The first week of July was PERFECT for heading to the pristine forests of eastern Arizona. With the number of 100+ degree days setting records in Texas, we were eager for cooler temps! And cooler they were! Upper 70s to low 80s during the day, and lows in the 50s at night. Imagine sitting around a campfire with a light jacket on while everyone is sweltering in Texas!!
Here is how things turned out:
Before leaving Texas, our host said they'd been having an early "monsoon" season, so we anticipated daily rainfall. However, we only had a brief bit of rain during our first night in the woods. After that...nothing!
Dave and I left Austin on Thursday morning with the group's food & cooking gear in our vehicle and Martha Spetseris from College Station as our passenger. Pat Dixon & his passenger, Zack Slachter from Fort Worth, met us in Junction, TX and we caravanned from there.
After an overnight stop in Deming, NM and a quick visit on Friday morning to the unique Catwalk of Whitewater Canyon outside Glenwood, NM, we arrived a couple of hours later at Don & Janie Hoffman's place that's tucked in a remote part of the forest at the end of a dead-end dirt road near the Blue River.
Don was retired from the Forest Service in Alpine, AZ & recently contracted with them to be our volunteer crew leader. He & his wife recommended that we rendezvous at their place where we camped in their meadow, used their bathroom & kitchen, played horseshoes and explored the area.
Since we arrived fairly early, Dave & Pat took off to go fishing and Martha, Zack & I hiked up the creek behind the Hoffman's place to look for a small Indian ruin they told us about but dark clouds began forming overhead and thunder became noticeably louder, so we headed back.
Andy Waters & Robert Gross left Austin on Friday & joined the rest of us at the Hoffman homestead early Saturday afternoon, and had plenty of time to climb the mountain overlooking the Hoffman home. Robert recommends NOT doing that in sandals!
On Sunday we fixed a big breakfast for everyone, including our hosts, then loaded the vehicles & headed out. We stopped in Alpine to pick up some items & met Myron Burnett, the Forest Service guy who would be hauling our gear on his pack animals. Then, off we went!
On the way, Don showed us a scenic overlook of the Black River from a high bluff & graciously agreed to take group photos with everyone's camera. Afterward, we piled back in our vehicles for the soon-to-be bumpy ride to the Fish Creek trailhead.
When we arrived, we unloaded the gear & had to cram all the food & cooking equipment into 4 hard panniers so they weighed about the same. Other items were put into soft panniers and, when everything was as balanced as possible, they were strapped onto the two mules & one donkey. We put on our backpacks & started down the trail.
At one point, Black Jack (the donkey) decided to head back up the trail but Pat, who has no experience with animals, caught him & after talking with him a bit, was able to lead him back down the trail. What a great photo that would have made!
After hiking a mile or so, we arrived at base camp. Don told us we were in the exact same spot as our previous Trail Tamer trip in 1999, & he was right on! There were lots of "fond" memories of that trip. For me, especially, it was a really big adventure!
Myron & the mules arrived ahead of us so, after setting up our own tents, we helped unload the gear & set up the kitchen & cook tent. Don carefully dug a campfire pit, following leave-no-trace ethics, & we started the evening meal & talked about the work he wanted us to do in the coming days.
On day one, we headed down the trail brushing out & clearing a HUGE amount of overgrown vegetation, especially at creek crossings. The trail hadn't been maintained for at least 5 years. The whole area is fairly moist with moss, ferns & wildflowers everywhere. Oh, did I mention lots of POISON IVY?! We also noticed a lot of diversity in the size & types of trees. Don said this whole area had somehow escaped the ax & had never been logged. Amazing!
Don had brought a 2-man crosscut saw but ended up wielding a chainsaw because of the sheer number & size of the dead-fall across the trail. A couple of crew members followed him to move the freshly cut sections off the trail.
Each day, the distance & number of creek crossings from base camp to our last trail-clearing location increased until, finally, some of the crew reached the Black River where Fish Creek joins it & forms a nice swimming hole that they enjoyed!
Once the lower trail was completed to Don's satisfaction, we turned our attention to the part that we hiked in on, & spent the last work day on that section. We actually worked our way back up to the trailhead & left our tools there, then hiked back down to our basecamp for the last time.
Don was truly happy that we completed the whole trail (5 miles from the trailhead to the river), & was impressed with the "outstanding" work we did. Even though the Black River was about 4 miles from our basecamp, no one complained too much about the daily hike back & forth. However, on the last day of work on the lower trail, one of the crew jokingly referred to the hike as the "BaDon" death march.
The beautiful terrain along with daily, refreshing dips in pristine Fish Creek, & nearly perfect weather was more than a person could ask for. For the most part, wildlife avoided us but Robert & I saw a couple of elk cows, & Pat caught a trout. The most excitement came when Martha & Andy saw a BEAR on the trail ahead of them!
There were no real problems except for a couple of leaky tents on the first night, Robert's encounter with a hornet that caused his hand to swell up, and the pesky BUGS that seemed to prefer my flesh & blood to the others! But, amazingly, no one ended up with a case of poison ivy!
Upon returning to the Hoffman's place on Friday afternoon...we showered & changed into clean clothes, then were treated to some mighty fine BBQ chicken with all the trimmings & plenty of liquid refreshment. It was so nice sitting on the Hoffman's front porch, taking in the surroundings & watching the guys playing a game of horseshoes. Robert & Andy decided to head home, but the rest of us camped in the meadow once again. In the morning, after a breakfast of pancakes & coffee, we said our good-byes and hit the road.
My sincerest appreciation goes out to my dear husband, "Chef Dave", for preparing those delicious meals; and to our talented friend, Pat Dixon for sharing his campfire rendition of "Oh, Danny Boy", among other things. I also appreciate "Super Woman" Martha Spetseris for being such an enjoyable & energetic go-getter; and Zack Shlachter (the "young-un" in the group) who is such a delightful young man & knowledgable in an amazing range of subjects.
Then there's Andy Waters & his buddy Robert Gross who were the source of much laughter mixed with interesting stories told around the campfire. We all worked hard but we also had a doggone good time! And, of course, our thanks goes out to Don Hoffman who was an excellent host and crew leader, and his wife, Janie, who was so gracious for once again allowing a crowd of people to "take over" her home for a few days.
We captured a bunch of photos and placed them on FlickR.com. We also added captions that can be seen if you select the "Show Info" menu item at the top of the screen. Select the link below to check them out:
Click here for FlickR photos of the trip
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