On the way up to the trailhead, we saw the cutest little black bear by the side of the road. The little bugger reminded us of the little black bear we helped Katie chase out of her summer camp. Unfortunately, the camera was not within reach, so we have no photographic evidence of this ursine encounter. However, we now have a new policy of leaving the camera in the cup holder for future animal encounters.
Our destination, Lost Mine Peak, at 7,650 feet elevation, dominates the skyline across Upper Pine Canyon. The peak's name comes from an old legend that describes how Spanish explorers found a vein of silver in this area and enslaved local people to mine it. According to the legend, the workers eventually rebelled and killed their enslavers, then sealed the mine entrance to prevent further exploitation. There is no evidence to support this legend, and geologists don't believe that silver would be found in these rocks. However, the name adds an air of mystery to this mountain and makes for a really cool hike.
As soon as we leave the parking lot, we can look up and see Casa Grande. This little peak is only 7,325 feet, but it dominates the Chisos Basin. The trail begins a steady slow climb on a very well maintained trail. The Civilian Conversation Corps built many stone culverts and other masonry structures along the trail.
The trail switches back and forth between two valleys. One seems to have small trees and lots of brush.
The other one, has many more tall trees. These trees provided much needed shade since there wasn't a cloud in the sky today.
We picked up a self-guiding nature trail booklet at the trailhead. It costs $1.00, but was worth every penny. There were 24 stops along the 2.4 mile trail to the summit. Here is Kathy reading all about the Fragrant Ash with its sweet smelling white flowers. (Yes, we both stopped and smelled them.) These stops gave us a chance to catch our breath as the trail rises over 1,100 feet in elevation.
We ran into a bunch of Appalachian Mountain Club members on their way down the mountain, including a woman who lives outside of Boston. The subject of the recent bombings came up, and she is still shaken from the events and had difficulty talking about it. As much as we were upset by what happened, the folks in the Boston area feel it much more intensely. It's personal to them. After getting some trail intel and news of deer sightings, we bid them safe travels.
Onward and upward! A good part of the trail is in the open providing fantastic views of the Chisos Basin. You can just make out the road heading into the basin.
As the trail made switchback after swithcback climbing higher and higher, we could see evidence of the wind and rain eroding the rocks creating a boulder field that stretched down the side of the mountain. Here is a picture of grandma boulder surrounded by all her little grandbaby boulders. (Can you tell the air is getting thinner - look at how blue the sky is!)
The last few switchbacks were actually stone steps leading up to the summit. There is a long summit trail that leads to a cliff with a drop off of over 1,000 feet. Kathy tried to make it across the knife edge to reach the lookout, but couldn't do it - just too vertiginous. Dave scampered across and looked down into the abyss. Too bad the camera didn't do it justice. Here is the view looking down into one of the valleys on the far side.
If you squint really hard you can see Kathy on the way to the summit.
On the way down, we had one more look at Casa Grande before heading back into the trees.
Oh, I almost forgot. I sooooo wanted to take a picture of this rather large woman on the summit in pedal pushers and sandals carrying a black umbrella and clearly reeling from the heat, but resisted the urge. After all, she did make it all the way to the top.
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