Technically, our weekend in the Huachuca Mountains was not our first camping trip of the year, having "roughed it" last weekend in Flagstaff when we camped in the Verleys' motor home. However, this was our first chance of the year to brave the elements (fools that we are) and survive...barely. This would also be the first real test of our semi-mummy sleeping bags to see if they were really going to keep us warm in Montana.

The area in which we camped was very beautiful. Earlier that month, John and I had explored that same area, along FR 61 in the Coronado National Forest, for the first time, and we found it to be absolutely breathtaking, with its rolling meadows dotted with green trees, little ranches, and ghosts towns (i.e. Lochiel and Duquesne). Surrounding these meadows were vast mountain ranges, such as the Huachucas -- the tallest peak of which is Miller's Peak, which stands at an elevation of 9,466 feet -- and the Patagonias, as well as mountain ranges in Mexico (the Sierra Madres, for example). Simply stunning.

It was our fascination with this area that brought us back there that weekend. During the past month, John had done countless research on the trails in the Huachucas and found that some of them connect to the Arizona Trail (the 700-mile plus trail that spans the state of Arizona, from Mexico to Utah). The Crest Trail, for example, is an eleven-mile portion of the trail, leading from Montezuma's Pass through the Huachucas. One of its side trails goes up to Miller's Peak, which is in the Miller Peak Wilderness Area. There are several trails which connect to the Crest Trail; two of them -- the Ida Canyon and Oversite Trails, which run parallel to each other -- can be made into a seven-mile loop trail by hiking a quarter-mile on the Crest trail.

We arrived Saturday morning, and, after stopping to "play" in Santa Cruz county, we set up camp in School Canyon, about five miles from the Ida Canyon/Oversite trailheads, which are off of FR 771. By the time we finished setting up the tent, it was after ten o'clock in the morning, meaning that we were going to get a late start on the trail. We actually didn't make it to the trailhead until about 11:30 in the morning because it took us a while to travel along FR 771 (which becomes a 4WD road after passing through the fence). There were "speed bumps" in the road, which kept scraping the running boards on the van as we passed over them.

Upon reaching the Oversite Trailhead, we stopped to have lunch before we began hiking. Then, we hit the trail. A quarter-mile or so into the trail, we entered the Miller Peak Wilderness Area -- another milestone for John and me, so we shared another "wilderness kiss" before proceeding.

The trail immediately began to climb through a ponderosa pine forest that followed along a creek. At first, the Oversite Trail was easy to follow as it was an old jeep road for the first mile. Then, as the trail narrowed, it gradually became more indistinct...until it disappeared completely! There were very few cairns to mark the path, and I was convinced that some of them had been placed there by someone who was just as lost as we were. After spending an hour searching for the trail and arguing with each other, John and I gave up and headed back to the trailhead. After returning to the van, we learned that, at the first creek crossing, we should have started to climb away from the creek. Instead, we stayed with the creek and got lost.

Instead of giving up on hiking, John and I went to the Ida Canyon Trailhead, which could be found at the end of a road that forked off of FR 771. This road wasn't nearly as rough as the previous road, however, the trailhead parking was tiny and John had problems getting the van out of there.

The Ida Canyon Trail proved to be a much better trail than Oversite. For one, it didn't disappear on us, and it was also more scenic. However, I was still having problems. We entered the Miller Peak Wilderness Area at the trailhead and began to climb immediately up a series of switchbacks. Having already hiked three frustrating miles prior to this trail, I wasn't ready for more uphill hiking. Then, to make matters worse, I broke my hiking stick! John, trying to be understanding, promised that he would get me another hiking stick after the trip was over. (That following Monday, he sent me links to Backpacker's Magazine, in which there was an article comparing different hiking sticks.)

Due to fatigue on my part and the fact that it was getting late, we didn't reach the end of the trail, which disappointed John. We only made it to Bear Springs, three miles into the trail, which is in a very pretty pine forest, the floor of which was covered with autumn leaves. We stopped just beyond that so that we could rest and eat trail mix. Then we turned around to return to the trailhead. On our way back, we stopped to take pictures of some of the interesting things we saw along the trail, including an old abandoned mine that had not been blocked by warning signs, and an old car, possibly built in the 30's, rusted with age. Its engine was still lying next to it. I wondered how that car got into the wilderness area -- of course, it must have been there since before the wilderness boundaries were established, but where was the road? John pointed out that there was an old jeep road just above us, which answered my question.

We returned to camp around 5:30 p.m., and John started dinner while I worked on the campfire. (That was the easy job, considering that piles of old, dry wood that had fallen off of the oak tree surrounded our campsite.) After we ate, we spent the evening sitting by the campfire, trying to keep warm. Then, at 9:00, we declared that it was bedtime. I fell asleep almost immediately...

...Only to be awaken by the cold, bitter night at midnight. I could not get comfortable because I was simply too cold! And, as if that wasn't bad enough, I had to pee, but it was too cold for me to climb out of the sleeping bag to do so. Neither John nor me was able to sleep that night; we each got maybe a maximum of four hours of sleep before morning, at which time we gave up and crawled out of the tent to start the day.

As the morning sun spread onto our campsite -- and as I drank my morning coffee -- we began to warm up enough to move away from the campfire. John and I took a walk to get our blood circulating; we climbed up the walls of School Canyon (which were between twenty and fifty feet high but a little bit steep). Upon reaching the top, we walked out onto a vast meadow that seemed to stretch on for miles. We took pictures of it and the surrounding mountain ranges before returning to camp.

Before we even started packing up camp, John and I discussed what we were going to do for the day. Our original plan was to hike to Miller's Peak, but since we were so tired from lack of sleep, he left the decision up to me -- and I decided not to do the hike. Instead, we chose what appeared to be a much simpler hike: a 1.75 mile (3.5 miles round trip) hike from Montezuma's pass to the Mexican border. Although John really wanted to hike Miller's Peak, he agreed to it.

The trail that we hiked was actually a series of three adjoining trails, two of which were part of the Arizona Trail. From Montezuma's Pass, we hiked 0.1 miles on the Coronado Peak Trail until we reached the junction for the Joe's Canyon Trail, a 3 mile long trail that would take us through Joe's Canyon to the Coronado Memorial Visitor's Center. We would follow that trail for three-quarters of a mile until we reached another junction, where we would begin hiking the Yaqui Ridge Trail, a mile-long trail that would switchback all the way down to the Mexican border. It turned out to be a much more difficult hike than it appeared to be, but it was well worth the trip.

One of the things we found interesting about this trail was the landscape. As we descended into the valley, we found that the grass, of course, was seasonally dry and yellow, however, on the other side of the barbed wire fence that separates the two nations, the grass was a different shade of yellow!

The trail ends at the barbed wire fence; at this particular point, there is a monument, shaped like the Washington Memorial, which marks the Mexican border...and, of course, it's on the Mexican side of the fence! So, we did what any other red-blooded American would do in that situation: we hopped the fence and took our pictures in front of the monument! We then "illegally" returned to the United States.

The return trip took a little effort as it was mostly uphill, but John and I trudged along at our own pace. Then, suddenly, John stopped in his tracks and jumped backwards, shouting, "Holy shit!" As he did so, two javelinas thundered across our path, running into the valley below. They passed only ten feet in front of him, startling both of us. It was quite the experience.

The hills were full of javelinas that day; as John and I continued hiking, we saw two more javelinas at the top of the ridge, not more than ten feet from another pair of hikers, both of whom appeared unaware that there was wildlife behind them!

Once we finished the trail, it was time to start our long drive home -- a long drive because we were going to take the scenic route home, as usual. We continued east on FR 61 until we reached pavement (SR 92); from there, we drove towards SR 80, which would take us through Bisbee, Tombstone, and finally Benson before connecting with I-10. John and I stopped briefly in Bisbee, a ghost town turned tourist trap that neither one of us had ever visited before. We took a walk around Old Bisbee so that we could admire the old buildings and pass through some of the second hand stores. We also stopped to look at the old mines before continuing on our journey.

We traveled through five counties on this trip. John and I, being suckers for statistics, like to keep track of the places we've visited: national forests, wilderness areas, trails, states, counties...and we also keep a tally of the counties in which we've had sex, for no other reason than for bragging purposes. During this trip, John and I managed to add Santa Cruz and Pima counties to that list; passing through Pima County on the way home, we parked on a desolate dirt road in the middle of nowhere so that we could fool around. (The total now is eleven counties.)

Eventually, we found our way home. Another adventure had ended, and we were already planning for our next one...

Return to Naked in the Woods.