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| Hiking | 2.50 Miles |
600 AEG |
| | Hiking | 2.50 Miles | | | |
| 600 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Down for another search for the elusive wild chiltepin plants that are known to be in this area. On previous visits I more or less stuck to the area around the road in the the main Rock Corral Canyon, but this time based on more extensive online research, I decided to concentrate my search in higher areas on the south face of Tumacacori Peak. I parked by the hiker's route to the peak near the end of the upper road. I had not been on this route since I bagged the peak back in 2002, but it seemed to be the same as I can't really remember.  I didn't go too far up this faint, but cairned portion, before I left it and dropped down into the drainage to the right. I thought I saw some flagging in a mesquite tree and decided to snoop around. There was another side drainage heading off to the east and in there I came across a long dead plant with a numbered metal tag attached. Since plants in here were catalogued many years ago, this could be one, but impossible to tell. I continued bushwhacking uphill towards some larger rock formations and I spotted more old flagging in trees. Again, nothing definitive but I came across two more metal tags. Perhaps related to the chiles, perhaps not (though I am guessing probably).
Anyway, this was my first time hiking off trail like this since 2019, so I had to be extremely careful in this remote area. I explored a bit along the lower cliffs and then headed over to a very large rock on the other side of the main drainage. Took a needed break there in the shade of that monster. From there I slowly made my way back down to where I was earlier, then headed out of the drainage and back to the truck. I didn't go very far, but since I am so out of condition, I was pretty exhausted at the end. This is not the best time to be looking for these plants, as they are dormant and have dropped their leaves, but I wanted to get a little searching in before any rain, since the road can get pretty muddy. I drove down here on January 6th, with the intent of looking around, but there were a couple of guys camping down by rock corral where I intended to park. Turns out they were fun to talk with, and I ended up shooting the breeze with them for well over an hour, so not much searching that day! I couldn't believe how many people were out in the canyon that day, whereas today I saw absolutely no one and encountered no vehicles on the drive in or out. **To be continued I am sure  ** |
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