My Journey

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

PNWY.....there's no doubt about it. Dogs open closed doors.....

Ace.....no need to worry.....Trapper does it all the time. When I said "for some reason unbeknownst to me", I was referring to the location she picked to fall over. She hates the heat and is constantly stopping to lie down in the shade. It drives me nuts.....



We drove east passing by & through Tucson, Arizona.....the plan now was head south into the same general area that we'd been before. I was caught daydreaming and drove right on by my planned exit. So we drove further east and finally got off the interstate in Benson, Arizona. That wrong turn was to be the blame for our newest plan.....



That night was spent along the side of a rural road just outside of town. The following morning we drove south
along Highway 80, hung a left onto Middlemarch Road.....



.....and drove down 10 miles of mostly washboard roads.....



We passed by a peaceful road.....loved that name.....



.....eventually once again ending up in the Coronado National Forest.....



We set up camp at a trailhead (which I'll be talking about soon enough.....it was amazing).....the day was still young so we jumped into the Jeep.....



.....to explore more of these desert roads.....



When we left our campsite I really had no idea where we were going.....just getting up into those mountains was about all that was on my mind.....



Well, we ended up at this place called Middlemarch Pass (5,924').....it was beautiful there.....you could see this entire valley to the east (we'd come from the west). Now it probably won't surprise you that as I looked around and saw this higher point that I couldn't help but think "what's it look like from way up there ?".....



So we parked the Jeep and began to climb.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Tanner led the way.....as he always does.....into the Dragoon Mountains.....



I'll be posting quite a bit about these mountains in the next week or so.....this range is majical and we felt so blessed to have stumbled upon them.....



The hike to the highpoint was rather short actually.....



Tanner kept providing me with these great photo shots (at least in my mind).....



Working our way through that boulder field was so much fun.....it was easy.....no right route and no wrong route.....



Once we made it to the highpoint, we kicked back in the shade cause it was pretty hot out that afternoon.....



The views from way up there were so much better than the views were way down there.....



We ended up hiking along the ridgeline that was up there just admiring everything that there was to see.....



.....and that was how we spent Day One in the Dragoon Mountains.....



Oh yeah.....the drive back to the campsite....that was just fine too.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Day 82.....yep.....82 days on the road and yesterday was the first day that I yanked out my Cabelas canvas lawn chair and kicked back and read my book under the blazing desert sun. Why ? Cause I hurt my knee in the Dragoon Mountains and I chose not to rest it. Yesterday it caught up with me and I could barely walk. Like seriously bad. Painkiller bad. So I've decided to try to catch up on our adventures this week while I recuperate in that Cabelas canvas chair.....


Our reason for coming to the Dragoon Mountains was never to climb.....we came here to explore an abandoned copper & gold mine. But once we arrived, things changed quickly.....



Our campsite was at the trailhead to Sheepshead Peak (6,545').....and what I quickly learned was that this mountain range was a climbers' paradise.....



At the trailhead I met carloads of guys loaded with climbing gear getting ready to climb on that wall.....




It didn't take long to get an invitation to climb with a few of the guys. But I can't rope up.....I've got 2 dogs and honestly, after having had a hip replacement, the thought of wearing a climbing harness again scares me to death.....I passed.....



Fortunately for the dogs and I, there is a way to climb this peak without ropes.....it ain't easy.....especially with 2 dogs.....

Check out the big grey beard on that climber in the first picture below.....that guy is 71 years old.....you have to love & respect him (at least I do).....




Our route was just a bit different from theirs as we hugged the bottom of the steepest walls and worked our way to the summit.....it wasn't easy.....please believe me when I say that.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Occasionally we'd come across these flat spots on our route which were so welcomed.....



.....and we rested up and watched the roped guys on the wall.....




Eventually our route departed the wall and swung around to the saddle which was to the left of the peak.....in the picture below, the peak is behind us and this is looking to the northwest.....



At this point, our route crossed the saddle to the other side and we started to climb rock along the backside of the peak.....some of this stuff was really steep.....quite the challenge to get Trapper up it.....




There were several almost crevasse like crossings where we'd have to cross maybe a 2 to 3 foot wide void.....these were especially difficult for Trapper.....she was kind of freaking out.....



Stone cairns were hit or miss.....I felt lucky when we occasionally encountered one.....




I can't even count the number of times that I thought about turning back. As a team, this was undoubtedly the most difficult climb that we'd done together. Seeing that tiny stone cairn on the summit felt so incredible.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

It turned out to be the perfect day to climb a mountain. As a matter of fact, we had planned to hike to the mine but the weather outlook for the following day was high winds, so we elected to summit on this day instead, and to explore the mine on the high wind day.....

We spent a leisurely hour on the summit eating our lunches and snacks.....I took the "dogs on the summit photos" as I typically do.....





And of course I took photos of the amazing views.....as I also almost always do.....




The downclimb was difficult.....more so than climbing up. Somewhere along that downclimb I reinjured my right knee. That's the second time on this trip that I've done that.....it hadn't slowed us down.....until now.....



I made these route maps (they're approximate) last night while I was bored in the camper. The first two photos show the route from the valley to the saddle on the left side of the peak.....




