Rodeo Wrap-up

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There aren't that many touristy type things to do in this area. There is Fort Bowie but it is  over an hours drive. The Chiricahua National Monument is part of this section of the Coronado National Forest but it is even a longer drive. We decide if we want to see these things at some future date, we will camp further west - a lot closer to them.

One More Clear Night in New Mexico (click on image for full resolution)

So what does that leave to do here? Well some more hiking of course.  We head back into the National Forest and take Herb Martyr drive. Our first stop is at Crystal Cave trailhead although we don't plan on taking the trail. There is a geocache overlooking the cave and from the logs of previous finders, it sounds like the trail isn't the best route to the cache. Our instructions were "go to the green cabin and follow the ridge up to the cache." Sure enough that was all we needed and we found the cache in great shape. From this vantage point, we were able to see up to where we were a few days ago hiking to Silver Peak. After coming back down, the green cabin had some interesting ornamentation. We had read that Crystal Cave is now locked because the crystals inside we being taken. I suspect I know where a couple crystals went.

Silver Peak is Up There Somewhere

Green Cabin With Some Crystals Adorning It

Next we continued to the end of Herb Martyr Drive. We didn't have a specific trail in mind and when we tried to follow one, our track did not line up with the other trails we had on our GPSr units. It turned out to be a pretty decent climb but after a mile or two we came to a creek crossing. With all the rain we have had, it was flowing pretty good and we didn't see the trail continuing on the opposite side so we opted to take the sure thing and turn around.

Stream Uncrossed

Faint Rainbow on Our Hike

For our last full day we decided to try our another more strenuous trail. The Greenhouse Trail used to start at the end of the Greenhouse Road. But that road was more or less washed out and is no longer maintained so the first part of the hike is to hike up the road over a mile to the actual trail. This trail goes for quite a distance and connects up with several others once you get higher up in the mountains. Our goal was to only go as far as the Winn Falls Overlook. We had not researched this one as much as Silver Peak but we more or less knew where we were going and Chris even had some intermediate waypoints to shoot for along the way.

Trailhead for Greenhouse Trail

About 2 miles up the trail, we ran into a couple guys heading back down. We stopped to see how it was but they told us they never made it to the overlook. They had done the last creek crossing and lost the trail on the other side so they had given up and headed back. This did not really help our confidence, but it possibly did ignite my competitive side and make me want to get there even more. About 10 minutes after passing them, we too got to where the creek crossing might appear to be, but since we had our GPSr with this trail and Chris also had coordinates for the creek crossing, we knew we had about 0.15 miles before we were there. We eventually figured out where the trail was and made it to the crossing. 

We Are Heading Somewhere Up There

This crossing was a little bit of a challenge since the water was flowing quite fast and the exposed rocks were covered with ice. We found a tree fallen across the stream that couldn't be walked across, but could be used to hold onto. Then I chipped the ice with my hiking stick until our path was more or less safe. Shortly after the crossing, we lost the trail again. So we decided to try and find our own trail. Bad mistake! This area had been hit with a big fire back in 2011 and there were lots of downed trees. Plus some of the new grow were trees with many good sized thorns. It did not make for a pleasant walk but since we were nearly there, we pushed on and eventually crossed something that resembled a trail. I started to follow the path where it was more defined but Chris realized we needed to head the other way.

Fire Remnants

Beautiful Area Even with Fire Damage

The rest of the hike went reasonably well. We were still gaining altitude but we had fewer obstacles to overcome. The view from the observation point was nice. Across a steep canyon was Winn Falls with its constant stream of water crashing against the rocks below. We sat and enjoyed our lunch, took some pictures and headed back down the trail determined to stay on it this time. For the most part it was easily followed, but there were times where it nearly disappeared due to overgrowth. We came across one place where we had been before on our way up but hadn't recognized the trail for what it was. We lost the trail right before we crossed over the creek again. This is definitely where we had problems on the way up. The rest of the hike was easy going.

Chris Makes It Up

Winn Falls Across the Valley

Proving We made It

View Back Down the Valley We Came Up

Our Actual Tracks - Note Meandering in Upper Right Where Up and Down Don't Match

The next day was a travel day. We've had a good time here at Rusty's but it's time to move on. This would be an easy drive. Head north back to I-10 and then west towards Tucson and Catalina State Park. On the way, we stop at a rest stop that is actually called Texas Canyon Rest Area. It has some amazing rock formations on both the eastbound and westbound directions.

Amazing Rock Formations

A Rest Stop Worthy of a Stop

Notice the Balanced Rock Up Top