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1,282 AEG |
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| 1,282 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Actually Rustler Park is at 8900 give or take. The 13 miles round trip is pretty close. the top of Chiricahua Peak offers no view, unless it has burned since the last time I was there. The only reward is the climb and a sign advertising the southernmost place in the United States with Englemann Spruce. The crest trail is a pleasant walk. Past Fly Peak is Round Park which features wild iris in season. Under the clearing of Round Park is a water capture basin with impermeable rock underneath. In the wet season, the ground throbs like a drum if several hikers go thru together. Portions of the crest trail offer stunning views to the west, of the Sulpher Springs Valley, and the Dragoon, Huachuca, and Santa Rita mountains. About 1/3 mile before Chiricahua Peak is Junction Saddle, and a diagonal trail leading back the way you just came which leads to Anita Park, at 9500 ft. This is the best place to camp along the crest trail, with a reliable spring 1/8 mile down a side trail to the east. Between Junction Saddle and Anita Park is a bald hill with excellent views, a great place to watch the sun go down. During the monsoon season after it rains (oh yes does it rain!) the fog rolls thru here, and at dusk if you are quiet, you can sometimes catch a glimpse of Oso Negro (these are hispanic bears, close to the Sierra Madre) crossing over the saddle below you. Maybe several....If the wind is right, you can hear them sing, like the Wicked Witch's soldiers in the Wizard of Oz. They are coming for your Mountain House Stroganoff, and your oatmeal cookies....
Seriously, this is bear city. It is a good place to practice bear bagging and avoid anything olfactory in the tent, including the pants you wiped your hands on after making those peanut butter and sardine sandwiches. Relax, it could be worse, you could be back at Rustler Park where the campground bear is figuring out how to swat out someone's back windshield to reach the large steel coleman cooler full of Colorado coolaid. No fooling ! Don't leave a cooler in eyesite, put in truck or cover well, the bear learning curve is incredible here, and they have a taste for hops almost as great as mine.
South of Junction Saddle the crest trail forks with one trail going down to Rucker Lake at 6000 ft. and the other route traveling southeast to Sentinel Peak and options to Rucker Lake and Cave Creek on the east side of the mountain range, near the tiny town of Portal (which only needs cable tv and high speed internet to be heaven on earth).
What a country! Bears, coatamundis, parrots, spruce and aspen, only 20 miles from old Mexico, and a risk of snow dusting or hail above 9000 ft. in August. Even a chance of a glimpse of El Tigre, the jaguar. Give it a try! |
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| "The trail is the thing, not the end of the trail. Travel too fast and you miss all you are traveling for." -Louis L'Amour |
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