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Commentary by Gary W. Munroe Sr.
Special to the Herald/Review
Scheelite Trail to Gate 2 on the Crest Trail. This is a trail that has certain redeeming features. One, it is shaded and a pleasant walk up a dormant creek bed. The beginning of the trail is a tad steep, but not all that bad.
As I wrote two weeks ago, the first part of the trail is an access to the upper portion of the Pomona Mine. To this point, the trail is quite pleasant. If you try for the Pomona Trail, keep your eyes open. Even if we weren’t going to Pomona, most of us missed the obvious trail marker. My guess is that we were too concerned about where we were placing our feet.
From this trail junction it is a short walk to the waterfall area — at least that’s what we call it. It is a pleasant spot to end your hike, snack, and return to your vehicle. If you are brave enough to continue, the trail gets a lot steeper, more difficult and full of switchbacks. Half our party made it to the Crest, but the other group decided that they weren’t that interested on this day. They made it a way past the waterfall area and stopped their ascent at that point. Incidentally, I have never hiked this trail when there was enough water in the runoff area to generate that waterfall. Therefore, I can’t really describe it to you. On the way back, I made sure that I used my GPS to mark both the waterfall area and the trail junction for the Pomona Mine. It is always a good idea to do this if you are using a GPS. You can always erase these marks later if you don’t anticipate returning.
  
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But I digress. From the waterfall area, my GPS showed that the Crest Trail was about four-tenths of a mile away. Since I wanted some good photos and wanted to map the trail, I continued. The Crest Trail and Gate 2 was probably at least a mile away due to switch backs and the ascent.
As I have mentioned before, a trail can be either a journey or destination trail. This one is strictly a journey trail. The views outside the canyon itself are non-existent until you get high into the canyon. Even then, they are not very good.
Over the past 30 years I have been thru Gate 2 many times. I never lingered there except to snack before proceeding. I’ve never taken the opportunity to look around to any great extent. This time, I did. There is a slight knoll a hundred feet or so to the West of the Gate. I climbed it and was enthralled by the views that I saw of the San Rafael Valley and beyond. Never knew until now how close that I was to these great views. Please don’t use these views as an excuse to climb Scheelite. You can get to Gate 2 much easier from Sawmill Canyon or from any of the many canyons that join the Crest Trail. Hike Scheelite for the sheer joy of conquering a tough vertical ascent.
It should be noted from Gate 2, you have access to Ramsey, Pat Scott, Huachuca, Carr, and Miller peaks, as well as most any place in the Huachucas. Once you get high on the Crest Trail, it is a lovely place to spend some time and enjoy nature to the fullest. If you elect to hike Scheelite to the Crest Trail, enjoy. Oh yes, forgot to mention that I heard two different elegant trogans during my descent from the Crest. Of course, they didn’t bother coming into view. Oh well, I know where to find one nest in Garden Canyon.
Driving to the trailhead: Enter Fort Huachuca’s Main Gate with ID and a licensed vehicle. Proceed straight ahead to an intersection where you will find a sign directing you to Garden Canyon. Turn left here and stay in the right lane. When you reach the stop sign, proceed straight across. You are now on Range Road. Ultimately the road turns into Garden Canyon. From this point it is 3.25 miles into the canyon until you reach the parking area for Scheelite Canyon. You will pass an open yellow gate and be on a well maintained dirt road. From the parking area it is a short walk up the Canyon to the Scheelite trailhead.
Additional information about the trail can be found at www.google.com. Search on “Scheelite Fort Huachuca.” Photos and maps of the hike are be found at: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=52ldxfwc.6olo8q40&x=0&y=2ij4t0&localeid=en_US
Next hike
• Tuesday: Ramsey Peak from Sawmill Canyon. We depart at 7 a.m. from the parking lot just East of the Pizza Hut Bistro on Fry Boulevard. Plan on six hours for the hike. It is about 7.7 miles for the round trip. The degree of difficulty of this hike is 8.27 with a vertical degree of difficulty of 32.35 with an elevation change of 2,396 feet. Bring your ID card.
The Tuesday Hikers Schedule is posted at: http://members.cox.net/lou_edwards/.
Helpful hiking hints
It does get hot in Southeastern Arizona this time of the year, does it not? Like drinking hot water on your hike? I bet not.
The trick is to freeze your bottle before you leave. My solution: I freeze two large squeeze bottles. One I carry on my belt. The other remains in the car in a plastic cooler for when I return to my vehicle. The third bottle I freeze about two-thirds full. I make sure it stands upright in the freezer. In the morning, I load this third bottle with as much ice as I can and then add refrigerated water to it. This technique really helps get me thru the hike with ice water to begin and cool water to end. Try it, you’ll like it.
Oh, you’ve heard that if you freeze water in a plastic bottle it can lead to cancer. FALSE. If you care to check, try snopes.com at this URL: http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/petbottles.asp
Gary W. Munroe Sr. is a member of the Tuesday Hikers and has a column each Sunday in the Herald/Review. If you have a hiking group and would like to share information with him, send an e-mail to gwmsr@juno.com.
