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| Hiking | 7.05 Miles |
675 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.05 Miles | 2 Hrs 47 Mns | | 2.53 mph |
| 675 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | I had planned to hike West Bear Canyon this week, despite the fact I would be a week ahead of when fall colors usually peak there, the last day or two of September.
But I hiked Crackerbox Canyon last week, and was not overly enthused about doing upper Mogollon Rim canyon hikes two weeks in a row.
Complicating matters, I woke Friday morning at 11:30 p.m. Thursday night — you read that right — and would need to be at Rosie McCaffrey’s Irish Pub with the Phoenix Celtic Supporters Club at 4:00 a.m. for kickoff in Scotland. Sleep would be at a premium, so I did not want to travel two or three hours to do a hike, dragging in at 8 p.m. after another two or three hours on the return trip.
It’s been over five years since I last hiked Deer Creek Trail #45, when I was part of a crew that volunteered to restore the grave of Arizona pioneer legend Davey Gowan. And over the past year or so, it’s occasionally crossed my mind that I ought to go back, and see how things are holding up. The best part is, it’s only an hour north of Phoenix.
There were very, very few flowers on this hike, the majority of which were that purple flower with the yellow middle I see everywhere else in Arizona. Cripes, I wish I could remember what it is called. A few trees’ leaves were just starting to turn lime green.; they might have some good color towards the end of October. The prickly pear cactus had some very healthy looking fruit. But what color there was was mostly provided by a number of bushes whose leaves were already into orange, and even some red. Closer to Davey Gowan’s grave, as the elevation approaches 3500 ft., there are even a few evergreen (juniper?) with clusters of small purple fruits.
Five and a half years ago, Wild Bill’s crew put in a good shift cleaning up Davey’s grave. I brought a hand saw, so I did brush clearing. Other folks pounded posts, raked, gathered rocks, etc. We had it looking really nice.
Time, and inconsiderate visitors, have seen Davey’s grave begin to deteriorate. One rail was broken, and several others had damage. Bits and pieces lay scattered on the ground. It looked to me like some folks had tried to climb over the railing, failing to take into account their fat rear ends. Grass had also grown up between the rocks, and bushes had started to intrude.
Not having any tools this time, I cleaned up as best I could. I pulled away some branches. I gathered the bits of railing, piling them on the old bed frame that has been there forever. I propped up the broken rail on a rock. It wasn’t much, but it was the best I could do.
I had hauled a bottle of Glengoyne 21 Year Highland Single Malt with me, that I originally acquired on our 2014 trip to Scotland, so I fished that out of my pack to toast Davey’s memory. What better way to remember a Scot, than a whisky? 
After putzing around the grave site for 45 minutes, I hauled donkey back to the trailhead. I made the 3.16 miles in about an hour and five minutes.
On the way back into the Valley, we stopped at the Fountain Hills Mickey D’s for my absolute favorite post hike meal: A Filet-O-Fish and large fries (with lots of salt).
While working on this blog, I realized Davey did not have an entry on FindAGrave.com. So I added one. If you could give Davey Gowan’s FindAGrave.com memorial ( https://www.findagrave... ) a visit, and vote on “How famous was this person?” (bottom of the page), I would appreciate it.
Note, for a famous person to get listed as actually famous, the more votes, the better!
Hike Video: [ youtube video ] |
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Autumn Foliage Observation Isolated
Some of the bushes had orange leaves, and a few of the trees had a lime-ish tint to the leaves. At only 3500 ft. Might be worth a look end of October. |
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| http://prestonm.com : Everyone's enjoyment of the outdoors is different and should be equally honored. |
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