Kevin and I finally got out into the mountains again, a trek I have avoided all summer when the garden called for attention.
This hike up Carr Peak (9237') is one of my favorite fall hikes. It's just under 6-miles long, is steep, and symbolic to my first peak hike in the Huachucas back in 1991. I have hiked the peak several times while on autumn trips in the area, and now want to resume the feat. The smells of the aspens, the color of the leaves and the vistas make this a great local hike. And it’s within a few miles from the house.
Today was a hike with the club, and I was the “leader” who forgot a radio and a sign-in sheet. Oops. Yet we had fun nonetheless. Steve Sa and Steve Sh, Paul and Susan joined us..
We took Sadie with us, leaving the older dogs at home alone. I didn't want to clog the trail with three dogs. I had walked the older dogs earlier for 1.6 miles around the neighborhood.
But today, unlike in other years, there was no spectacular aspen foliage. Steve, one of the hikers with me, said that the leaves had started turning yellow back in early September.
“Looks like the trees have some kind of disease” said one man hiking downhill with a small group.
This hike up Carr Peak (9237') is one of my favorite fall hikes. It's just under 6-miles long, is steep, and symbolic to my first peak hike in the Huachucas back in 1991. I have hiked the peak several times while on autumn trips in the area, and now want to resume the feat. The smells of the aspens, the color of the leaves and the vistas make this a great local hike. And it’s within a few miles from the house.
Today was a hike with the club, and I was the “leader” who forgot a radio and a sign-in sheet. Oops. Yet we had fun nonetheless. Steve Sa and Steve Sh, Paul and Susan joined us..
We took Sadie with us, leaving the older dogs at home alone. I didn't want to clog the trail with three dogs. I had walked the older dogs earlier for 1.6 miles around the neighborhood.
But today, unlike in other years, there was no spectacular aspen foliage. Steve, one of the hikers with me, said that the leaves had started turning yellow back in early September.
“Looks like the trees have some kind of disease” said one man hiking downhill with a small group.
"We didn't see any leaves, just patches of yellow off the trail" said another woman in the group.
When we reached the aspen grove, the second-most southern grove of aspens in the US, I was deeply disappointed. The trees were barren. And what yellow leaves were remaining were heavily spotted with leaf spot fungus.Over time that fungus can spread and weaken the trees in the soil.
The burned-out area that was destroyed during two wild fires, in 1977 and again in 1991, are slowly growing back with manzanitas and scrub oaks. The black stumps of dead pines remain, but the ground is slowly regaining some foilage.
Weather was perfect, in the 70s, with high gusts at the peak. We didn’t feel the wind until just before reaching the Carr Peak Trail turn-off, a ¾-mile switch-back to the rocky summit.
Kevin did not make the summit. Instead, he stayed behind with a tired Sadie who layed down in a warm grassy meadow before the turn-off trail.
“There’s a rattlesnake near the turn-off that doesn’t want to get off the trail” told us one older man who looked like he was in the military.
I never saw any snakes along the trail, just plenty of past-peak yellow wild flowers, wild onion, penstemons, sage and several butterflies.
It took us two hours to make it to the peak, where we stayed for 25 minutes in a wind break surrounded by wild onion, sage and penstemons. My fingers quickly got nippy.
Weather was perfect, in the 70s, with high gusts at the peak. We didn’t feel the wind until just before reaching the Carr Peak Trail turn-off, a ¾-mile switch-back to the rocky summit.
Kevin did not make the summit. Instead, he stayed behind with a tired Sadie who layed down in a warm grassy meadow before the turn-off trail.
“There’s a rattlesnake near the turn-off that doesn’t want to get off the trail” told us one older man who looked like he was in the military.
I never saw any snakes along the trail, just plenty of past-peak yellow wild flowers, wild onion, penstemons, sage and several butterflies.
It took us two hours to make it to the peak, where we stayed for 25 minutes in a wind break surrounded by wild onion, sage and penstemons. My fingers quickly got nippy.
The wind was starting to push over the eastern peaks of the Huachucas as we descended, and became stronger. I was glad were were on the way down. More people were coming and going on this trail, enjoying what may be the last good hiking weekend in the mountains before the cold sets in. Some carried backpacks with sleeping gear with plans to sleep in the mountains.
Kevin waited by the pick-up for an hour, playing Solitaire on his cell phone and resting. Sadie looked exhausted.
“I saw General Custer (a general on Fort Huachuca). He was probably hiking with some colonels, one who told me that ‘General Custer spotted a rattlesnake on the trail while 38-mile wind gusts were blowing.’”
Kevin waited by the pick-up for an hour, playing Solitaire on his cell phone and resting. Sadie looked exhausted.
“I saw General Custer (a general on Fort Huachuca). He was probably hiking with some colonels, one who told me that ‘General Custer spotted a rattlesnake on the trail while 38-mile wind gusts were blowing.’”
I have heard of General Custer but have no idea what he looks like.
I want to make this peak hike an annual fall hike. But maybe next year I'll do it in September, when there is a better chance to enjoy the autumn wild flowers in their prime.
WEATHER UPDATE: Windy afternoon, chance of showers forecast for Cochise County
Published on Saturday, October 04, 2008
SIERRA VISTA — The National Weather Service says gusty winds and possibly rain could occur in Cochise County on Saturday.Gusts as high as 32 mph could occur into Saturday evening in Sierra Vista and Bisbee, the weather service said. At Libby Army Airfield on Fort Huachuca, gusts between 29 mph and 33 mph were recorded between 9:56 a.m. and 12:56 p.m.
A 20 to 30 percent chance of rain is forecast in Sierra Vista and Bisbee for Saturday night. Rainfall is possible on Sunday, too.Highs will be in the low 80s and high 70s, and lows will be between 58 degree Fahrenheit on Saturday night to a forecast 49 degrees on Sunday night.
Published on Saturday, October 04, 2008
SIERRA VISTA — The National Weather Service says gusty winds and possibly rain could occur in Cochise County on Saturday.Gusts as high as 32 mph could occur into Saturday evening in Sierra Vista and Bisbee, the weather service said. At Libby Army Airfield on Fort Huachuca, gusts between 29 mph and 33 mph were recorded between 9:56 a.m. and 12:56 p.m.
A 20 to 30 percent chance of rain is forecast in Sierra Vista and Bisbee for Saturday night. Rainfall is possible on Sunday, too.Highs will be in the low 80s and high 70s, and lows will be between 58 degree Fahrenheit on Saturday night to a forecast 49 degrees on Sunday night.
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