So CLOSE, Yet So FAR AWAY

I was off on another adventure yesterday.  I was bound and determined to find the location of the Butterfield Stage Station.  With new directions in hand, this intrepid explorer drove back out to Dragoon.  After the first mile on the well used gravel road, I came to the red gate, the first marker.  At least I was on the right trail this time.

You're going to laugh at me, but all these years, I thought Arizona Indians spent their time in the desert with the sagebrush.  My experience thus far has been mostly driving through cactus country.

Geronimo and Cochise were SO much better at picking locations.  This country is magnificent.  It's not all covered with cactus, but tall grass as far as the eye can see.  Mostly I saw threatening clouds, but the countryside underneath them was beyond description.  The pictures don't do it justice at all.

The next three miles were a breeze.  The gravel road was in great shape and I was buoyed by the thought I was finally going to make it.  I was a tad bit concerned about the water puddles though.  Apparently it had rained a lot very recently.  I really didn't want to get caught in a downpour.

At last ..... the SIGN!!  This is where you turn off and head to the stage station.  Hmmmm water coming down the slight hill had eroded the road considerably.  I put my Jeep in 4-wheel drive and jumped up over the twelve inch berm as I tried to straddle the worse part.  Whew!!!  Made it.

It was slow going.  This is no road .... it's a cattle trail, half destroyed by the rain water.  There would be a flat section for 20 yards, then another deep gash I had to navigate.  I began to feel a slight shaking in my stomach, not helped by the rain drops hitting my windshield.

The next two sections were so bad I had to get out, walk the trail and decide just how to cross them.  There was no going around.  As much as the dirt looked hard, it was wet and I didn't relish getting stuck.  On the third section, I bottomed out.  RATS!!  

I tried to be brave and kept going over the next little part of solid sharp rocks, hoping I didn't get a flat tire.  Now about one mile in, I crossed a very edgy looking cattle guard, expecting to fall through.  This is where I thought the stage station SHOULD have been.  My GPS, working on two bars now, said I had another mile to go.  Nothing in the area looked like the pictures I had seen.

How can that be?  I walked up this cow trail to the fence, but could find no evidence of the small gate marking the spot.  From the pictures, it should be in the opposite direction.  My guess now is that I was probably there in spite of seeing nothing.  I continued on the trail a little further until I bottomed out the second time and I was done.  I need a Honda 90 to navigate this trail.

Slowly I retraced my steps back to the good road, rather dejected.  I sat for awhile and contemplated crossing this country in a stage coach.  How fun would that be?  Except for the threat of Apaches.  The other thing I can't imagine is chasing those poor people around this country on horseback.  It's just crazy!!

The good news is I made it back to Dragoon with no damage to my Jeep.  After checking my maps, I located more dirt roads coming in from the other direction.  Maybe I should check out the ghost town of Gleeson while I'm in the neighborhood.  What I discovered was that Cochise and I think a lot alike.  I'll explain why later.