Was ready to go well before dawn the next morning, as I planned to sit at the trailhead and see if any night birds would call. The Poorwill came through, but even better, the Elf Owl called from the cabin area, just like last time! I kept a “nocturnal” eBird list, and it was fun listening to everyone bringing in the dawn; Say’s Phoebe and Black-chinned Sparrow were new, but I think everything else was an old friend (like Canyon Towhee and Hepatic Tanager).

           At 6:25 we started up (and started a new eBird list), and following the routine of hiking for 20 and resting for five worked well, although I was somewhat discouraged at my speed (not sure why – I’ve always gone that slow uphill), wondering if we were ever gonna get there! A young gal who kinda looked like fellow guide Tiffany Kersten came trucking up behind me carrying a pack (and no walking stick) and breezed by – ah, youth! At one spot I had a lovely Blue Grosbeak against the sunlit mountain, and at the same spot was a close Ash-throated Flycatcher! Not everyone was that cooperative, however; at one point a Spotted Towhee did stay put for a video, but everyone else (like the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Acorn Woodpecker, and Mexican Jay) just didn’t stick around (although, had the stupid camera focused, I might have gotten a nice one of the jay). 

Took some nice scenic shots with birdcall ambience just to say I got something (the best was the two hikers coming down the trail – perfect timing!), and the new year birds were definitely worth it (I think ☹), adding heard-only White-throated Swift, Hutton’s Vireo (that one did allow a brief glimpse), and Canyon Wren. At one resting spot another couple passed me by and made a joke about the scraping noises up the trail being made by a Mountain Lion😊, but it turned out to be the Tiffany Look-alike who was working on improving the trail (man, more power to her working in that heat!) A bona fide Crissal Thrasher was singing away at one point (I had been hoping for them the whole trip down in the desert, but I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised to get it up in the higher elevation after my experience with them in Arizona), but while he wouldn’t come out then, he (or another bird) did dart across the trail as I turned a corner, giving enough of a look for a positive ID but never to be seen again! ☹ I was a little concerned as I ascended because some ominous clouds were starting to roll in, and that was the last place I wanted to be if another one of those “thunder monsoons” started to form!

Meeting hikers coming down

But thankfully the clouds departed (I guess, as less clouds equals more heat), and the “Top of the World” spot was nice to see again! Got some cool video of the lodge area from way up there (and I thought I was next to Emory Peak, but I wasn’t…), and while not new for the trip, I was jazzed to hear another Black-capped Vireo up near Laguna Meadow! But the little grove where I had the Colima ten years ago just did not look the same, so I kept going up the stairs and recognized Laguna Meadow, so I knew that had to be it! But the place was dead (except for cicadas) and it was getting hot to boot! I pished a little just to see if anything would respond, and nothing did, so since it took me longer to get up there than I had planned, I turned around and started back.

Chisos Basin from the “Top of the World” spot (oh, to be able to sprout wings and just glide back down)!

Spotted Towhee

The actual “Laguna Meadow”

      That’s when it got scary, much to my surprise! I figured going downhill would be a breeze like it was last time, but I started feeling numbness in my hands (and even some semi-paralysis) to the extent that I thought it would be wise to call 911 (even though I hated to be the hiker that needed rescuing because they didn’t heed the warnings to be off the trails by 11:00)! Thankfully there was a signal up there, and they told me to find a shady spot to chill until they could get someone up there (they also asked me if I had any history of heart problems, which I don’t – except for the occasional palpitation that my doctor told me was normal. I also texted Keith and the crew asking for prayer (I was hoping that wasn’t a sign of heatstroke), but after resting for a good while, the symptoms calmed down. Thankfully “Tiffany” came bouncing down about that time, and I asked her to let the rescue guy know where I was, because I really couldn’t give them an exact location except that I was sure I was at least halfway down (had I been on the ball I could have told them that I was past the volcanic soil; that was pretty obvious). She actually offered to walk with me (and even carried my tripod), and that really helped (especially going through a shady spot). Lauren was her name, and was a volunteer from Connecticut, working part-time on trail work specifically. 

Interestingly we passed a lot of people going up the trail in that heat; she would always ask them if they had enough water (I thought I did, too, but apparently not), and I think secretly we both thought they were nuts! We were about to impose the same condemnation upon another hiker coming up when she realized it was her coworker Tyler, who was the one coming up to rescue me! 😊 He took my vitals, and apparently everything was okay, but we all had a great visit heading back to Chisos Basin (Lauren tried to talk me into taking that killer trail up to the cabins because it was shorter – uh, uh!)! Tyler was actually born in Tyler, Texas, and had escaped to California when that big winter storm hit here (Lauren was living at Panther Junction and said they got 18 inches of snow!!)! Close to the bottom I heard a Hepatic Tanager and Tyler spotted him, but I couldn’t before he took off – “The eyes of youth!” said I… 😊 Tyler said he was a birder (Lauren wasn’t, but mentioned that a hummingbird came to say hi while she was working on the trail 😊), so I shared a little about the Colima Hunt from ten years ago, and all the great butters I had then, and how different it was this time, and Lauren was convinced that the long-term drought they’ve been having probably has something to do with that. I also mentioned how I loved their titmice here as they sounded so different than ours, and Lauren was so excited to find out what was making that morse code song! We also got to talking about Mountain Lions, and they told me how Cheryl (the volunteer ranger I had met before) was coming down this very trail by herself when she encountered two of them!! As she put it, thankfully they were more interested in each other than in her… ☹

View of the trail we came up from on high

      Up at the room Tyler took my vitals again and filled out some paperwork, including a legal form that said I refused an ambulance ride to Alpine (I gave him a look and said, “Did you see anything that maybe indicated that I need to do that??” Not really, but if there had been an issue, he said he would have pushed the ambulance more..)! Thanked them both profusely, recovered enough to get more water and ice for tomorrow, and the folks at registration were nice enough to fill out a dinner form for me when I called in! J Went ahead and got the steak, and while it wasn’t “walking to the table,” it was edible (and quite good, actually), so I saved half for the next day!