The plan for the day was to hike to the
Table Top Wilderness near Casa Grande. During the week, John had downloaded
all of the information he could find on the Internet about this difficult
trail. He had even found pictures of the mountain and sent me the URL at work
so that I could see how beautiful it was. I was impressed, and I couldn't wait
to do it.
Then I got sick. I managed to come into contact with the germs of my diseased
co-workers during the height of the winter flu season, resulting in four days
of complete agony. Doped up on Nyquil, I stayed in bed all day Saturday in
hopes that I could get rid of that nasty cold so that we could hike the next
day. However, when I awoke Sunday morning, I knew that it wasn't going to
happen. I was still a little congested, and I had not yet recovered all of my
strength. John was mad that he couldn't hike Table Top, however, instead of
leaving without me, he decided to go to Plan B, which meant that we would go
exploring and postpone the Table Top hike for another day.
After consulting the Arizona map, John decided that he would like to explore
the southern region of Arizona, near the Huachuca Mountains south of Sierra
Vista and east of Nogales. He also used our "Trail Bible" to look for an easy
trail for us to hike: something with very little elevation gain, maybe one or
two miles long, that I could handle hiking even in my weakened condition. He
found the Coronado Cave Trail, a .75 mile long hike that started at the
Coronado National Memorial and ended at the Coronado Cave.
We left at 6:30 Sunday morning and drove to Tucson, which was the first stop
on our journey. The goal was to find a map store that was open at 9:00 a.m. on
a Sunday so that we could buy a Coronado National Forest map...but since that
was impossible, we stopped at the closest grocery store and bought an Arizona
recreational map.
Once we left Tucson, we continued south on I-10 until we reached I-19, the
highway to Nogales. As we passed through Green Valley, John exited the freeway
at Continental Road so that we could drive to Madera Canyon, a very scenic
recreational area. I had visited Madera Canyon once before, with my mother and
brother, Wayne, and I thought it was a very pretty place to have a picnic.
John was interested in checking out the trailheads. In our "Trail Bible", he
had discovered that Madera Canyon had a whole series of moderate to difficult
trails that we could do someday. The one that caught his attention was the
V.
Steep Super Trail (is that short for VERY Steep, I wonder?). He was so curious
that he wanted to hike it right away. Then he remembered that I was sick so he
reluctantly reconsidered.
After leaving Madera Canyon, John and I drove down Santa Rita Ranch Road
towards SR 83, which would take us to SR 90, through Sierra Vista and Huachuca
City. From SR 90, we could already see the majestic Huachuca Mountains.
Neither one of us has ever explored these mountains, and, according to the
"Trail Bible", there is a multitude of challenging trails just waiting for us
there. We began discussing the possibility of backpacking there.
Around 11:30, we finally arrived at the Coronado National Memorial, where we
obtained our permits to hike the Cave Trail. We also purchased Coronado
National Forest maps. Then, after lunch, we grabbed our flashlights and began
the three-quarter mile hike to the Coronado Cave.
The trail leading to the cave is a relatively easy one that gains 400 feet
over three-quarters of a mile. However, I had a difficult time with it because
I was still congested. I had to stop to rest often because I was getting
winded and couldn't breathe. There were a few times John suggested that I wait
in the car, but I declined because I really wanted to see the cave.
Finally, we reached the end of the trail, where we found the mouth of the
cave. The entrance had been partially blocked by large boulders, meaning that,
in order to access the cave, we had to climb up and over the huge rocks.
Unlike the Lava River cave, however, we really didn't have to worry about
watching our step because there wasn't any ice -- just lots and lots of dirt.
With our flashlights ready, John and I began exploring the cave and all of the
tunnels that had been carved throughout the caverns through the centuries.
Many of these tunnels required crawling on our hands and knees, while others
were so small that we would have to slither through them on our bellies. I
chose not to enter these tunnels, but John went into almost every one he
found.
At the very end of the cave, we saw daylight, which indicated that there must
have been another entrance into the cave -- of course, that meant that we had
to see where it led. We discovered that the sunlight was coming in through a
small window several feet above the floor of the cave. When we went in to
investigate, we found that the room was some sort of haven for flies as there
were thousands of them swarming around. Thoroughly disgusted, we left the room
and started back towards the mouth of the cave, warning others about the flies
along the way.
Before leaving the cave, John found one more series of tunnels to try. I
wasn't willing to follow him, so I took the easy path through the cave. I then
waited for him at the end of the tunnel where I thought he would materialize.
And there I waited...and waited...and waited.
Soon I began to get worried, so I started calling out his name. No answer. I
called out again, but my only reply was silence. Now I was really worried:
what if he was hurt? What would I do? There was no way in hell that I could
carry him off of the trail, let alone out of the tunnel. I could go back to
the ranger station for help, but how long would that take?
Then, to my great relief, I heard John call my name, and moments later, he
poked his head out of the mouth of the tunnel. Though he was covered from head
to foot with dirt, he was uninjured and full of adrenaline. "That was fun!" he
exclaimed. "I really needed that!" The crawl through the tunnel had given him
enough of an adrenaline rush to make up for the hike he had missed.
Upon returning to the ranger station to return our permits, John and I stopped
a moment to buy some books. I had been looking at one about ghost towns in
Arizona, so I decided to buy it so that John and I could plan some ghost town
expeditions. John purchased a small book about desert trees because he was
tired of not knowing the names of the foliage we often encounter on our hikes.
The next leg of our adventure entailed driving along fifty miles on FR 61 (a
dirt road, of course) to get to Nogales, where we would connect with I-19. The
park ranger told us that it would take us three and a half hours to get there,
but it only took us two -- and that included our little "romp" on the side of
the road before we left Cochise County.
Along the way, we passed through scenic San Rafael Valley, where we found a
beautiful place for us to take a camping trip during the colder months. There
were vast, rolling meadows covered with grass and dotted with big green trees
and little ranches. T he area was even more beautiful than the meadowlands
surrounding Young. I watched in silent awe as we passed through the valley,
and John suggested that we go camping there in three weeks so that we could
hike the Huachucas. I wholeheartedly agreed.
Soon we found ourselves back on the paved road and heading back towards
Phoenix. We were home just before sunset. Though I was still sick and
congested, I was happy that I had the chance to see a part of the state that I
had never seen before and that I could share it with John. |
