Mileposts/Events

HIKE OF THE MONTH Meet the Ghosts on the Rim's Col. Devin Trail

I'm getting a late start today - it's almost 11 A.M., but even so, at the trailhead I have to pause and chuckle. It's mid-July and the Mazatzals ride in a blue shimmer on the horizon. Beyond them 113 miles by road from here Phoenix swelters in 110° F. heat. While on my perch of 7,260 feet, on the edge of the Mogollon Rim, it's a chilly 80° F. The Colonel Devin Trail bolts down off the Rim like a rollercoaster ride. Within 100 yards, the spur to "the tunnel" veers off into the woods to the left. I'm soon steeped in sensory appreciation and solitude. The rich vanilla smell of ponderosa. The maroon sheen of manzanita. The quiet. Such is the magic of high-country south-facing slopes, conducive to dawdling. Luckily I do not have far to go - a mere mile - but I may be delayed by hundreds of years. For I am hiking with ghosts today, phantasms of history. I've descended into a basin where a sign directs me to the steep one-quarter-mile ascent to the tunnel site. As I climb onto the final landing, the 30-foothigh entrance yawns before me. So this is "the tunnel." Actually - since it was never completed - it's a 100-foot-deep cave, blasted and chipped out of the Coconino sandstone. I sit inside the cool darkness and marvel at the pioneer optimism of the crew of 42 men who labored here in the summer of 1883. The silver mines in Globe were booming and wanted to ship their ores to Flagstaff. But how to get the railway up the 2,000-foot-high escarpment ofthe Rim? The lower portion of the East Verde notch was feasible, but the last 600 feet of grade was too much for any locomotive. Solution? Let's drive a 3,100-foot tunnel through the rock, said a group of investors from Back East. Going on a prayer and a promise, they began. In a little more than a month the funds evaporated, and the men who worked so hard here didn't get a penny. They were being paid in worthless company stock. Suddenly I am spooked by the appearance of three people at the entrance to the tunnel. No, these are not ghosts but hikers like me. The woman in the party has a turkey feather in her hair, which gives her a faintly Indian look, as if she too were trying to recapture the past. "Colonel Devin, wasn't he the man who tried to build the tunnel?" asks her companion. "No," I tell them. "That was a Colonel Eddy. Colonel Devin was an Army officer, who in 1868 pioneered a route down off the Rim. For a while the Forest Service thought it washere he made his descent. But an old map that was found recently shows he went down off Milk Ranch Point about six miles east of here." "You think they'll change it?" "Don't think so. I guess we are stuck with a confusion of colonels - surrounding a kernel of truth."

WHEN YOU GO

To reach the tunnel hike from Phoenix, take State Route 87 to approximately 13 miles north of Strawberry. Just past Milepost 281, turn east onto the graveled Rim Road, Forest Service Road 300, and drive 12.2 miles to the Battle of Big Dry Wash historic marker. Start hiking at the small trailhead sign on the south side of FR 300. Descend 100 feet to the second pole, then turn left to the east side of the canyon. Continue down about a half mile to the next small sign where the trail fishhooks to the left and climbs back up the Rim to the tunnel. This last quarter-mile of trail is steep. Take enough water and be aware of lightning during summer storms. For more information, and weather conditions, contact Payson Ranger District Office, (520) 474-7900.