SKIT Day 2: South up the San Pedro River

Daily Miles: 19.0, Total Miles: 32.4

I went to bed pretty tired and sore last night but awoke feeling re-charged this morning. Amazing the body does so much work while you’re sleeping.

Close to freezing in the early morning hours – even woke up and put on my jacket.

I followed Smith Wash for about ten miles passing by two nearly full stock ponds. I finally got water at Curtis Windmill, converted to solar, at a protected trough that fed two cow troughs.

I continued west across Hwy 80 (to Tombstone) and entered the San Pedro National Riparian Conservation Area (RNCA). A windmill and trough with expected water was bone dry just before reaching the San Pedro River.

The San Pedro River flows northward from Mexico into Arizona and is the last major undammed river in the Southwest. It hosts two-thirds of the avian diversity in the US.

Navigation up the San Pedro, shaded by huge cottonwood trees, was easier than I thought it would be. Mostly a smooth, wide channel with firm sand. Father upstream, I did get my feet wet in a flowing section that meandered back and forth across the wide bottom. I passed an old Spanish fort built on a high bank of the San Pedro in 1775.

After about 3.5 miles, I exited up a side wash then continued on a good trail. I found a wide spot for my tent near the Grand Central Mill ruins. This was the site of a silver processing stamp mill built in 1880 that serviced silver mines in the Tombstone Hills. The ore came to the mill by long mule trains.

Didn’t see a soul today.