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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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Route Editor
Route Scout
Gathered some of the peppers and headed back to the truck. Got bloodied up even more on the return, but I got what I came for, and now don't have to go back down there again. Yay!
By the way, DOS is closing down in December, with the staff and operation moving back to the original Wisdom's in Tumacacori, where it will be consolidated with additional space. I actually was kind of surprised to find out about the move, since they have been expanding the operation in Tubac in recent years.
