Weather: 85º, sunny
About this Hike: I can't say as of a week ago I knew much about the Huachuca Mountains. That changed quickly as I started to research places off the beaten path where we could spend the Labor Day holiday weekend.
Flagstaff, Rim Country, Prescott, Grand Canyon—all out. These are hard to get to on most given summer weekends. Add a holiday, pent-up COVID energy, and distancing restrictions and it's a recipe for disaster.
Heading down to Sierra Vista proved to be a good choice. Despite being just a few miles as the crow flies from the Mexico border, with the border closed to all non-essential crossings, crowds were light in Sierra Vista.
We opted to start this hike at Carr Canyon near Ramsey Canyon Campground. Despite two maintained campgrounds along the way, the drive up Carr Canyon Road is not fun. The road is very rocky and eroded in places. It's a narrow shelf road without guardrails in some spots, and those are usually the spots you meet another vehicle approaching head on. The USFS has placed a warning sign near when the pavement transitions to dirt warning that the road is not recommended for passenger cars. I rode in someone else's Subaru Outback, and it handled the road OK. A Prius and a late-90's Honda Civic were also seen along the road. With a careful line this road is doable in a car, but I doubt it's a pleasant ride.
The original plan was just to visit Carr Peak summit. This part of the hike went by fast with plenty of hours to spare. We decided to press on along the ridge and eventually go all the way to Miller Peak and summit there at nearly 9,500 feet.
The Miller summit was hotter than expected considering the elevation. Lady bugs were gathered in clusters everywhere, and the summit was notably void of large trees. An old concrete pit in the ground (maybe an old latrine?) and a solar powered antenna device were the only infrastructure on top. The 360º panoramic view was breathtaking with Fort Huachuca to the north, Bisbee / Tombstone to the east, Parker Canyon Lake to the west, and Mexico to the south all being visible.
For as green as the Huachuca Mountains look from afar, the tree cover is clustered. There are areas with stands of pine and aspen that provid welcome shade, but there is a lot of exposed hiking too.
There are other canyons and summits to explore in the Huachucas. This made for an inexpensive, uncrowded holiday weekend escape with slightly cooler temps compared to Phoenix. I think we'll be back to explore more of the Huachucas in the future.
