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| Hiking | 2.50 Miles |
200 AEG |
| | Hiking | 2.50 Miles | 2 Hrs 30 Mns | | 1.00 mph |
| 200 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | The hunter and the hunted...
After a successful outing here two weeks ago, where I had an encounter with a baby gray fox, wild horses and a herd of javelinas, I was all too eager to return. This time my sister was in tow and I was hoping to duplicate the success. We got an early start, arriving at the trailhead at 5:30a to beat the Memorial Day mobscene on Bush Highway.
Right off the bat we spotted wildlife. A pack of wild horses were grazing just beyond the Coon Bluff Road turnoff. I took that as a good sign and opted not to take pictures, chancing that we'd see more during the hike. We didn't.
Immediately we set off down the wash on the south side of Coon Bluff. This was a slight variation from last time as it seemed pointless to climb the ridgeline only to drop back down into the valley. Going this way brought me to a very large mining area. I'm still intrigued by this area's history as there are several adits and shafts near the entrance to the valley. One adit we scoped out had "bat-friendly" bars covering the opening to prevent humans from disturbing the local bat population. My sister prefers to err on the side of caution so exploring the shafts will be saved for the next trip.
Continuing on to where the valley narrows we snuck up on the spot where I caught the javelinas wallowing. Their evidence is everywhere, but on this trip there was nobody home. That's alright. Knowing that this is a hotspot for them gives me yet another reason to return.
As the valley narrowed into a deep canyon we did some light scrambling down some boulders. At this point my sister was probably wondering what she got herself into. But I wanted to show her the fox den in hopes that baby and mama would be home. We cautiously approached the rocky cliff face where I knew they lived. It was eerily quiet at this point. I scouted around, hoping for movement amongst the rocks, but to no avail. Then I noticed my sister staring at the cliffs above us.
Do you see anything? I asked.
She hesitated then replied, I think I see ears.
Looking up I noticed the arms of a cholla cactus sticking out of the cliff. That's just a cact-
I never finished the sentence. I thought my sister was staring at a cholla cactus. But a few yards away I noticed a pointy set of ears. Grabbing my camera I zoomed in the see a gray fox staring at us very intently. We were being watched the entire time and just now realized it.
We decided to back away slowly, but not too far. Once the fox disappeared I was hoping it would work its way down the cliff and back to the den. After fifteen minutes of standing there silently our patience wore thin and we continued on our journey.
When we reached the top of Coon Bluff I gave my sister the option of either traversing the ridgeline back to the car or dropping down to the river. Obviously, she chose the river. Good choice! As we were walking along the river I heard my sister shriek in fear. Looking down I saw a large kingsnake slithering in the grass. It was strikingly beautiful with it's yellow and black bands. As a snake owner I was admittedly fighting the urge to pick it up. Ultimately, common sense won out.
Heading back through Coon Bluff we noticed several tents scattered about the area. There were also several fishermen along the river and the parking lot was slowly starting to fill up. Seeing how it was only 7:30a and the temperature was starting to rise I figured we had enough adventure for one day and decided to head down Coon Bluff Road to the car. Rest assured, I'll be back! |
| _____________________
"I've driven across deserts, driven by the irony, that only being shackled to the road could ever I be free"
- Frank Turner "The Road" |
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