike was with the Huachuca Hiking Club (HHC). Or at least that is why I hiked this trail, because I read the trail description wrong and started in Hunter Canyon instead of Lower Miller Canyon.
Fritzi was my canine partner this morning. I wanted to see how well he'd do on a trail. He did very well! He's such a smart little dog, always watching me .
The Hunter Canyon trail is a nice connector trail that takes one above the Beatty Ranch and down into Miller Creek. One caní9 continue up Miller Peak on the Miller Canyon trail.
This is a little-used trail these days. When Sara and Sammy were still around, this was my go-to place for solitude. Now it's a drought-stricken canyon with charred and bullet-holed dead treì⁹9es thanks to careless target shooters that shot up burned and living trees after the 2011Monument Fire.
I parked at the official trailhead one mile west of SR92. There were a few other cars parked in dispersed parking areas, but I didn't see anyone except for a lone woman and her two healers. It was 0615 when I started, walking 0.8-miles east along the connector trail hoping to see the HHC hikers. It didn't take long for that sun to get hot!
I turned around, then began the official trail into the canyon. This part is exposed and I was walking in sunlight the entire time. Fritzi wore a wet neck bandana to keep cool, but I stopped at a turkey trough for him to drink out of. His dark fur was getting hot fast.
Fritzi did so well on this hike. He was off-leash but stayed by my side. Just like Sadie did years ago, he'd run slightly ahead of me, stop, and turn around to make sure I was following him. Typical shepherd behavior!
Hunter Canyon is suffering badly in this drought. So many bare oaks now have dropped their leaves to conserve water. There were no flowers along the way, and I was quite shocked to see a dry creek bed. There was no water in Miller Creek!
I gave ourselves a 6-mile limit. I didn't want to exhaust Fritzi, who stayed by my side the entire time. We rested in the shade, on a cool rock, and had our early lunch and water. Several women nearby were speaking loud Korean and then took off.
Where were the HHC hikers? I figured I'd run into them by now. I rested by the dry creek for 30 minutes, but knew I had to get on the return hike or else face intense heat.
I stopped at the mine, took a few photos, and resumed my hike back to the car. A sign warns people not to enter this shaft, which drops dangerously deep into a dark abyss.
It was in this final mile that I ran into four HHC hikers: Ward, SteveS, JohnS, RodC and all looked sun kissed. What fools hike on a day with temperatures predicted to reach in the upper 90s?!?! Well, I'm one of those fools. Looks like my day hikes will be on hold during this heat wave. It's getting even hotter next week.
We chatted for a bit. Fritzi never barked. SteveS told me the hike began in Lower Miller canyon. I had totally misread the directions. Maybe next time I'll get the instructions down correctly! I'd like to know what path they took from the Lower Miller Canyon parking lot.
I was on this trail for 3:24 hours. I was back at the Honda by 10am. I was glad to be out of the sun, but the Honda didn't cool down until I got back home.
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