by Olivia Sena, of University of Vermont
We woke up on the morning of Thursday, March 25 itching to get hiking again after being cooped up in our tents the entire day before due to the snowstorm. As Walt wrote at the end of his blog post, the day began with an incredible sunrise that illuminated the residual storm clouds that were hanging low in the surrounding mountains. This day was to be the biggest elevation gain day of our backpacking trip in the Galiuros, and we were going to be carrying our full packs to boot. Our route would take us up to Kennedy Peak where we would drop our packs before hiking another mile or so to survey Corral Canyon Dam. We would then go pick up our packs and hike down to Corral Canyon Spring to camp for the night. The hike up to Kennedy Peak was short but strenuous, especially because the higher up we got, the more snow there was on the ground from the storm and the harder it was to see the trail and find secure footing. At the top we met a woman named Murti who was doing a solo overnight trip, and we were all more excited than we should have been to have a new person to talk to. After surveying the spring, we made one last push to our campsite for the night where we had a delicious meal of mac and cheese before passing out on the little bit of flat ground we could find in such a steep canyon.
The next day we made an early start to hike from Corral Canyon Spring to Powers Garden, where we were all looking forward to an abundance of flowing water that the previous Spring Seekers had written about last October. Sadly, however, we arrived to find that Powers Garden had not escaped the severe drought of the last year and was completely and utterly dry. However, a small group of us were able to hike a couple miles further to some nearby springs and find enough water to at least carry us through the night and into the next day. Although it was dry, Powers Garden was still a beautiful camp site full of pine and oak trees, a big open field, and a scattering of old farm buildings, one of which was being used as a sort of base camp for volunteer or trail crews. It was in this building that we found a handwritten note from Murti, who had hiked ahead of us two days before while we surveyed Corral Canyon Dam.
The next day we decided to split up, with five of us hiking four miles out to survey three springs and the other two of us going back to filter as much water as possible so we would have enough to hike out the next day. Our hike out to Coffee Tank, the farthest spring away, was filled with beautiful crystal-covered rocks, yummy hummus and cheese wraps, and expansive views of the surrounding valleys. Our most exciting find of the day was probably the second spring we surveyed called South Field Canyon Spring, which was this small but pristine pool of water fed by seepage from within a rocky little cave in the side of a steep hill. Because most of the springs we survey are rheocrene springs, meaning the water emerges in a stream channel, this hillside spring was a pretty cool find, and probably my favorite spring of the semester so far.
After a long but rewarding day of surveying springs, collecting water, eating corn chowder for dinner, and competing in trivia questions for Oreos for dessert, we hiked out the next day to the parking lot, where we were reunited with a smiling Eli who had a delicious tofu stir fry dinner waiting for us. Even more exciting, though, was the homemade lemon olive oil cake with a grapefruit glaze that Eli’s friend Mary made for us. Thank you, Mary, for that delicious reward for making it through six days in the backcountry!
The next day was spent driving back to Ruby, stopping for burros and tacos on the way for lunch, and jumping in the lake in Ruby when we got back to attempt to clean off some of the more than a week’s worth of dirt and sweat. Just a few weeks ago, jumping in that ice-cold lake at 5 pm would have been unthinkable, but the end of March was bringing much warmer air, and the water was now refreshing instead of bone-chilling.
Finally, the day we had been waiting for for almost two months had arrived… the last day of March… a day to celebrate… Perrin’s 21st birthday!!! We started the day by making sourdough pancakes that felt like we were eating clouds. Although the middle of the day was made up of data entry and a Humans and the Environment class, we still managed to make the day special by creating a scavenger hunt around Ruby for Perrin with cryptic clues, special treats (including a local agave product), and a jump scare by Benjamin. We finished out the night with a pizza cookout on the tailings, a mini dance party, and a competitive game of Salad Bowl around the fire.
Two days later, we had packed up all our food and supplies, picked up Al from the airport, our visiting Outreach Director, taken a quick trip to Arivaca to do a Zoom training on Globe at Night dark sky data collection, and were off early Friday morning to our camera blocks to replace all the SD cards on the cameras during the day and take dark sky measurements at night. We were finally able to start our third research project, and Perrin, our resident astronomy enthusiast and spear-header of this project, was excited to teach us how to find the Leo constellation and collect some dark sky data along the US-Mexico border.
This data will be an important addition to the existing dataset on wildlife and vegetation at the border because it will show another way in which the border wall construction is affecting critical wildlife habitat. Because many animal species in this region are nocturnal, or active primarily at night, the border wall construction and proposed floodlight installation along the wall would further deter wildlife from coming near the border, let alone crossing where they still can. As we gear up for a second night of Operation Dark Sky, I can’t help but fall further in love with this landscape as I experience this new nighttime facet of the Sky Islands.