And the next two photos show the route (again approximate) from the saddle to the summit. These 2 photos were taken from another summit that we had climbed later on during the week.....

 

[ITTOG]

Yeah those definitely look like a difficult path.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

ITTOG.....I wonder if a debate could be had as to which is more difficult ? Doing one of the roped climbs or climbing the route that I used with 2 big dogs ? The route we used is actually the route that the roped climbers use to downclimb the mountain.....



The following morning we awoke to high winds.....the weatherman hit the nail on the head. With wind gusts exceeding 40 mph, we headed down the road to hike the Slavin Gulch Trail. The AllTrails Ap shows this one as being 6.8 miles roundtrip with 1,404' of elevation gain. For us it was much longer.....



The dogs are beside themselves while I'm putting on my daypack.....they're literally trying their best to squirm out of the Jeep.....



The fact that this trail was for the most part within the confines of the gulch, the winds weren't a major factor in our day.....




There were super cool rock formations along the majority of this trail.....such as this boulder that sat precariously on top of another boulder.....



The hiking was fairly easy on a well troddened trail which enabled me to look up often to admire the rock formations (as opposed to bushwacking when you're constantly looking down and battling your way along).....




From HikeArizona.com:

"Slavin Gulch is thought by some historians to be the location of the 1872 peace conference between Cochise and General Howard, as the description of their meeting area seems to fit Slavin Gulch better than the nearby Council Rocks.

The Slavin Gulch Trail follows the route of a long-abandoned road used to haul ore from the Abril Mine, at the head of Slavin Gulch. The Abril Mine, named for Tombstone residents Manuel and J.S. Abril, yielded large amounts of zinc and copper from its extensive tunnel system during the first half of the twentieth century."

Our first views of the mine site were the remains of the wooden chute that was used to transport the minerals down the mountain.....




From HikeArizona.com:

"The Slavin Gulch Trail appears to come to a dead-end at three and a half miles (31.90822 N, 109.99412 W), where it encounters the elaborate ruins of the Abril Mine, whose rotted wooden structures cling precariously to the mountainside. Unless you are determined to reach the end of the trail, this is probably a wise place to turn around, as the final 0.2 miles to the road and trailhead above is a 400-foot vertical scramble up a steep scree slope of loose rock, brush, cacti, and slippery bedrock. However, the reward for this final scramble is a fantastic view down Slavin Gulch and of the surrounding peaks and valleys."

As you looked straight up from that point, we could see the remains of the chute along the steep mountain face.....but not the mine shaft.....

 

[Foy]

The 7th picture in this sequence appears to show the contact between light tan granitic (and thus intrusive) rock (left side of photo) and a grayish intruded rock which appears to be limestone (right side of photo). Any time you've got cold limestones intruded by hot igneous rock like granite you're looking at a likely zone for metallic mineralization. Such is the case at the Abril mine, according to a brief read of some professional mining literature. Limestones react chemically to superheated metal rich fluids emanating from large bodies of igneous rock pushing up from the deep crust and upper mantle. The chemical reactions cause metallic sulfide, oxide, and carbonate minerals to precipitate out of the solutions and, eureka, there's an orebody to be discovered. The primary metallic minerals mined at the Abril were sulfides and oxides of zinc, copper, and lead, entirely common of mineralization formed by metasomatism of limestone country rock by hot intruding fluids. Also, ore minerals of molybdenum and tungsten are present, again typical of metasomatic or skarn mineralization. The entire sequence of Paleozoic sedimentary rocks which occur throughout the West are present in the Dragoon Mountains, including Mississippian limestones stratigraphically equivalent to the Madison Group limestones in Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, and Utah. I'm not sure if the Madison-equivalent limestones or younger limestones are the host of the mineralization at the Abril mine, but additional research to determine such should be an easy find for any interested. So if it is the Madison-equivalent as host rock, you witnessed yet another instance where the Madison delivered the goods in the form of useful minerals or copious quantities of groundwater, or both.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Foy.....that is so interesting. Regarding the seventh photo, I didn't notice the distinct line between the two types of rocks. Once you pointed it out, it's so very evident. I love it that you comment on this stuff cause it's all pretty much just rock that I climb on top of. I'm sure we're all waiting on you to do the additional research and get back to us.

Maybe 4 or 5 days ago, I met up with some rock hounds unexpectedly. They gifted to me a very special rock and I don't recall it's name. It's actually a really cool rock and I'll need you to tell me (us) what it is. It does something special.....

This I found interesting.....

From dennis-ernst-blog.com:

"Abril of Tombstone and was mined intermittently from 1914 to 1952. During that period the mine produced some 30,000 tons of ore, primarily zinc and copper but also including lead, silver and gold with traces of molybdenum, bismuth, and lithium. The higher-grade ore assayed out at 49% zinc and 4 1/2 % copper. The majority of the ore was produced between 1945 and 1952. In 1947, production was some 9,900 tons of ore, which in addition to the zinc yielded 188,162 pounds of copper, 12,725 pounds of lead, 3,508 ounces of silver and 26 ounces of gold. By 1953 the mine was abandoned with the exception of a few small workings.
The mine was operated at two main levels on the hillside. The five audits were located at the upper level and were accessed by a separate road off of Middle March Road. The ore was transported down slope to the haul road by a series of wooden chutes and a cable car system, remnants of which can still be seen. Remains of a pylon used to support the cable car system and remains of the control shack that kept track of the ore shipments can still be seen.
A rare mineral was also found at the Abril Mine. Eclarite {(Cu,Fe) Pb9 Bi12 S28}, which has been found in only two other mines in the world was found here."



