Saturday, July 31, 2010

Friday, July 30, 2010

Carr Road Ride


Rode from home to Reef Campground; roundtrip of 27.6 miles with 3100' of climbing in 3:02:35. Made it from the parking lot to the Reef in 52:35, about par for the course. Felt like I had plenty left in the tank when I finished, as I'd made a conscious effort to take it easy. Pics are from the pasture on the south side of Carr Road, and at one of the final switchbacks near the top.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Babocomari Sweet Spot


Heard strange tales of a fishing hole on the Babocomari River near Huachuca City and had to check it out. Finagled some GPS track data, recruited Gary to accompany me, and set out.

And, what do you know? It's true! We hiked along the mostly waterless riverbed, enjoying the shade of enormous cottonwoods, until we reached a long, narrow pond of still water. GPS track indicates that it's about a tenth of a mile long, and I'd guess 20 feet wide. The water appeared to be dammed by an earth berm, but I couldn't say with any certainty whether the berm was manmade.

With this discovery under our belts, Gary and I have agreed to make another expedition in search of the site where the infamous Babocomari Gator was caught by AZGFD back in 1986. Fortunately, between clues in the newspaper article and water-flow maps available online, I have a pretty good idea where to look.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Miller Peak


My hike to the peak via the Miller Canyon trail was not the unalloyed pleasure of past trips. The heat, humidity and swarming bugs got the better of me. I was soaked two miles in, and remained that way until I toweled off after my post-hike shower. My usual source of solace, speed, just wasn't there today.

At the summit I checked on my Geocache: all is well. I ate lunch and watched crowds of ladybugs milling around on bits of deadwood and leftover campfire char.

The trip down was blessedly fast, given the grumble of potential storms overhead. The grumbling was insincere, though, as not a drop fell.