Today was my second day in a row that I didn't get called in to work. That's a first in a long time. Weather was nice enough to take a break from studying and to spend a few hours in the mountains.
The morning started out as usual: I read more of my reading assignment, did some gardening and then took off with the dogs to run an errand on post. Since I was on post I figured I could take the dogs up a northern-sloped hiking trail; I had Blacktail Canyon in mind. The northern canyons are known for their unique habitats and streams. I had never hiked this part of the Huachucas before.
I'm not sure what trail I ended up on. I pulled into what started out to be a training site for soldiers, but there was also a hiking sign warning adventurers that the road ahead was "difficult and hazardous terrain." Boy, that was an understatement! It also warned hikers to not hike alone. Well, I was not alone; I had three dogs with me. I was ready for the challenge.
We took off at 1:36pm.
Whatever the name of this trail was, it was not the Blacktail Trail as mentioned in Leonard Taylor's "Hiker's Guide to the Huachuca Mountains." I had turned off a mile too soon. Nothing in the hiking guide matched what I saw.
I drove 1.3 miles in my truck to a Y. A sign here pointed left to Blacktail Pond, right to Deer Springs. I figured I'd take the dogs to the pond where they could refresh and then we'd turn around. I never saw the Pond.
The trail was more of a tank trail that narrowed and widened and got steeper the higher I got. At some points the trail was so rocky it felt like I was hiking up a steep rockslide. A dry stream bed meandered along the path and disappeared into the cottonwoods. There was some trash left by illegals here, illegals that surely were picked up by post security as this area is heavily guarded off the paved road.
There were no signs anywhere directing hikers to the right direction so I guessed at each intersection. When I reached the Douglas fir line the trail got softer, but there was deep erosion along this way. Closer to the ridgeline I passed a spring that came up from the trail. Here there was some ice and melting water for the dogs to refresh themselves.
I had to stop many times to regain my breath. I've had what I think is an upper respiratory infection, with a sore throat, sneezing and coughing up brown phlegm since Sunday morning. Today's exertion made my breathing a litter harder.
I finally made it to the ridgeline at 90 minutes. By now I had hiked longer than I wanted as I started out with a one-hour goal at this steep grade. Once on the ridgeline, though, I was able to enjoy the direct views of Mount Wrightson and more views toward the Sierra Madres of Mexico and Parker Lake in the western valley. Even at the elevation I was at here I felt the warmth of the sun. The yellow windbreaker I packed in my backpack stayed there.
Here the trail leveled off for a while before it gained even more steep elevation along a steeply-eroded ledge facing into the mountain canyons. OK, it was two hours into my hike and I had had enough of uphills with little scenery. I turned around at 3:30pm, just six minutes shy of two hours.
Hiking downhill on the steep, loose rocks wasn't any easier. I could feel the old blisters from the Miller Peak hike come back.
I made one stop for the dogs near the icy water. But from here on out it was a fast-paced trek back to the car as we were completely in the chilly shadows of the mountains.
I was exhausted when we got back to the truck. I failed to note the time, but the truck clock said 5:44pm as we got to the PX gas station. That late? I gassed up for $1.83, now the cheapest place in the area (the station near our house is selling regular unleaded for $2.03, which is 35 cents more than at the start of the year).
A man tanking up his F-150 in front of me complimented me on the well-behaved dogs and seemed to have taken a liking to Sammy. He must have thought I was weird for using the squeegee on the INSIDE of my truck windows (to remove all the dog snot). My hair was plastered to my head from the hat that I wore, and my jeans were dusty from the trail. I know I was not a pretty site and just wanted to gas up and go.
Today is a perfect example of how I should have better reconnoitered today's hike. I had no map on me and hadn't even read my hiking guide until after I got home. I was a mile off my route. I have to redo this hike so that I can judge for myself how pretty Blacktail and Split Rock Canyons are.
I googled the area on Google Earth when I got home, saw the road I pulled off on but never found the trail up to the ridge. There are so many jeep trails in the northern Huachucas, most which I'm sure are used by military personnel. One could get lost in this maze.
So in essence I have no idea where I was, what the elevation was (around 7000' is all I can guess) and where all those other crossroads led to. Had something happened to me it would have taken a while to find me as I told Kevin I was heading to Blacktail Canyon. I ended up what I surmise was a maintenance road used for the testing facility nearby. Other than two plastic water jugs and two well-faded beer cans, there was no sign of recent human activity on the trail I was on today.
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