Posts Tagged With: hiking

Carr Peak…Perfect! Part III: THE RETURN:

2018-09-08

We have been up Carr Peak in the Huachuca Mountains. There could be a chance of rain on this mountaintop. We have a downhill walk after a long days hiking in wonderment.

The previous Part I can be found here:

Carr Peak…Perfect!

and Part II:

Carr Peak…Perfect! Part II

When it feels like time to return, I look to see what is happening with that large storm out west. It seems to be heading down into Mexico and might pass south of us. We haven’t brought our rain ponchos, Arizonans that we are. We speculate the chill that a storm like that could have on our unprotected bodies. We’ll keep one eye open.

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Carr Peak…Perfect! Part II

2018-09-08

We’re walking up Carr Peak in the Huachuca Mountains. This day trip is exploratory and an experiment to gather full confidence to backpack to Miller Peak before the season’s end our opportunities.

Last week, we began our foray up Carr Peak, which may be found here:

Carr Peak…Perfect!

We are about to venture into one of the most astounding moments of a lifetime…naked.

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Carr Peak…Perfect!

2018-09-08

We have been doing more and more difficult climbs to be in shape for backpacking up to Miller Peak in the Huachuca Mountains. Carr Peak is a neighbor. Climbing it will tell us how much water we will have to carry to Miller Peak and give us a better idea of what is in store for us. By the end of this day, we will have had a cumulative elevation gain of around 2800 ft. and then back down, all in about six and a half miles. This will cover about half of the trek to Miller Peak.

The monsoon rains are winding down. After weeks of nearly daily rains, these mountains may be in a floral splendor according to a Forest Ranger that I talked to. The weather is looking perfect, it’s in the mid-seventies and there is little chance of rain.

We drive up Friday evening after work. I have the back of the SUV set up as a bed, so all that we have to do is eat, grab our bags and hit the trail Saturday morning.

Looking Up at Carr Peak from the Campground

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Cochise Stronghold and the Great Mushroom Hunt: Part III

2018-08-18

 

Next Morning:

We are at Cochise Stronghold in the Dragoon Mountains. We have a wonderful campsite and have hiked to the pass on the previous day. The story of that is in two parts is here:

https://thefreerangenaturist.org/2018/11/02/cochise-stronghold-i/

And here:

https://thefreerangenaturist.org/2018/11/12/cochise-stronghold-ii/

We have a short sunrise wander, just before the morning begins to warm. The tent is already heating up, but we slide back into bed.

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Cochise Stronghold II

2018-08-17

We are on a hike along the trail at Cochise Stronghold. We have found a pocket just before the season’s campground opening and been blessed with a cool day with the shade of a parade of fluffy clouds.

The first part of the story can be found here:

https://thefreerangenaturist.org/2018/11/02/cochise-stronghold-i/

We have reached our water source at Half Moon Tank.

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Cochise Stronghold I

2018-08-17

Cochise Stronghold is a part of the habitat of the Chiricahua Apaches. When settlers began to make their way into the area, destroying the lives of those who lived there, a “war” eventually broke out.

To put it briefly, Apache raids could be conducted from these safe rugged mountains. Cochise, who was initially prone to a peace, found himself accused of a crime. Then, members of his family were taken hostage. He then saw futility. There were white betrayals, which lead to more decades of war.

Eventually, Cochise died and was secretly buried in these mountains.

As I walk through this incredible landscape of fortress-like boulders and hoodoos, I watch water leach out of rocks and then stream down them. I sit in the shade of many types of trees and consider the abundance hidden here. I hold thoughts of Apache lives. I ponder some nebulous foreign peoples beginning to force the takeover of my own homeland. I can imagine how I might feel and how I might react.

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Foothills in 4×4 Low

2018-04-14

 

We are at the hotsprings still. It is Saturday after arriving on Friday. Today we have directions to the rough road that leads back into the foothills of the mountains to the north. We are going to explore today. You might read about Friday here first:

https://thefreerangenaturist.org/2018/06/22/exploring-the-foothills/

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A Mingus Mountain Trail: Group Hiking

2018-06-17

I mentioned a while back about a non-landed group that we had had a couple of decades ago in southern Arizona, “Southern Arizona Naturist Society, SANS.” Today, we will be hiking similarly with a group. This is a different way to be free range than what DF and I usually present.

We are in the Prescott, Arizona area. Our host has created, or refurbished a trail in the nearby mountains and we’re all meeting up to hike it naked.

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Monsoon Dawn into Sunrise

2018-07-24

Night into Day

I like to feel the dawn. The nakedness most certainly adds to the wonder. Senses are alive. It perks up my consciousness. The animals are all responding, birds singing, night life is going to rest. Most species respond to each other sexually at this time, awakened by the sun. I can experience the energy of the associated sensations myself, as a fellow animal.

Then, there is the morning sunlight, its warmth, its relaxing effects. I sometimes feel like a lizard warming myself on a rock, getting the sleeping blood to lighten up.

During the monsoon, the morning display of the sunrise clouds can strike spiritual awe. There are the beams of light, the angle of it casting longer shadows, making everything that much more distinctive.

Rain Far to the East

This morning, there is a blessed cool breeze circulating around the fresh green growth and my body. It will be 110 later today, breaking another record. This is a pleasant respite.

Monsoon sunrise, wondrous sunrise, hews of gold, silhouettes of saguaros and purple mountains. I see turquoise thunderheads over the Catalinas.

I wonder, am I ever closer to earth and my nature in the universe, than as these nude times?

This body feels loved by a universe, welcomed this morning, as another piece of nature. A part of what is wondrous. The unique smells of the monsoon, its plants, flowerings, the earth soaked with moister and cleansed, every miracle, I am a part of these, too. I am this, simply because I was born to perceive it fully.

Out at White Sands Missile Range, a day’s drive east, someone has pushed a button and set off a rocket. I see the glowing trail from where I stand. The sun enriches its display. I watch, as it floats apart, growing into a long golden cloud itself. For all of man’s world, its war, its technology, the interplay of seemingly important activities, there is irrelevance. None of it truly matters in a moment during a monsoon sunrise. All of it is diminished by a thunderhead over a mountain range, the sound of sweet life, and the smell of a desert exploding with bounty after rain.

This is all best savored without an agenda. That is only within this moment, not preoccupied with a list of chores and concerns, just awareness and sense of gratitude, being here, now. The rest can wait…maybe until after going back to bed for a while…in peace….

Effects of a Setting Sun in an Eastern Sky

 

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The San Pedro River: Part II

2018-05-20

We awaken in into an Eden in the San Pedro River. It is time for a stripped down walk about.

Part #1 can be found here:

The San Pedro River: Part I

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