Desert Mountain Adventures

Our New Neighborhood in Black Canyon City, AZ

Black Canyon City RV Park is a small community of mostly full-timer snowbirds that own their lots. There are a couple of sites for us “short termers”. Like all these places, the neighbors couldn’t be nicer. The resident “pastor” (Pastor Pat, who holds services on her lot every Sunday) visited often and was very distressed we had such bad weather for part of our time there!

Desert Mountain Adventures

At both our site in Las Cruces and our site here in Black Canyon, we’ve been in easy reach of desert mountains that are great for both hiking and mountain biking. In Las Cruces, it was the Organ Mountains to the east of the city. The Organs are a set of dramatic needles rising out of the flat New Mexico desert. Some peaks are close to 9,000 feet and require Class 3 or 4 climbing skills (something our kids Josh and Liz would surely like!) In Black Canyon it is the Bradshaw Mountains in the Prescott National Forest, with the tallest peak just under 8,000 feet.

The Organ Needles

The Bradshaw Mountains

Of course, I was not hiking to the top of these ranges, for obvious reasons. But for the hikes I did do (longest was 7 miles), they felt a bit like “cheating” compared to out East – for two reasons. First, you don’t have to work to “get above the tree line” because there is no tree line! You have clear views of the horizon from your first step. In the Organ there are some trees, but they don’t generally get taller than 10-15 feet, and they are spaced far apart. In the Bradshaws, there aren’t any trees, just bushes and the saguaro cactus. I guess you could think about a “cactus line” vs. a “tree line”, but they aren’t close enough together to obscure the view. (The saguaro is the largest cactus in the U.S. and can get to be very old. They can live for 200 years and they don’t even branch until 50 to 70 years.)

Second, the trails have abundant “switchbacks” – U-turns that mean most of your hiking is on a gentle traverse instead of the “highway to heaven” pitches you get in the Whites. I am sure the Yankee trail designers would find this arrangement very inefficient – why wander around when you could go straight up? In the Whites I have run into many hikers from other states and countries who just can’t believe that so many trails go directly from the base to the peak. Many of them were hiking the Appalachian Trail and the New England section has the reputation of being the toughest section of them all. I am sure that Yankee design is derived from our Puritan heritage that values economy and suffering. I assure you that I enjoyed both these desert mountain benefits without feeling any guilt at all!

Yankee Trails

Western Desert Switchbacks

Finding my kind of mountain biking trails…

At the base of the Organs, the Sierra Vista Trail is a 20+ mile biking trail that is rated on Trail Forks as a “green” novice trail (which is definitely my style). I was excited to enjoy it, and assumed it was going to look like the smooth trails I had hiked, giving me an opportunity for many hours of staring at the Organ needles. Not so! Every decent pitch was a sluice full of loose desert rocks, who sole purpose, I was sure, was to throw me into one of the vicious cacti on the side of the trail. After a mile I gave up and headed back. Fortunately, I passed a biker who informed me that if I took a right on my way back, I would find great groomed trails that were in top shape because they are maintained by a local mountain biking group. The Sierra Vista, on the other hand, is maintained by the BLM, which means not maintained at all as bike trail. It is the kind of trail that our kids Sam and Tammy would probably like – it would remind them of the “roots and rocks” trails in the East.

My Kind of Biking Trails

Not My Kind of Biking Trails!

New hiking gear – and a good thing that I had a knife…

The mountain biker I met was local and had done a lot of hiking in the Organs. He agreed that I would really like hiking them, but then as he figured out I was not from the West he hesitated a bit and then gave me a gentle warning: “But you really do need to look out for rattlesnakes – especially on the parts of the trail that are through long grass. You need to use your poles to shake the grasses so they know you are coming. I have seen a bunch of them over the last three weeks.” Of course this did put the fear of God in me. Do I really want to risk dying from a snake bite on the side of a desert mountain? On the way home I searched for “important hiking gear to protect from rattlesnake bites” and it recommended Kevlar gaiters. I immediately picked up a pair on the way back to the trailer.

No Fear of Snakes Now…

They had also recommended long pants, so despite predictions of temperatures near 80, I started the hike with my old (and well worn) pair of blue hiking pants. That quickly became untenable as the heat rose rapidly. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to pack a pair of shorts as backup. But I did have a knife (along with the two other important survival tools – compass and lighter). The result wasn’t pretty, but in short order, it solved the temperature problem. (Later in the trailer I tuned them up with a pair of scissors and now they look great…at least by my standards.)

Instant Shorts

Instant Views

View of Las Cruces from Baylor Canyon

Just like the White Mountains, except with cacti at the top

Black Canyon City gets an average of about 1” of rain a month. In the week we have been here, they have gotten over 3 inches, with several nearby communities experiencing flooded roads. Temperatures in the 30s and 50s. Not what we were searching for in the Southwest! (OK, we were spoiled by the previous 30 days with clear skies every day…) Despite the rain, there were days when we were able to get in some great hikes. Turned out our kids that live in Ann Arbor MI were in town for a dental conference, so we got to hike twice with them.

The Bradshaws from a distance look a lot like the White Mountains, if you don’t look at the cactus. Like the Organs, terrific views and winding switchback trails.

Desert Trees

Hiking with Emily and Steve

We are off for three weeks in Phoenix tomorrow and then a week in Tucson before we head to Palm Springs.

Happy Thanksgiving to all! (We’ll be enjoying a full Thanksgiving dinner — turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, dressing, cranberry, etc. — courtesy of Whole Foods…)