We continued hiking along the trail that now was climbing steeply up the mountain.....the part that was previously desribed as a "400-foot vertical scramble up a steep scree slope of loose rock, brush, cacti, and slippery bedrock".....



The problem that we encountered was that the trail led us away from our goal.....to the right of the chute and the mine that we still hadn't seen. So we downclimbed and then attempted to climb to the left side of the chute. Again we failed.....huge boulders were encountered that the dogs couldn't climb. Then we started climbing up the right side of the chute.....it was unreal. We climbed up a rock slab, nearly vertical for maybe 100 feet. Halfway up the slab we encountered wet rock. I was pushed to my limits on this one but eventually we made it.....



I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw that the mine shaft had at least a foot of water in it. After all that work.....and it was a lot of work.....we couldn't go inside. The dogs loved it.....they waded in and out.....



We enjoyed the views which were actually pretty good from up there.....



We ate lunch at that little oasis that was formed there from a spring, and then looked for a way back down.....



We chose to hike to a ravine about 500 feet away, thinking it might be easier to downclimb from there.....it was, but it still gave us a challenge.....




I had noticed this flattened building from up high so on the way out, we had to check it out. Apparently it's the remains of the control shack (whatever that is).....



Well, we were beat by the time we returned home.....the second straight day of giving it our best.....

 

[Foy]

Turns out the professional literature notes the presence of Mississippian limestone in the Dragoon Mountains, but further notes that the limestone unit altered by contact metamorphism from the hot granite intrusion is an impure limestone of younger age---the Pennsylvanian-Permian Naco Group. I did confirm that stratigraphers' formal name for the Mississippian limestone in the Grand Canyon is the Redwall Limestone and it is considered a stratigraphic equivalent to the Madison Group limestones in Montana. The Redwall gets its distinctive outcrop coloration from iron oxide staining arising from overlying shales and sandstones--fresh surfaces are generally gray. At an average thickness of 500-750' in Arizona, it's thinner than the Madison in Montana, which reaches nearly 2,000' in places. But like its equivalent, the Redwall outcrops over wide areas of its home state of Arizona, and is a prominent ridge former, freshwater aquifer, and host of metallic mineral deposits--just not at the Abril mine.

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

I am not as familiar with the hot springs of Arizona as I would like to be. I would imagine they have some remote ones, on public land though.

https://www.tophotsprings.com/arizona-hot-springs/

If you are still in the area, I know a good soak always helps me.

I also enjoy when Foy includes his knowledge with us. I think he would be a great guy to spend some time with, so much to learn. I spent some time in the Gorge this weekend, on the Washington side. And the geology there I always enjoy.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Foy.....thanks.....

PNWY.....it's funny that you mention hot springs cause it was shortly after soaking in hot springs that the intense pain started. Of course I have no idea if there was any connection. It could have had something to do with getting the Jeep stuck in the deep sand twice that day.....who knows.....



Next up for us was something a little less strenuous than climbing. We took the Jeep out and headed over to Council Rocks.....maybe a 10 mile drive from our camp.....



I've read that Council Rocks may be the place where the Apache chief Cochise made peace with the U.S. government after 10 years of war.....others seem to dispute that fact.....




Unfortunately when we arrived, there was a group of jacked up Jeeps parked in the entrance road and they had no plans for us to access the parking lot so off we went on foot to get some hiking in.....



Sometimes it's hard to understand people.....Why would they park in the entrance road and refuse to move ? Entitled ? Fortunately for us we love to walk and we had miles of sandy roads to walk along.....and that's just what we did.....



Our walk eventually took us to the White House  Ruins.....




Hmmmm.....not a whole lot to see here so we moved on.....actually back to Council Rocks since an hour had passed and I guessed that the jacked up Jeep group would be gone.....




There's a special feeling that you get here and it doesn't take the visitor long to understand why Cochise fought so hard to keep their land. I fell head over heels for the Dragoon Mountains and I can't even imagine what it must have been like for someone to come onto their land and say that this is ours now, and you have to leave. Especially when that place is as special as the Dragoon Mountains.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

We walked around the short trail that meanders through Council Rocks.....




This site is not at all developed but for this one sign (which is worth taking the time to read).....



The pictographs are very faded.....I suppose because they face to the south and have the sun constantly beating on them.....





The grinding mortars are magnificent.....




As are all of the many rock formations.....



I found this place.....although rather small.....to be very pleasing.....well worth the trip in the old beater Jeep.....

 

[Ace Brown]

That sign must be very new…no vandalism.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ITTOG]

That first mortar looks very deep. I can't even imagine how much grinding they must have done over decades to make the mortars. Just seems a bit unbelievable.