After the Fire Photoset • rwstorm • 2011-09-15 • HikeArizona.COM

After the Fire, AZ

	2011-09-15
	44 by rwstorm

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After the Fire, AZ

Scenic Drive

Scenic Drive

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As part of a trip over to Hatch, New Mexico to buy some roasted green chiles, I decided to go over by way of Sierra Vista and check out the aftermath of the Monument Fire in the Huachuca Mountains. I drove into Carr, Miller, and Ash Canyons. The road to the upper reaches of Carr Canyon is still closed at the bridge down low, but roads in Miller and Ash were accessible, in fact recently bladed. There was still work being done in Miller, where the post fire flooding has been quite significant. Talked with one of the fellows running the grader and he said they have been in there several times this summer after rain events to clean it up. Their next project was to work the road in upper Carr, which has some serious damage. I was pleased to see the fire spared most of lower Carr Canyon, but Miller, and especially Ash weren't so lucky. This fire was especially disturbing to me, since this is one of my favorite places to hike and camp in Arizona.

I don't know if the Carr Canyon Road will be opened all the way to the upper trails and campgrounds again this year before the snow comes. In the last 24 years, there has only been one year that I didn't camp up there at least once. This might be the second. I especially love it during the monsoon season, when by mid August it really turns green and there is a fantastic wildflower display on the Carr Peak Trail (in areas that opened up from the big 1977 fire).

The trails are open, so I intend to head down there for a hike up Miller Canyon to Carr Peak in the near future to check out the upper reaches and the status of the campgrounds.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Butter and Eggs Morning glory Scarlet Creeper Smooth Bouvardia Trans-Pecos morning-glory

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Graveyard

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