Williams fire perimeter

This is my second time walking the perimeter since the April 3 fire. This time I convinced Susan to join me, as she hadn't walked thru the burn area yet.

We met at 0815 at the Lehner kill site and walked south. I brought Hansel and Gretchen.  It was a pleasant 77F and breezy along the river.

My first impression was how green the burned fields already are. Quite a bit of grass is already regrowing.  The barren brown moonscape is slowly disappearing already.

We stopped at the usual spot along the river for the dogs to refresh themselves.  Here is where I missed having Allie on our walks, but according to Susan, she can no longer walk far nor fast and now just does laps around her property..  

I had no idea how far Susan wanted to walk, but we ended up walking toward the Boucher house along the river.  The banks near the Boucher house had always been mangled with thickets of pokey brush, but today the walk was fairly easy with nothing to step over or around.  It will all grow back during the monsoon.  

We spotted one deep hole by the base of a cottonwood that seemed to still be smouldering underground.  Parts of the ground were still soft from deep ash.

She was interested in seeing the burned-out home.  She once knew the owner and helped him plant some of the palm trees that are now standing burned.  She said he allowed her to come on his property. I followed her to the ruins.  I wouldn't have done this without her

I had never been this close to the home before.  The Mediterranean design was surely high class in its heyday.  Now only broken ceramic tiles litter the place.  No sign of any furniture.  The water pump to the pond was still working, but there was no other sign of life.  We came across the carapace of a blanched box turtle off the trail south of the buildings.

We didn't linger.  It was a quick walk-through before returning to our route.  We took the wash back to our cars. It was now time to finish and get in the shade again

Up to this point, both dogs stayed close, but again in the same place as before, Gretchen took off chasing a deer near the end of our walk.  Hansel came back, but Gretchen kept us waiting for 30 minutes and came running back to us as we both walked the route a second time, calling her name.  Luckily we only walked a half-mile extra.

It was warm by then.  Gretchen panted all the way home and then some, staying under the RV in the shade for most of the day.  It warmed up to 90F; our first hot day of the year.

Bisbee 1000

 Yesterday's hike up Bob Thompson Peak didn't tire me out as I thought it would for today.  I met BillK at 6am in Old Bisbee by the Ironman statue. Our goal was to walk faster and we did!.  Even though we still stopped to chat with the few people up early, we managed to shave 45 minutes from last week's time.

It was a cool 54F at the start.  Two hours later it was already in the 70s.  While it was painful to get up at 4am to walk Gretchen and Fritz, this early time start helped keep Hansel cool.  He showed no heat exhaustion this time. The added bonus was seeing the sun rise over the Mule mountains as I drove into town.

The streets were empty the first hour.  Was everyone sleeping off a hangover?  Bill said the "Funky Finds Fling Festival 21-22 April brought in quite a crowd this weekend.  It must have gotten wild, as we found a used dildo on the street along the route! That crowd must have left town early last night as the streets were calm.

We walked the same route as last week.  There were a few dog walkers out early, but nothing as usual. I kept Hansel on leash only through the main streets.  He enjoyed his freedom and stayed close.

The early hour dulled some of the color, but we both liked the mostly-cool temperature.  We met one gal from Texas, Petra, renting out the old toll house, and we saw a few locals sitting out smoking, but the tourist crowd didn't come to life until just before we departed shortly after 8am.

I stayed in town to have a toasted plain bagel with Swiss cheese and a hazelnut cappuccino at the Bisbee Coffee Co.  That was my staple when I lived in California. By now the streets were alive with courious tourists.

I stopped for another half mile along the Hereford Bridge on my way home.  The Williams fire burned the gate entrance, but most of the west bank here was spared damage. Hansel got one more dip in the river before heading home.

Bob Thompson Peak

This is another hike I looked forward to.  It's not a long hike, but the five miles out-and-back will kick butt.  You gain 1882' in elevation by the time you reach the high point. https://www.strava.com/dashboard?num_entries=50

DougB from the Huachuca Hiking Club led this hike.  Meetup time was 7am in town, but I emailed him saying I'll go straight to the trail head since I'm only five miles from there.  I also told him I'd hike on ahead for a head start, as I may otherwise slow down the group.  This head start also allows Hansel to run off some energy without bothering others.

