After a long night at Randy Acetta’s self-proclaimed “16th Annual Big Ol’ Holiday Party and Gift Exchange Extravaganza”, I was in dire need of fresh air and free thought. The party was not all bad; just too many people making too much noise for too long. At least for this kid.
So this morning it was on to the Cochise Stronghold and a striking contrast.
The status of my knee was fairly good, but I was still very much in doubt. So, I started off by hiking for a half hour, to warm up. I headed up the Stronghold trail, which was a nice walk. I was not two seconds on the trail before my thoughts turned to riding it. It looked so tempting. I knew that I shouldn’t — not only is it very steep but it also provides many opportunities for earnest young cyclists to whack healing knees on assorted bicycle components. There are plenty of switchbacks, ledges and general technical challenges. As I walked I started slowly convincing myself to ride it. By the time I finished the walk I had all but decided to give it a try, turning around given any knee pain.
I first spun down the west stronghold dirt road for a few miles to further warm up. The original plan was to skirt the west side of the Dragoons, where the scenery is incredible and the riding easy. I could easily put in 25 miles without much effort or strain on my knee.
But in a stroke of brilliance, I left my camelbak (including spare tube) at home. About two miles down the west stronghold road I felt my rear tire compress on a rock, nearly pinching on the rim. Sure enough, I had maybe 20, 25 PSI in my rear tire. Yet another reason to ride the Stronghold trail: difficult trail = less speed, less chance of flat and in the event of a flat, less distance to walk back. The decision was made.
I started climbing aprehensively. So far so good. I hit the first few challenges and in a calm, focused manner, I cleaned them. Soon I found myself pulling uphill switchbacks that I had earmarked for not riding during my earlier hike. It was invigorating; my knee solid.
Snow began to appear on the trail as the shadows from the rock spires grew longer. I kept riding the switchbacks, even more to my surprise–despite the snow. On a left hand turn I grazed my left knee on my shifters and nearly fell over in shock. I rode out of it and took it as fair warning to keep things under control. There was no warning and no quarter on Milagrosa last week.
As I climbed higher the views of the surrounding rock formations presented themselves. It is hard not to be effected by the presence of this place. Any natural area, and especially a mountainous one, has presence that we are fortunate to be able to experience. But the history behind the Stronghold offers even more. Cochise eluded the US army for 15 years in these rugged, beautiful mountains. Finally, they signed a treaty that set aside the Dragoons and the Chiracahuas as a reservation for the Chiracahua Apaches. Cochise won; for a very short time (they later were forced onto the San Carlos res).
At the Stronghold Divide I stopped and couldn’t believe that I had completed the climb without my knee hurting. It was over too quickly, too easily. So I rolled on, down the east side.
The trail was better than I remembered it. Magical hoodoos on both sides, superb singletrack interspersed with slickrock sections and ledges. I was smiling and in heaven.
Eventually I ran into my runner friends, who had made it to the east side campground and were now heading back. I turned around and struggled to stay with them on the climbs. All I remember about the downhill is rolling slowly around snow covered switchbacks, all with a big grin on my face. I managed to only walk a few sections.
I spun out towards Dragoon Mountain Ranch to cool off, then we loaded up and headed into the unknown again, trying to get back to the freeway. On the way out we tried a shortcut through some state trust land and ended up inside the Ranch, eventually asking a young boy how to get out of his property (all we had to do was push a button). The ride back was unknown, but turned out to not be as adventurous. It went well.
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