The Stronghold
Southern Arizona, near the border with Mexico…
There is a National Forest here that contains some of the best kept secrets of time. One of the secrets that it holds is located in the Dragoon Mountains, located outside of current day Wilcox, AZ . They are named for the 3rd U.S. Cavalry Dragoons from Fort Huachuca, who battled the Chiricahua, including Cochise, during the Apache Wars. They are rugged and a little foreboding with the winter storms over the 7,500′ peak of Mount Glenn, but once you enter them they are beautiful and inviting.
One of the most famous of the leaders of the Chiricahua Apache was a fellow called Cochise. Cochise was born and raised, lived his life and is buried somewhere in the Dragoons . The Dragoons are part of the Islands in the Sky mountain ranges here in southern Arizona with each outcropping of rocks being different with its own personality, topography and ecosystems.
We headed out into the unknown (for us) with full camelbacks, walking sticks, and a packed lunch. The drive from the current Benson home base took about an hour with the last couple of miles on a well maintained dirt road with several water (yes, running water) crossings. You transition from wide open fields of nut trees and vineyards carved out of the desert and start climbing into the Dragoons. Passing fields and farms, and moving into the beautiful wooded and lush canyon, you feel the temperature drop to something more comfortable and brisk. Driving beside a running stream, you pass through varied land, some private and most Forest Service which is maintained in cooperation with the Arizona Game and Fish Department. Winding across the stream for a few water crossings you finally arrive in the tree covered, well maintained Cochise Stronghold campground.
There are very nice vault toilets here as well as individual pay sites with grills and paved parking. If you have an interagency pass, there is no day use fee and you get half off the nightly camping fee with a few of the passes. This is a tent or van only camping area, Bebop will never fit.
We climb out of Karl and get prepped for our hike, walking sticks, good hiking boots, camelbacks, and lunch. The first order of business is to walk around the fully ADA compatible interpretive trail (short and wheelchair friendly) describing the area and the Apache/Anglo/Mexican history.
We hear a group of folks talking about how there is no water in the creek up here and that they must have passed the springs on the drive in but we suspect they did not venture far enough and find the right creek bottom. We climb out of the campground on the short (.7 mile) walk through the landscape interpretive trail and come to the sign that leads to the Cochise Indian Trail no.5279, and take it to the left, we want to climb to the spring and see the primary source of the water that sustained life and the thriving Chiricahua society.
As we crossed from the interpretive trail to the Cochise trail we began to hear the water running in the stream ahead.
We cross a small running stream that does not come over the boot tops and get a glimpse into the hidden water sources and the true beauty of this area. There are Pine trees, Oaks, Yucca and other normal desert flora. The climb from one section to another is on a trail slashed with cutouts from runoff water and is not tooo challenging but definitely interesting. As we climb higher into the wilderness, you can see hints of where old Apache camps might have been and ideal lookout and guard positions.
We followed the increasing volume watercourse through the canyons and scrambled over boulders, eventually coming to a truly pastoral scene of a running spring coming out of the ground under old oak trees in a cut in the rocks. The spring is prolific and running hard enough to generate a very strong stream. Here, in this ancient place of life, we sat upon the granite boulders and ate our lunch in the shade of a massive oak tree and contemplated the wonders of this wonderful citadel. The military guy in me wonders at the fortitude of the old Dragoons who had to try to conquer the peoples who lived here (never accomplished) and at the ease of life that must have been enjoyed in these prolific life giving mountains for generations of Apache and their forebears.
After lunch and some quiet we turned around and hiked back to the campground. the hike down always seems to go faster than the one in, of course, and soon we were back at Karl. Just our short hike into this fabulous wilderness was enough/not enough leaving us wanting more. We returned to the base camp knowing that we had only touched a small part of the gift that lies waiting for the intrepid in the Dragoon mountains and the land of the Chiricahua.
The total we hiked was 2.2 miles with a total elevation change of 405 feet, starting at 4,626 ft and climbing to 4,975 ft.
BTW… The story is that Cochise is buried in a deep ravine in the Dragoons. The burial being witnessed by family and one white friend. He was tumbled into the crevasse along with his horse and weapons and then rocks were tumbled in after him. Those who knew where are long dead, maybe a memory is left amongst descendants and maybe not. But one thing is for sure, DO NOT go looking for his remains as there is no upside to finding them.
Util next time, Go explore today.
BFD
