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:
We are about to venture into one of the most astounding moments of a lifetime…naked.
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
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.
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 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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It’s another day in Eden at the hot springs. We’re walking out for an exploration into the desert foothills.
We start with another meditative breakfast at the duck pond. It is warmer today.
We want to do the hike that we had planned the last visit, then return with enough time to indulge our senses in the various waters as they call to us. We will have to drive home tonight.
North of the hills where people set up their prayer circles of stones, there is the distant valley. We have seen it as a green ribbon of mesquite along a dry wash. It looked to be an inviting hike. There was a sense of “out there”, to go trekking into the wide open spaces, liberation.
SEE the story where this one picks up here:
https://thefreerangenaturist.org/2018/02/26/a-valentine-and-eden-2018-a-trip-report-part-ii/
We begin to pass through the familiar and then make our way into an exploration.
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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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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.
I mentioned this trail once before, when we visited Ken and Amie’s hilltop near Dewey, Arizona. Then, it was just a hilltop, a garden, a trail and plans. Now, there is a pleasant home on top and a system of stealthy trails to wander, to meditate and explore.
We came up from Tucson on Friday. The plan was to camp in one of the spots that Ken has put aside for a tent. Saturday, we would then visit Schenbley Road a four-wheel drive mess. The views are of legendary Sedona in the distance. Along the way, there are a few trails off of the road. I surmise that the 4×4 conditions of the road would diminish the number of vehicles. The trail which I planned to explore, leads off of the road into official wilderness. It would seem a good candidate for freely nude hiking. The views will be awe inspiring.
A hurricane in the Pacific off of Mexico has created long sought after rain, but it is forecast to be falling from late Friday night, until evening on Saturday. I’ve been told that the planned jeep road is notably slippery when wet and may wash out. On a good day it can be a cliff side, hair-raising drive.
Game called because of rain. What to do?
I had planned a three day excursion into the Wilderness of Rock and Lemmon Pools. June is a hot time, a dry time in the Tucson Valley, and the cooler temperatures at 9000 ft. are something to long for. There has been two years of drought, but water would be found there in the pines.
As the date nears, I realize that a plan B contingency will need to be taken. The monsoon appears to be approaching early. Lightning popping off at the high elevation of those mountains, with that immediate cannon-like thunder is risky, if not traumatic.
The monsoon comes sooner to the southern part of the state than others. It generally creeps out of Mexico and then works its way north in increments. I checked the National Weather Service’s predictions and then my bucket list for a backup plan. Soon enough, with plans had to change, we are now on our way to Dewey in northern Arizona to visit with a pair of our naked hiking friends.
Thursday night, I undress in my truck after topping off my tank for our morning departure. That same evening, DF drops her clothing as she walks into her door ready to load up. That should be the last of the formality of clothing for the next three days, other than to pump gas and dine.
Friday morning, we will carnude up to Dewey, meet our friends at their hilltop retreat and head up through Cottonwood to Sycamore Canyon. DF and I have never been there. Our hosts will be our guides.
The Free Range Naturist 