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H IKE
OF
THE
MONTH |
T E X T
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O S E A N N
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A N S O NP H O T O G R A P H B Y
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A R T Y
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O R D A N OFrom the February 1996 Issue |
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The Huachucas Remain One of Arizona's
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Like good highland whiskey, some mountains
gain character with age, taking on the qualities of those things with which
they come into contact - and just as scotch glows golden from oak barrels
and smoky from peat fires, a mountain's flavor can be enhanced by the people
who lived and died amongst its deep canyons and high crests.The Huachucas are like that, I thought as
I passed the umpteenth agave plant squatting like a head of lettuce beside
Lutz Canyon Trail. My mind always wanders when I hike, and the agaves sparked
the liquor metaphor. For centuries certain species of the spiky-leaved woody
plants (which are not cacti) have been harvested both for food and to produce
that infamous hooch known as mescal. Along the lengths of Ash and Lutz canyons
are signs of the vigorous mining activities dating from the Spaniards of
the 1700s, and I could easily imagine the miners taking advantage of the
local mescaleros' brew.The four of us - my husband and me and our
friends Marty and Annette from Bisbee - rounded yet another switchback and
came upon the rusted hulls of an old engine and ore processor. The two or
so centuries of mining have permanently changed many of the canyons of the
Huachuca Mountains, though not as negatively as one would fear. This is partly
because the Forest Service has removed all but the largest of the mining
trash and partly because the mountains themselves have a remarkable ability
to reclaim the land.What remains is just enough to hint at the
legends and truths of centuries past: a pass, just wide enough for a man
on horseback, that led through the mountains but was destroyed by an 1887
earthquake; a huge underground reservoir known as Huachuca Lake; and a cave
that once exited on the other side of the mountains and was used by the Apaches
to escape Fort Huachuca's cavalry.We poked around the huge equipment, most
likely hauled up the steep canyon by mules, and were grateful for the 1984
Act of Congress that safeguarded 20,000 acres of the Huachucas as the Miller
Peak Wilderness and silenced those great pounding machines.During our morning of hiking the short (2.3
miles) but very steep trail, we saw no one, a fact I found amazing given
its quiet beauty and nearness to Sierra Vista's 32,000 people.Our plan was to hike to the Black Bear Mine
Tunnel, a 600-foot-long horizontal shaft dating to 1879, but we had dallied
too long at various historic sites and stopped often to scan the high cliffs
for golden eagles. We had to turn back less than a mile short of the mine
in order to get back to Tucson in time for a dinner date.The descent to the trucks was swift but
enhanced by the incredible vistas: the San Pedro Valley 4,000 feet below
and the eastward march of the mountain ranges like the Pedregosas, the
Chiricahuas, and Sierra San Jose of northern Sonora.As we drove north on State Route 92, skirting
the eastern edge of the range, we took closer notice of its landform. The
Huachucas are not a big range, but they are very steep and the canyons numerous
and dramatic. And now we looked on them with the flavor of their past. I
knew we'd be back, too, to savor more of one of Arizona's most interesting
and least traveled mountain ranges. |
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The preceding was published as the "Hike of the Month" feature in the February 1996 issue of Arizona Highways. For full details on the monthly hikes, subscribe to the magazine by calling (800) 543-5432. | |
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 For directions
to the Lutz Canyon Trailheadand a map of the area, click here.
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