High temperatures of near 90F were predicted for this hike in the eastern Huachucas, so I packed three quarts of water for the dogs and a quart for myself.
We met as a group at 7:45am at the Fort Huachuca Shoppette off the Main Gate, and ten minutes later were on our way to the Lyle Canyon trail an hour away. It’s six miles through post to the East Gate and another 20 some miles to the trailhead off Highway 83.
I enjoy the eastern Huachucas; driving there is half the fun as you pass the alluvial plains of the eastern mountain range. Mount Wrightson is prominent along the drive, and so are USBP vans on patrol; we passed three on our way to the trailhead.
Steve lead this hike and as I had never been at this site had no choice but to follow him in my van with two eager dogs breathing next to me. The dogs hadn’t been walked in three days and were anxious. We turned off on FR 201 for almost a mile and parked our vehicles along a dry creekbed.
We had a nice turn-out for this hike. Besides Steve and I, Paul, Susan and her friend and neighbor Jean were there, Brenda and her friend Georgie and their dogs Pugger and Chalita, and Rod and Casi. This made for nine humans and four dogs.
Sara is the more unpredictable of my two dogs, and she’s shown to be aggressive toward smaller, yappity dogs and puppies. She and her cphort Sammy were on an extended leash in the beginning, and I kept them up front where they like to lead anyway, as Sara always likes to be up front sniffing the trail. Sammy will be right behind her or me (or the first person on the trail), getting his nose in contact with the back of hikers’ knees.
This trail was not very well marked and it was no surprise that we got disoriented and hiked on am immigrant trail that led us more in a southeasterly direction toward Parker Lake than up toward Scotia Canyon. The immigrant trail we were on was well-trodden and marked with trash along the way.
We landed near a stock pond which we knew then was close to Lyle and Scotia Canyons where we wanted to be in the first place, and we resumed our hike on the official unmarked trail toward Parker Lake to cut around to Scotia Canyon. Steve insisted on hiking up a dry creekbed toward Scotia Canyon, which was steep but shorter than hiking up an official trail. We came near a bench cut out of an old juniper trunk, where we rested for snacks and re-orientation. Shortly after our break some of the hikers opted to turn around, while Steve, Paul Brenda and I resumed our hike uphill toward the saddle.
Rod, equipped with radio and in contact with Steve, opted to hike up the trail.
Steve and Brenda made it to the saddle, but I stopped when I came up to Paul who rested a mile away. The dogs were tired, as there was only intermittent water in the creek that they used for hydration. When the dogs show signs of exhaustion, I stop, as we still have to hike back.
“The saddle was further away than I thought” said Steve as he returned with Brenda and together we hiked back down to the juniper trunk where the others were waiting. By now all four dogs were tired and didn’t mind one another. Little Pugger, the smallest of the four dogs, got carried by Georgie the last mile back to the trailhead.
Geogie, Jean, Casi, Brenda and I each collected a few plastic bags of trail trash that I took home with me to place in our personal trash dumpster.
We made it back to our cars at 3:20pm, not a moment too soon as I was running out of water for myself. My van registered 80F when we got back. From here we all departed and went our separate ways, and I went to the PX Garden Shop, then Ace Garden shop where I picked up a Common Lilac shrub for the back yard. (The shrub will eventually take over from the rose bush, once I learn how to carefully transplant the rose ball to another more sunny location).
Sara was exhausted and slept on the cot behind me in the van, with her sleepy head resting on my old pillow that is now stained brown with dog dirt. She looked so angelic resting there, with Sammy in the passenger seat blowing stray fur around and out the open window.
Sara didn't get any more active once we were home, either. She crashed by the front door while Sammy stayed awake so that he wouldn't miss any leftovers from dinner, which was the rest of Kevin's home-made chili. In a few months the peppers, chiles and onions used in the chili will come from our own back yard garden.
We met as a group at 7:45am at the Fort Huachuca Shoppette off the Main Gate, and ten minutes later were on our way to the Lyle Canyon trail an hour away. It’s six miles through post to the East Gate and another 20 some miles to the trailhead off Highway 83.
I enjoy the eastern Huachucas; driving there is half the fun as you pass the alluvial plains of the eastern mountain range. Mount Wrightson is prominent along the drive, and so are USBP vans on patrol; we passed three on our way to the trailhead.
Steve lead this hike and as I had never been at this site had no choice but to follow him in my van with two eager dogs breathing next to me. The dogs hadn’t been walked in three days and were anxious. We turned off on FR 201 for almost a mile and parked our vehicles along a dry creekbed.
We had a nice turn-out for this hike. Besides Steve and I, Paul, Susan and her friend and neighbor Jean were there, Brenda and her friend Georgie and their dogs Pugger and Chalita, and Rod and Casi. This made for nine humans and four dogs.
Sara is the more unpredictable of my two dogs, and she’s shown to be aggressive toward smaller, yappity dogs and puppies. She and her cphort Sammy were on an extended leash in the beginning, and I kept them up front where they like to lead anyway, as Sara always likes to be up front sniffing the trail. Sammy will be right behind her or me (or the first person on the trail), getting his nose in contact with the back of hikers’ knees.
This trail was not very well marked and it was no surprise that we got disoriented and hiked on am immigrant trail that led us more in a southeasterly direction toward Parker Lake than up toward Scotia Canyon. The immigrant trail we were on was well-trodden and marked with trash along the way.
We landed near a stock pond which we knew then was close to Lyle and Scotia Canyons where we wanted to be in the first place, and we resumed our hike on the official unmarked trail toward Parker Lake to cut around to Scotia Canyon. Steve insisted on hiking up a dry creekbed toward Scotia Canyon, which was steep but shorter than hiking up an official trail. We came near a bench cut out of an old juniper trunk, where we rested for snacks and re-orientation. Shortly after our break some of the hikers opted to turn around, while Steve, Paul Brenda and I resumed our hike uphill toward the saddle.
Rod, equipped with radio and in contact with Steve, opted to hike up the trail.
Steve and Brenda made it to the saddle, but I stopped when I came up to Paul who rested a mile away. The dogs were tired, as there was only intermittent water in the creek that they used for hydration. When the dogs show signs of exhaustion, I stop, as we still have to hike back.
“The saddle was further away than I thought” said Steve as he returned with Brenda and together we hiked back down to the juniper trunk where the others were waiting. By now all four dogs were tired and didn’t mind one another. Little Pugger, the smallest of the four dogs, got carried by Georgie the last mile back to the trailhead.
Geogie, Jean, Casi, Brenda and I each collected a few plastic bags of trail trash that I took home with me to place in our personal trash dumpster.
We made it back to our cars at 3:20pm, not a moment too soon as I was running out of water for myself. My van registered 80F when we got back. From here we all departed and went our separate ways, and I went to the PX Garden Shop, then Ace Garden shop where I picked up a Common Lilac shrub for the back yard. (The shrub will eventually take over from the rose bush, once I learn how to carefully transplant the rose ball to another more sunny location).
Sara was exhausted and slept on the cot behind me in the van, with her sleepy head resting on my old pillow that is now stained brown with dog dirt. She looked so angelic resting there, with Sammy in the passenger seat blowing stray fur around and out the open window.
Sara didn't get any more active once we were home, either. She crashed by the front door while Sammy stayed awake so that he wouldn't miss any leftovers from dinner, which was the rest of Kevin's home-made chili. In a few months the peppers, chiles and onions used in the chili will come from our own back yard garden.
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