November 8 -- The McCord Trail

Man, the hikes here in the Portal area are TOUGH...Silver Peak was 4 and 1/2 miles, climbing about 3,000 feet. Hummingbird Spring was overgrown, with mesquite seemingly reaching out and impaling you though your clothes, the trail indistinct in spots, and I ended up going about a mile off-trail before I reconnected again. And today, accompanied by two friends, I did the McCord...The upward climb begins almost immediately. The good thing is there are no high grasses and mesquite, as this is at a higher elevation than the trail to Hummingbird Spring. But it's VERY steep, possibly even steeper than the Silver Peak trail as it climb begins almost immediately and continues, and covers a shorter distance. But the views are spectacular. Just after the start, you look across the forest canopy, which seems to be just starting to break into autumn color --

This photo was actually taken in the late afternoon near the end of our hike. I'm carrying "only" my camera and lens I use for landscapes, along with my binoculars on a harness. Birds we see along the trail are Ruby-crowned Kinglet, the ubiquitous, raucous yet friendly Mexican Jay, Acorn Woodpeckers at the beginning of the trail along with a Robin and 2 flocks of Cedar Waxwings on the return, also Bushtits, a possible Hutton's Vireo (which looks similar to a Kinglet, but isn't as flitty and "peripatetic") . We come upon a Madrone tree, with its red flaking bark and edible red berries. (We try some berries, which are slightly sweet yet somewhat bitter, too.) As the trail relentlessly climbs higher, the views become more expansive -- 

Looking across the canyon to Silver Peak

Looking north, with Cochise Head in the distance

The western outskirts of Portal down below, and Cochise Head to the left

The trail is indistinct in parts, and only by spotting rock cairns can we discern the trail. But we still do a bit of wandering...There are two ridges which look to the east where we take rest breaks; the top one has views across the San Simon Valley to the Peloncillos, and other mountain ranges fading into the distance -- 

Seeing views like this makes you realize how large and wide the San Simon Valley is, and how much of it is sparsely inhabited. We are now in the vicinity of "False Portal Peak", which I take photos of from Faranuf, and rears above Portal. After admiring the views and taking a last rest break, we head back down. There's a certain section of the trail which is VERY indistinct -- and we lose it going down. These trails here, at least the ones I've hiked since I moved into Faranuf, aren't anything like the well-maintained, wide trails in the Sierra Nevada that I'm used to (though a higher trail like the Chiricahua Crest is along the ridgeline, so is pretty distinct and follows and more level). After going straight down, holding onto branches, we re-find the trail, and compared to going up the rest of the hike is easier -- though not on the feet and knees, as is going downhill on steep trails. We eventually get back to the bottom, and look back up at what we went up --

That's Cathedral Rock to the right, and our hike was from the center moving left. While heading to my truck we met our friend Elaine, who was guiding a fellow from near Prince Rupert in British Columbia, and they were checking the area for a Red-breasted Sapsucker, somewhat uncommon to the area. We were tired and a little foot-weary, but it was yet another rewarding day here in the Chiricahuas.