Portal, AZ - Rodeo, NM

Hiking

May 7 - Onion Saddle - Jhus-Horse Saddle - Pinery-Horsefall Trail into Pinery Canyon 

Meet at the Silver Peak Trailhead at 8:00 a.m. AZ, 9:00 a.m. NM

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

Five hikers met at the Silver Peak Trailhead parking lot and decided NOT to go to the Chiricahua National Monument for a variety of reasons. This hike has been postponed for two weeks and will happen on May 14. Instead, we opted for a walk in our canyon.

Choosing a local trail, Ash Spring, we walked up the Greenhouse Road and all five of us missed the turnoff because we were so deep in conversation, probably solving the world’s problems. There was no excuse for our inattention but that junction really needs a sign pointing to Ash Spring. There is a Greenhouse Road sign there, hidden in the bushes. That one just needs a little clearing. The Ash Spring Trail is a favorite for many of us and we know it as a good trail for entertaining our visitors. Its longest version is only about 2 1/2 miles and it goes though a variety a habitats with very nice views. In addition, the trail is almost always in good shape except for one stretch that is too rocky because it functions as a creek bed some of the time.

Along the way we passed about 100 emerging agave stalks, rising to sky and getting ready to produce flowers. After this herculean effort the entire plant will die. Last year almost NO agaves produced stalks, undoubtedly because of the severe drought. I know this because in December I was looking for a nice one to hang Mexican tin ornaments on and use as a Christmas tree. Note that these are night blooming plants with a musky scent and high nectar content. They are primarily pollinated by bats, especially the Lesser and Mexican Long-nosed Bats. Hawkmoths, hummingbirds, bees and wasps also help out.

There weren’t a lot of flowers along the way but there was plenty to see. Here is a prickly pear with cochineal on it. Cochineal is a scale insect from which the natural dye carmine is derived. The insect is a parasite native to tropical and subtropical South America through North America, living on cacti in the genus Opuntia, and feeding on plant moisture and nutrients. If you touch the white substance your finger will be red from the natural dye the insects produce. Females and their eggs produce the red chemical, carminic acid, to deter insect predators. This is the key ingredient for producing the highly coveted vibrant red dye that was/is widely used by Native Americans. It is often assumed that the red in the first American flag was from cochineal. Could be.

Another interesting organism is the Alpine Cancer Root (Conopholis alpine) seen below. It is common in Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexico and is a parasitic plant, lacking chlorophyll, and feeding entirely on the roots of oak trees. They form dense clusters that look like pinecones emerging from the ground.

 *

Our second trail was the very short-but-steep Cliffrose Trail across from the main entrance to Southwestern Research Station. Its terminus has a bench, which is a good thing after the steep climb, and it has one of the best views in the Chiricahuas. We had lunch here.

It was a most pleasant day, cool and overcast with a threat of rain. The rain didn’t come until much later in the day, in the evening, and we all stayed dry except for a very few drops. As I have said many times, we have a very fine back yard.

Next week on, May 7, we will hike from Onion Saddle along the Shaw Peak Trail to the Jhus-Horse Saddle and down the Pinery-Horsefall Trail into Pinery Canyon. The trail should be okay except perhaps for some bottom-of-the-canyon trail finding after Iron Spring. From Onion Saddle there is an uphill stretch of less than a mile but then it is mostly downhill and the total hike is about six miles. We’ll have a vehicle at the end to bring everyone back up the hill to Onion Saddle. Meet at the Silver Peak Trail parking lot at 8:00 a.m. AZ, 9 a.m. NM. Bring the usual -- hat, sunscreen, water, lunch, appropriate layers, etc.

Happy trails!

Report by Carol

Photos by Carol and Peter