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| Hiking | 10.62 Miles |
2,101 AEG |
| | Hiking | 10.62 Miles | 7 Hrs 8 Mns | | 1.86 mph |
| 2,101 ft AEG | 1 Hour 25 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | an ABC event led by Wendy. 11 people were signed up all week and by gosh 11 people showed up  . As many of you know, that's a rare occurrence but a welcome one. Wendy and I had hiked the trail from the other side in Sept 2011 and had a super time including camping and then our long drive home via Bisbee the following day. This time we would hike both days in the western Dragoons.
We met up at Wendy's house with 2 of the other hikers and then went to El Chorro for a carne seca/prickly pear margarita lunch  . And then it was off to our camping spot via Middle Marche Rd, FR 687 to 688 to the West TH. We arrived on Friday afternoon, claimed the spot and then headed back with a stop at Council Rocks to drop off the other two hikers while we put up signs for the group. We came back to Council Rocks and played around until the sun was set before heading back to camp for dinner (yummy salmon cakes by Wendy for us) and to freeze most of the nite in the tent, at least for me. Other late comers arrived and set up their tents until around 9PM when the last stragglers came in I think.
The next morning it was up and at 'em to put together a good breakfast before our hike to the other side and back. We had some speedy hikers so after Wendy's "it's your own hike but re-group at the Divide" we wouldn't see them til the Divide. I was surprised to see a father-son team that lagged back with Wendy, Rocky and me as they were avid photographers  . The son is pursuing a mining career via education at U of A.
It was a beautiful morning to climb up the west side. The trail is in very good shape except for just a few areas of break away from the rain I assume. This trail climbs, levels, climbs, switches back and forth almost the entire way so it's not too taxing. Of course, it's first thing so we had fresh legs. We admired the tree choked drainages, a fault wall, the dry waterfall and of course the rock formations are just incredible. There are many wobbly rocks and skinny rocks and tall rocks and big rocks. It's all very impressive especially as the Dome starts to appear  .
Scout II was being onery today as I just said we were at .8 and then at the 1 mile marker Scout II said 1.25. So somewhere in that small time frame, Scout II added .25 miles. It's quite annoying. Granted, most times it all matches up on Mapsource and HAZ when I get home but that's not when it matters  ! (altho, by the time we got back to the TH the mileage matched up - go figure ](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall") ).
We all had a break at the Divide before our trip down the east side.
The temps and breeze were just right for this beautiful hike. We would pass by Quarter Moon tank; nothing to see here and continue on our way taking occasional side trips for photos and stopping to wait for the others as Wendy was running sweep. The landscape and terrain changes off and on for this side which makes it lots of fun. We would encounter some other folks along the lower portion. We ran into these four older people that we would see again as we came back on the Slavin Gulch Trl Sunday (they were from VT).
Eventually we finally made our way to the campground for our lunch but not before passing two of our group that were heading back up the east side. We had lunch at the picnic table and watched a couple acorn woodpeckers carrying on. We ran into another of our group and saw two others as they headed back up.
It was starting to get a little warm for our trek thru the lower canyon and of course, you do have some spread out elevation to tackle. We would stop in the shade from time to time to wait for one of our group (I used to be that person  and still am on occasion). No big deal as there was no need to be in any kind of a hurry. We did see some better distant views  to the east at this time of the day. We still wandered in some areas to get some photo ops and once at the Divide and on our way down the west side, it was clear sailing except for the steeper and slippery switchbacks.
Back at camp, some of the group went to Council Rocks. I stayed at camp and drank a beer or two, had some snacks and read from the Rx I had done about the Dragoons to the others. The Dragoons are fascinating, especially where they got their name. For dinner we would have steaks, fried potatoes and salad, YUM. Dessert was a couple shots of fire water (same as the nite before ). One of the couples had done a honey moon hike on the Napali Coast and they had some video that they shared. It rained the entire time they were there except the 45 minutes of their wedding. Also, they met on a hiking trip.
I am glad to report that I  slept warmly and mostly soundly on Sat. nite. I heard it was 4 degrees warmer but I'm not sure if that really made that much difference... doesn't matter really as I had a good nite!
4 videos from the hike west to east of the trail:
Heading up the west side - http://youtu.be/ZEXXI4i_xYQ
Finishing off the west side and heading to Cochise Spring on the east side http://youtu.be/zgAdA_Fb8dM
Part 3 continuing down the east side from Cochise Spring - http://youtu.be/HrdztaCxwU4
Part 4 finishing off the east side, at the campground and some squirrel action on the way back http://youtu.be/dugWGygysWk |
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Wildflowers Observation None
schotts yucca |
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| _____________________
For me, sometimes it's just as much about the journey as the destination.
Oh, and once in awhile, don't forget to look back at the trail you've traveled. |
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