Back at my car, I rested briefly, then continued my drive toward Emory Pass, where the highway crests the Black Range.

The drive is exceptionally scenic. At times, rock walls rise up a couple hundred feet beside the highway, which curves with the terrain, lucky to see two hundred feet ahead at any given time. I rarely went faster than 20 miles per hour.

The highway itself is a feat of engineering and dynamite. It was likely put in to serve the various mining towns that sprung up in these ranges, gold and silver being the most common ore mined here. Some of these towns still persist, now just rural communities of maybe a hundred people. The town of Hillsboro, on the range's eastern foothills, is supposedly the last town to have been serviced by a stage coach line before those went extinct.

I arrived to Emory Pass about 5 p.m.. The sun was still high enough in the west to be bright, and it was very pleasant up here at over 8,000 feet elevation. There were some people already here at the viewpoint. Signs explain the history of the region, including the 2013 Silver Fire which burned over 200 square miles. I walked around for about fifteen minutes.

I had planned to camp here but determined quickly that would not be a good idea. There are no formal sites here, and any informal pullouts would be too close to the road. Instead, I backtracked west a few miles and pulled into the Iron Creek Campground, found a spot, and claimed it for the night. There is no fee, and I was the only one here for the night.

I set up my cot beside my car, and sat in my camp chair having a dinner. I just sat there and let the sun slowly set. When it got dark and started to cool, I put on some fleece then lay on my cot above the covers. The waxing gibbous moon was already up and lighting the area very nicely. I love moonlight like this. It is very ethereal.

I slept well but was up pretty early. It got cold but not uncomfortable, into the 40s. I let the sun rise a little and took down camp. I did not need to be hiking at dawn, so I had some time. I drove back to Emory Pass and parked in the viewpoint lot. The sun up, it was pleasant, in the 50s, with no breeze. Since I was following a trail the entire way, I wore shorts and low-top hiking shoes. I got everything together, locked the car, and started walking at 7:30 a.m. local time (6:30 Arizona or Scott's car's clock's time).

There is a trail access-point just behind the restrooms. I got onto it and followed it to where it fed me onto a dirt track that leads to a heliport on the hill above me. The Crest Trail (#79) continues north at a gate. Hillsboro Peak is about three miles on a straight line north from here, but not visible. The trail wanders and switchbacks to where the one-way hiking mileage is a little over 5 miles.

The trail drops a little, then swings left (west) to get around a foreground peak. Then it angles back north and east to get back to the main crest. It never really follows the crest itself since that would mean going up and down over many subpeaks. Instead, it hugs the sides of the mountains, crossing from east to west and back at various passes. I'd be in the sun for a segment, then get onto the west side and be in the shade where it was still pretty chilly. Then back in the sun to warm again.

The effects of the 2013 Silver Fire were evident: whole slopes of dead trees, but the plants were abundant. A lot of mountain oak carpeted the slopes, and in places, stands of aspen, the leaves yellowing for autumn. The grade was very lenient and I made excellent time.

Cross-O Peak is the main peak between Emory Pass and Hillsboro Peak, and I thought about climbing it too. From the south as I approached it, it looked like 600 feet of heavy brush. The trail now crossed on its east slopes, gaining to a saddle where I took my first break, roughly halfway now. I cached a bottle of water behind a log. It was here that I could see Hillsboro Peak for the first time.

The trail continued north, crossing two talus slopes along the way. The rocks were removed to make a flat path through them, and stacked into walls that held back the rest of the talus. I've never seen this done anywhere else. Signs back at Emory Pass mention the CCC put these walls up. The wording made it sound like it was done after the fire, but I think I misread it.

The trail dropped a little at another pass, now on the east side of the crest. Hillsboro Peak was much closer. The trail starts to gain but in many switchbacks to keep the grade lenient. It curls north of the peak and then comes to its northwest edge before circling southeast to gain the summit. The last couple hundred feet was through unburned forest of giant ponderosa, oaks and aspen. Then suddenly, out in the open on the grassy summit.

The top is broad and mostly flat. There is a lookout tower, a ranger's cabin, and another "rustic" cabin set farther back that one can rent, so I understand. I walked around the buildings and set out to find the highest rocks. There are a few rock outcrops that could be highest. The ones near the outhouse seemed highest to me. To be sure, I walked the entire ridge to its southeast tip, with great views to the south.

I spent about twenty minutes up top, relaxing on a bench on the porch of the cabin. It was cool up here with a breeze, but very comfortable and enjoyable. Views were tremendous, especially to the east. I even had a weak signal where I could get my text message from my California pal Treetops to learn how the Dodgers did last night (a win).

There are two benchmark sets up top. The "Lookout" benchmark is underneath the lookout, but it is unstamped, just a blank disk. I was disappointed and did not even take an image of it. About 150 feet to the northwest, near the trail, I found a witness marker for "Hillsboro Peak", but could not locate the actual benchmark. This was good enough, so I took an image of it. I could not locate any registers anywhere. I bid the summit goodbye and thanked it for being such a lovely summit.

The hike out went well. Obviously, I followed the same route down, and made good time with gravity on my side now. I picked up my bottle of water, and just fast-walked out. A couple were hiking in as I was within a mile of the trailhead. They would be the only people I'd see all day. I was back to my car at noon local time, a four-hour and twenty-minute round trip hike. My rough figures were two hours and twenty minutes to the top, a twenty minute break at the summit, and an hour and forty minutes down. I never bothered with Cross-O Peak. Every approach looked brushy.

I was very happy to be finished and that it had gone so well. I enjoyed exactly this kind of hike: a trail hike the whole way, with a summit above 10,000 feet in calm fall weather. I moved quickly, almost at my normal walking speed.

Back at my car, I rested and changed out of my hiking clothes, and had a lunch. Two motorcyclists were there, and two bicyclists were getting ready to go biking, I assumed. A van then rolled up. It was a busy place for the half hour I sat there.

Sawyers Peak rise about three miles south of the pass, just shy of 10,000 feet but with greater prominence. I had no plans to hike it today, but I fully intend to return for it some day soon (not in 20 years). This is a beautiful range and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience.

I started the drive down, going back east on NM-152. Near the community of San Lorenzo, I got onto NM-61, a highway I've never been on before. This route runs about 30 miles and follows the Mimbres River through the hills as it emerges into the lower desert valleys. It was very scenic and I went slow, there being no traffic.

This then returned me to US-180, which I followed into Deming. I stopped for sodas and to look at my maps. I had one peak that I thought about hiking ... but it was into the 90s now, and I was tired. I decided to take the Interstate to Lordsburg, get gas, and take the NM/AZ-80 route back through Douglas and on home to Bisbee, arriving home about 3 p.m.