The Ice Sculpture: Kent/Bog Springs, Madera Canyon, Coronado National Forest

We are in Madera Canyon, at Bog Springs Campgrounds.  One of our favorites from Road Trip 1.  We liked it because only small rigs or tents could get in, because good hikes are nearby, and because the campground is very well equipped (friendly camp hosts, clean pit toilets, water at sites, bear proof trash cans, and storage boxes for food to deter bears).   Bears are a problem here, I guess, as the Ranger told me that two years ago one tried to pry open the top of the host’s camper because it smelled food.  So, of course, all night I waited for a bear to climb a tree and drop to the top of our camper.  Makes for a restful night’s sleep.

The hiking map is awesome.  Each trail is briefly described, and the map lays out the important distances and elevations.  There are good signs at intersections. 

We have been experiencing a week of a serious cold in Arizona--daytime temperatures in the low 40s, and nighttime temperatures in the high teens.  The weather was supposed to start warming up so we felt we could go to the higher elevation of Madera Canyon and be OK. 

Still, freezing temperatures our first night.

The next morning we set out for a hike to Kent Springs.  The hike is shown nicely on the following map  (including the fact that the place that it states “You are here” is exactly where our campsite is).  The trail is 157 which goes to the top of the map.  Then we went down the other way (Trail 156). 

This particular trail is one of the steepest we have encountered on our travels.  Here is a photo of Vicky walking up a section.  Then, a photo of me taken by her from the top.  It was that way for most of 2 miles.

Go ahead and say it.  I look like I am working harder to do it than Vicky.  It's true.  Her strength and stamina continue to amaze me.

Along the way we spotted the ice sculpture shown in the first photo.  It was quite amazing to find something like this.  It is one of the natural springs in the area that had sprung a leak and had created this beautiful sight.  I can tell you that is not something we often see.

We also don’t often see so much snow.  This made for very slow going, as we had shipped our Yak-Trax home a few weeks ago thinking that we’d never be seeing snow.  Right.  

View from the ridge:

 

This was one of the more difficult hikes we have taken.  The distance wasn't great--5.6 miles--but the elevation was somewhere between 1900 and 2300 (my two Garmin programs gave wildly different estimates, although quite honestly we believe the second is more accurate).  In addition, walking on snow and ice requires a lot of effort and muscle.  You can't just get into an easy walking mode.  We were exhausted but felt great. 

The next day we thought we would take a “recovery” hike—easy, not much elevation gain—to save up for two days later when we would be taking a 9.5 mile 2000 gain hike at Cochise Stronghold.

So, we took the “nature” hike here.

Now, most of the time, “nature” hikes are about ¾ of a mile, flat, easy, with lots of stops for signs and benches.  But not this one.  By the time we got done we had done 5.8 miles with 900 foot elevation gain.  Some recovery.

One neat feature is that we were on the other side of the mountains from our previous day’s hike, and found a nice map showing the location of our previous day's hike (Kent Springs, .  We were stunned at how far up we had traveled.  We don't often get an opportunity to get this kind of visual picture of one of our hikes.

We had traveled up to, in order, Sylvester Spring, then Kent Spring, then Bog Spring. 

 

Here is the part of the map above that has Sylvester Spring and Kent Spring:

And here is the section where Bog Spring is:

Also, there is a Mt. Ian! 

We leave tomorrow, heading for the Cochise Stronghold.  We have enjoyed our stay here, just as we did a year ago. It is one of our very favorite campgrounds.  

Hiking Report:  Kent Springs