 

 

 

 

That was a good decision.  I started the hike just before 7am.  It was 54F. I got to the saddle in 52 minutes.  This was no PR! I was at least five minutes slower than the last time I  did this.  We hiked up the switchback in the cool shade, then waited for the rest of the group to join us.  

I could see the group on the trail, at least 30 minutes behind me. I was curious to see who'd be the first one to the saddle.  I waited and chilled, but Hansel whined because he was getting restless

And then they came! An Ye breezed up first without a sweat; SteveS and KarenF were the next to reach the saddle.  Then came BiilC,  JohnS and WardS, MilesB and then DougB.  We were now a group of eight.  JohnS turned around at the saddle.  We rested a bit before taking on the mountain from the north side.

Once we left the saddle to hike up the peak, we were officially on National Monument property (according to my track), but there were no signs indicating that. We followed a faint footpath at times littered with migrant trash.  I found a Diez Pesos coin from Mexico (56 cents worth) as we scrambled up the first steep rock cliff.  Empty Electrolite plastic bottles were scattered along the way.  I also saw some nice quartz crystals.

The route is challenging because it borders on steep, loose ground on the north slope, but it wasn't as treacherous as I remember from the last time I did this route in early 2019 with Zeke.  I stayed in the rear so that Hansel wouldn't get in the way, but he had no trouble scrambling up the boulders.

It's 2.5 miles to the top.  The group rested here for a snack.  The peak is dry, with no wildflowers in bloom. I rested under the same oak tree from last time, near where Steve and Karen were.  We then hiked back down the way we came.

It was in the low 70s when we finished.  I didn't take off my mustard-colored sweatshirt until I got back to the truck.  Doug, Miles and An Ye left and I followed.  it was just past 11:30am.

I stopped by the Tombstone Brewing Company with Hansel.  We sat on the dog-friendly patio, where I saw three other dogs in the hour I was there sipping a Pils and a Rauchbier (dark lager)  I was impressed with how many people were here both on the patio and in the dining area.

Brown Canyon to Leonard's Cave

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This hike was hosted by WardS of the Huachuca Hiking Club. The write-up sounded interesting, so I joined in with Hansel. The trailhead was the Brown Canyon trail at the ranch house.

However, I timed my departure wrong and arrived at the trailhead almost ten minutes late. The group had already left. I recognized a few cars in the parking area. In my rush I left my pack in the truck, too, so that meant I had no water on me. I figured I'd catch up to the group.

I had Hansel on leash while on this trail. He pulled hard the first two miles; perhaps because he smelled familiar scents? He pulled even harder right before the two-mile mark at the horse trough, where the assembled group was taking a break and SteveA was prepping his camera for  a group shot.

The large group quickly broke off into ability groups once we left the trough. I stayed in the rear to keep Hansel from bothering others, but once we got off the trail to start bushwhacking, I took him off the leash because of the steep, uneven terrain. 

It was a pretty Canyon, though. During the monsoon water runs through here, we walked past several small pools and damp areas.

We also came across migrant trash. 

I wore a flannel shirt over my hiking shirt and I'm glad I did. The  higher we climbed, the more narrow the canyon became and the cooler it got.

I felt better energized today than last time I hiked with the group, despite not eating breakfast again. We all had to watch our footing because of the many snags and rocks along the way.Getting injured in this canyon would be a nightmare for everyone involved.

Several people turned around. Karen had another appointment at noon. SteveA and JohnS also turned around. I was running low on energy and just wanted to make it to the cave. We seemed to keep on going and going.

We turned left into a side canyon where the elusive cave was, but the guides had trouble finding it. We had to loop around a ravine before spotting the small hole,  and my big butt would surely get me stuck trying to crawl inside. JimS and An Ye made it inside easily.

I told Doug that most Hoosiers would have trouble squeezing through the opening. I looked inside the cave, but the damp floor and the many gnats just outside the cave  kept me safely outside it

 

The group took their lunch break. A kind hiker gave me half of a P&J  sandwich and some water, but once  done with the snacks, we resumed our return hike the way we came.

Tom enjoyed looking at rocks. They were all 'cool!"