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| Montazuma and Butterfly Tanks, AZ | |
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| | Montazuma and Butterfly Tanks, AZ | | | |
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Montazuma and Butterfly Tanks, AZ
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| Hiking | 10.00 Miles |
1,800 AEG |
| | Hiking | 10.00 Miles | 7 Hrs | | 1.43 mph |
| 1,800 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | I spent the day checking the water catchments, Montazuma and Butterfly Tanks, for the Game and Fish Department. The spring rains did not fall this year, so I was worried that the bighorn sheep tanks would run dry.
It was 112 degrees in the shade. I drank two gallons of water in about 7 hours. Low humidity and a breeze made it bearable, but make no mistake: the desert can be a death trap in the summer.
My suspicions proved correct: Montazuma tank was bone dry. Dry tanks can be disastrous to the animal life that depend on them, including hikers like me, who like to filter water instead of carrying. However, this time I brought a gallon with me each trek, not wanting to tempt fate. The buzzards followed me all day, to no avail.
I hiked back to the truck and drove to the Butterfly Trail Head. The cool AC gave me a second wind, lowering the body temperature to somewhat normal. I took the Butterfly Trail near the summit, and then dropped down a steep ascent to Butterfly Tank. It showed signs of use, but was nearly dry, also. Darkness was catching up to me so I took the faster route down the wash. There was little animal life to speak of. I did see two whip snakes along the way, but not much else. The drought has been severe in the Estrellas. The deer herd is totally dead and the sheep are in trouble, so much so, that the AGFD closed the unit to hunting this year.
Long story short, we had water hauled in two days later. Good thing that we did, because it did not rain there until late August. Here are a couple of pictures of my favorite plant, the elephant tree, Bursera microphylla, that I found along the way.
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