King Canyon Trail to Gould Mine in the Tucson Mountains

Heart of Gould....

by Kirk DeLong

A century ago down deep by lantern light

Do you not feel me through trembling hands

Wrapped around aggregated steel?

Piercing thy heart, gutting thy soul, with hammer strike

Draining earth’s veins of silver and gold

Making wealth, making war upon her back.

Come lay with me, healing trembling hands

I give way to these century mortal scars.

As I trek the miners’ track

Silently nature seeps in soaking my senses

My hands drawn in prayer

Our hearts forge to heal as one

Through grace, through beauty

Nature mends my soul

Step by step trekking the miners’ track….

printed with permission from author

This beautiful poem was written by one of our members as we hiked this trail. Kirk writes poetry and has taken to creating and reciting as we are on the trails. I heard him as he was creating this one and asked if I could post it on our blog and he agreed. This is what he felt along this particular hike, and I thnk he speaks for us all - absolutely beautiful.

Beautiful view of King Canyon Trail

We began our morning at the King Canyon Trailhead heading for the Gould Mine. The Gould Mine was one of four mines of some consequence in the Tucson Mountains: Old Yuma, Gila Monster, Mile Wide, and Gould mines. An investor named S.H. Gould filed 19 claims for the Gould Copper Mining with high hopes of striking it rich. Unfortunately, as with many mining ventures, he encountered financial difficulties. He was able to obtain additional funding to continue his mining, but an assay reported that the copper vein that was found only had 3 to 4 percent copper content per ton of ore. For all the effort and investment only 45,000 pounds of copper with a value of $9,000 had been taken from the mine.

Gould Mine shaft

That’s just history, but we live in the moment. What the miners left behind were interesting mining shacks, mine shafts, and trails that we can follow to breathtaking views of the surrounding areas.

Totem saguaro?

JoAnn - On the case

Beautiful canyon views

What's your best guess? Cistern, Outhouse, line shack....idk

There were eight in our party this morning – Connie, Judy, Kirk, Linda, Danielle, JoAnn, Marisa, and myself. The weather was a little cool starting out, perfect for hiking. But, as you can see by the picures below, it was not long before we all started warming up and coming out of jackets. Perfect!

Jackets stowed!

Everyone keeping hydrated

This is not a particularly difficult hike but took a little maneuvering and sure-footedness, and I started wondering if the men had to hike up to the mines every day or if they camped at the mine. I found one picture online which showed one of the mining camps and it seemed to be at the base, not near the mine. After a short water/rest/photo break at the mine entrance we proceed up the trail to the saddle where the Sendero Trail meets the Hugh Norris Trail.

Connie, Judy, Linda

Marisa and Kirk

At the saddle you can see very good views of surrounding mountains – the Santa Rita Mountains to the south with Mt. Wrightson and Mount Hopkins the dominant peaks. My problem is this – when I am up top, I need another map pointing out the different peaks as I haven’t memorized them yet. I’m working on it though. I can readily identify Sombrero Peak and Picacho Peak.

View of Sombrero Peak from the saddle

View of Picacho peak from the saddle

The saddle was our turn-around point and we headed back down the trail to the Mam-A-Gah picnic area to have our lunch break.

Mam-A-Gah is named for the deer dance of the Tohono O’odham Indians and I have heard recently that the ceremonial dances still take place. I wish I could find out when those happen.

Who's watching who

How appropriate that we would see a large stag on the trail....

Nothing can prepare you for some of the views we experience on these trails. Pictures can’t convey the beauty, and words can't convey the feeling of accomplishment when you reach your goal.

More views through our eyes: