Portal, AZ - Rodeo, NM

Hiking

Hike For July 25 - Pinaleño Mountains 

Meet:  Silver Peak Trailhead at 7:00 am (AZ) - 8:00 am (NM)

Carol Simon  (520) 558-2433  casimon@vtc.net 

Elaine Moisan (520)558-5204 emoisan2011@hotmail.com

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Hike report for July 18, 2024:

It promised to be a hot and rather humid day, but we chose to hike up the Snowshed trail this week - mostly out of curiosity about the recent fire of the same name.  (P.S. one good web site is mapofire.com)

We met an hour earlier to try & get ahead of the heat and potential thunderstorms.  Seven of us started up the trail at the end of the pavement on the 42 road,.  The trail was in good shape and the new sign was a thing of beauty.  Not even one scar from our local bears, yet.

The first part of the trail is well wooded and even on the north facing slope where it gets steep.  Then, the trail turns a corner onto the south facing slope where most of the trees were killed in the 2011 Horseshoe 2 fire.  This was about when the temperature soared mid morning.  We hiked uphill going from one shade tree to the next with a breather and a drink of water at each.  Progress was slow.  The frozen Gatorade was a big hit and a suggestion for summer hikes.

The vegetation along the way has dried and unlike the recent high elevation hikes we saw few wildflowers and little wildlife.  Across the basin we could see slopes covered with trees and wished they were here.

About 11AM we started noticing pink leaves and rocks and realized that we had reached retardant dropped on the Snowshed Fire (which started about 2 weeks ago and burned 127 acres).  We stopped & had lunch at Cypress Saddle: 

 

We are grateful to the several different crews that helped contain this fire!  However, were peeved by trash left behind (which we hauled out).   Even more alarming was a large fallen log still burning up on the hillside past Cypress saddle.

  

We had no tools this week, but a couple of us pulled fuels (anything burnable) away from the log, and pushed rocks beneath it to keep it from rolling down the hill.  The situation was reported to the Coronado NF dispatcher after we got back.

We hiked out in several different groups, and the last hikers got a gentle rain.  We hoped it fell on the burn area too.  A few lovely things besides the view:  we spotted a Palmer's Agave stalk that had broken off with flowers budding along the stalk, and the end of the hike we got a good look at a Mexican whip-poor-will flying around - a bird often heard but seldom seen (and not photographed this time).

  

Next week, to celebrate a birthday (and an anniversary) we will hike the Pinaleño Mountains on a trail we used to hike in late July every year.  We will meet at Trash Corner (junction of Foothills and Portal Road) at 7 AM AZ, 8 AM NM (earlier because it is a longer drive).  We will leave a vehicle at Arcadia Campground then all drive up to 9000 ft elevation at Shannon Campground.  The hike is about 5 miles, mostly downhill on a good trail through unburned and burned areas.  In the past we’ve found lots of raspberries plus a few salmon, thimble and huckleberries ripe along the way… but no guarantees.  Because of the driving and shuttle time some hikers have always gone into Safford for dinner (but people are welcome to return home).  Remember lunch, water, hat, RAIN GEAR, sunscreen and money for dinner.

Hike report by Al, photos from Elaine