Join the Muleteam this Saturday for the one of the most beautiful and interesting hikes in the Mule Mountains. The hike begins with an easy 2 mile downhill on a dirt road on Juniper flats to Goat Ranch in Dixie Canyon. It then proceeds up Wildcat canyon with large boulders and ponds. There are a several places where it's necessary to climb over rocks. This hike is for the adventurous !! We'll pass a mine on the way up to the lunch spot by the large swimming pond. The total hike is 4.6 miles (or 6 miles without shuttle) with an elevation gain of 1400'. Bring water and lunch. Back mid-afternoon. Meet April 28 at 9am by the Old Bisbee courthouse fountain to carpool. Free. For more details contact Steve at 432-7770 or sss@theriver.com.
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BACKTRACK - Camp-hike reports from Brad & Dave
Silver Peak hike
The difficult dayhike to Silver Peak during the Cave Creek (Herb Martyr) campout started out from the trailhead at about 8:10 AM, being the only hike to materialize despite the leader's efforts to find hikers more interested in a more moderate hike, moving at a more relaxed pace to the same destination on the same day. There were six hikers and no dogs on the hike, five of whom moved at a much faster pace than the leader who managed to stay in intermittent contact by moving at a steady but slow pace and taking very infrequent and short rest breaks of his own. (There were five dogs at the campout and about 12 campers overall.)
The trail was found to be in excellent shape as expected, utilizing numerous switchbacks to keep erosion low despite the high elevation gain to distance ratio. The fastest hikers arrived at the top a little before noon-- indicating an average elapse of about four hours from start-- with the leader arriving a little over 20 minutes later. The excellent weather and views from the old lookout foundations were remarkable and memorable, though they were not enjoyed for as long a time as was merited. All but the leader began their descent soon after 12:30, with the leader remaining for about another half hour to enjoy the views and savor his lunch.
Four hikers tore back down the trail at breathtaking speed, arriving back at about 3 PM according to reports, with two hikers accompanying an elderly gentleman of about 80 years old who arrived alone during our lunch and preferred a slower, safer pace on the way down. The entire group was back at the trailhead a little after 4 PM for a total elapsed time of about 8 hours -- about 3 hours short of when darkness descended and PROVING that the hike was doable during daylight by Muleteamers who would have enjoyed the opportunity to enjoy a less time-driven outing while savoring a goal not often reached. - Brad
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The Bobcat
We all arrived Friday afternoon. After a nice quizine of hot dogs and burgers, we settled around the campfire for a little chit chat, and reiterate the business opportunities discussed earlier involving an inflatable apparatus and red lights. Something totally foreign to me. Jan, Ken, Larry, Carol, and Doug retired to their respective domains. Mind you that Carol & Larry decided for some reason that is their own pitched their tent quite a distance away from the rest of the group.
Shortly after they all retired, the rest of us were all sitting around the campfire enjoying our tasty beverages. Little Guy was laying down behind John and myself and beyond that about 40 feet was Jan's tent, which was not visible in the dark. A few minutes later, we heard what sounded like dogs fighting, then loud yelping from Little Guy. I turned around and shined my light towards Jan's tent and where the yelping came from. I saw something running into the the bushes as Little Guy was yelping. We ran over to Little Guy to see what happened. We couldn't see any marks of blood on Little Guy. We were perplexed as to what had transpired. Nobody has any idea what fought with Little Guy. I thought maybe another dog, others said coyote. I recall saying it was canine. I was mistaken.
We decided to make sure all the food was put away. Shortly after I was at one of the tables sorting out foodstuff. Jan was beside me and I believe Barbara was opposite of us at the table. I heard Jan say something like "It's a Bobcat!" then I heard a low deep growl. I turned around and the in front of us was a Bobcat! It stood about 2 feet from us. I had several thoughts. One was that it looked like a housecat only much bigger. Also I thought, I could just kick it if need be. But ultimately I decided to just study it. I looked at it's tail, the gray pattern, his ears (which were not as pointed as I expected), Then we locked eyes. Meantime it growled a couple of more times the ran off towards the parking lot. Immediately afterwards I looked at Jan expecting her to be freaked out, but to my surprise, said "Wasn't it gorgeous! (or something like that) I need a beer!" and someone else said they needed one too.
Meanwhile, Sheila was in the car and was barking like crazy while the cat was growling underneath the car, as Paul went to go tell Larry and Carol what was going on. Shortly after, the commotion was over. Paul came back, (Note: Paul had this nuclear powered flashlight that harnessed the power of the sun.) and said he saw the cat looking at him thru the trees on his was back. Paul and I decided to to tell Sandy & Ken about our encounter just in case they were to take Champ out only to become dinner for the cat. As we were informing them, we could hear Larry & Carol yelling in a distance. We walked over to the embankment of the wash joined by John, and later Sandy. On the other side some distance away, maybe 200ft. We saw Larry & Carol's tent the flashlight inside moving back and forth, Paul shined his sun beam over and could see the cat circling back & trying to get in while the both of them screaming for us to go there and rescue them. We mustered all our courage and bravely declined.
We did eventually go there as the cat left and helped them get some stuff and leave to stay in their car. On the way back we saw it following us in the trees to the parking lot. I went back to the campsite. The ladies were arming themselves with pepper spray. I realized I had one in my backpack in the car. As I was in my truck retrieving the pepper spray, I heard a car horn and Larry or Carol's car going back and forth, while Brad was over there yelling something. The cat departed the parking lot feeling dejected and unwanted, we discussed what we were going to do the rest of the night and where we should sleep, while in a distance I could hear yelling, to which I assumed was the cat wanting to find a friend at another camp. Apparently, the cat did find a friend for the night, or decided he had enough fun rattling everyone for the night, or went home depressed thinking that no one loves him. The rest of the night was quiet and uneventful.
We anticipated another visit from our feline friend the following night, but the cat didn't show. Guess he knew where he was not welcome. As for the Muleteam, just another boring ho-hum campout. -Dave
P.S. The picture is one I got online. It is exactly what I saw.
CALENDAR - Can anyone lead a hike may 12?
May 5 - Echo Canyon in the Chiricahuas with Molly
May 12 - ???
May 19 - Last hike & potluck at a Mule Mtn. ranch with Barbara
Thanks for hiking with me,
Larry
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Muleteam archive photos - muleteam.shutterfly.com
Muleteam & Bisbee gifts - cafepress.com/bisbeegear
The group photo includes a few afternoon visitors from Bisbee. More photos at muleteam.shutterfly.com.
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