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| Hiking | 5.35 Miles |
1,808 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.35 Miles | 3 Hrs 42 Mns | | 1.81 mph |
| 1,808 ft AEG | 45 Mns Break | 16 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | I traveled to the eastern slope of the Dragoon Mountains with Severe Weather Warnings all around - via Smart Phone alerts, and even more telling - slow moving (clearly visible) fronts converging on three sides of the area as I approached the range from Middlemarch Rd. - I moved ahead with caution and began to alter my MTB plans for the afternoon. Middlemarch Road washes had been running with a torrent since I was last through the route just 19 days prior. On my way toward Middlemarch Pass from Tenneco Well the road became almost completely washed-out, with just enough width for one vehicle to squeeze through - another deluge and through access would be gone as large gnarled roots were apparent in the chasm unearthed, making the remaining passageway tenuous at best - this would be my return route after dark as well.
I arrived at the old Stamping Mill in Middlemarch Canyon above FR 345 in the early afternoon and decide to eat lunch and watch how the atmospheric play would develop, as no rain was falling in my location - yet the sky remained bruised all around. I enjoy this kind of environment very much (too much at times), and actually find it quite invigorating! But, with the ground already clearly saturated in the entire region and remarkable erosion omnipresent - I decide to first do some routing research (locate Tunnel Spring & potential future camping sites, etc.) poking about the lower regions while the main storm gathered direction, moving off the Chiricahua Mountains across Sulfur Spring Valley rumbling just out of view. My intention now was to make the hike over to Cochise Campground and back without being caught on the north-side of the Middlemarch Saddle passageway with a flash-flood downpour hampering the return on a somewhat steep already highly eroded route going south late in the day.
I set-out mid-afternoon with the sky offering no guarantee that the round-trip would be feasible just the same. The erosion nearly cut the trail as I approached Middlemarch pass from the south, and a two - three foot deep crevasse now replaced the trail with no alternate on the steeper section available. The downhill toward 'Trail 277 Spring Tank' (my reference) was worse than I had imagined as light rain was now becoming more steady. I decided to make the Tank my turnaround point as it was impossible to understand the scope of the storm behind the eastern most ridge. In steady rain I moved back up toward the saddle - fortunately none of the storm potentials about the range ever manifested in my area to amount to anything and a deep shroud of mist closed in behind my route as I returned to the ruins of the Stamping Mill where I was parked. A most excellent afternoon all-in-all! 
TrainingPeaks: TSS@200.3 IF@.77 Avg. Heart Rate @141 bpm |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
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Tenneco Well |
76-100% full |
76-100% full |
| | | Running over with all the recent moisture! If you come upon this site and don't find overflow from the main tanks - be sure to check the tap below the windmill as it a constant reliable source point. |
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Trail 277 Spring Tank |
26-50% full |
26-50% full |
| | | More than a little low as was indicated from the well established waterline perimeter. The water looked good - clear and non-brackish. No evidence of cow feces anywhere near the source (surprising). |
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Tunnel Spring |
Dry |
Dry |
| | | Bone Dry...and likely to stay that way, as it appears to have been an old source long ago lost with the Quarry and Mill works of the area. | | _____________________
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