Portal, AZ - Rodeo, NM
Serving The Communities Of Portal and Rodeo (www.portal-rodeo.com)
Serving The Communities Of Portal and Rodeo (www.portal-rodeo.com)
Hiking
November 19 - The McCord Trail
Meet: The Visitors Center (VIC) at 9:00 am
Carol Simon (520) 558-2433 casimon1947@icloud.com
Elaine Moisan (520) 558-5204 emoisan2011@hotmail.com
Elly Van Gelderen (520) 558-3715 or ellyvangelderen@asu.edu
__________________________________________________________________________
Click On Any Image To See It In Its Original (Larger) Size
Hike Report 11/12/26 - Maples on South Fork
Let's see how many beautiful photos we can cram into a hike report ...
Eight hikers gathered at the South Fork Cave Creek berm for the annual trek to view the big tooth maple trees turning color. The nice flow in the Creek was an added bonus, unless having wet feet was a big problem for a person.
Starting just before the bathtub the hike was already a success as a large cluster of maples had turned brilliant red:
Matching jacket!
As we hiked upstream more and more colorful trees lined the canyon. Velvet ash trees, Scarlet sumac, cherry and sycamore trees all added to the riot of fall colors.
We stopped for an early lunch about 1.5 miles upstream. While we were eating 3 backpackers hiked past. They had spent 2 nights in the mountains and said they’d had a wonderful time. Some of our hikers headed back after lunch and four of us slowly continued upstream enjoying each new view of trees and cliffs. We got as far as the apple tree - about 3 miles. This tree has been a way-point for many years but unfortunately it was damaged by a falling pine and didn’t produce fruit this fall. Maybe next year.
The hike back was as beautiful as the hike upstream. Each creek crossing as its own adventure as we internally debated the risk of hopping from wet rock to wet rock against just wading across and getting our boots soaked. In the end, every boot was wet to some degree.
At the 3rd crossing our lead hiker had the rare experience of seeing an immature Apache goshawk pounce on a rock squirrel. The four of us watched the uncommon raptor try to fly off with its prey and finally get it to a good spot and start to feed.
American Goshawk "mantling" over its lunch
Next week we will hike the McCord Trail. We will meet at 9 AM on the road in front of the Visitor Center and drive a short distance to a parking area across Cave Creek.
Hike report from Al, photos from all of us
Easy Trails
Moderate Trails
Difficult Trails
Expert Trails
Chiricahua Mountain Hiking Trails
This project -a Herculean task - was started by Jonathan Patt as a collection of GPS data recorded while hiking in the Chiricahua Mountains of Southeastern Arizona starting in 2012 and expanded slowly into this site over a six month period beginning around 2013, during which it became obvious that much of the existing Chiricahua hiking information is out of date and, for some trails, nonexistent. This site is an attempt to resolve that problem.
If you would like to see a map of these trails or want more information about the project visit the Chiricahua Mountains Hiking Trails web site at:
The 62 Highest Peaks, Mountains, Hills, And Lookouts In The Chiricahuas
(Tabulated by Ray Brooks)
(Form Necessary To Work With Trail Crew)
Download - Complete - Mail
To volunteer with the US Forest Service, fill out an application. If accepted, a Volunteer Service Agreement specifying the task(s) will be sent to you.
DOWNLOAD THE FORM. Print it, fill out, sign in block 23, and date. You can scan a signed document and e-mail it toArmando Arvizu at: armando.arvizu@usda.gov
You can also mail the form to Armando at the Douglas Ranger District Office:
1192 W. Saddle View Rd. Douglas, AZ 85607
People can join the list automatically by sending an email to portal-rodeo-hiking+subscribe@googlegroups.com and they should start receiving messages.
