Steer Clear A Minor Jaunt Turns Up Just Enough Danger To Be Interesting. By Kevin Franklin SOMETIMES, WHILE GAZING over a map, a place just leaps out at you and demands investigation. Hog Canyon, with a jeep trail passing through it and just enough mesmerizing topographical lines, is one of those places. While the temperature here at 4,500 feet is a good 10 degrees cooler than Tucson, it's still hot. About 50 cows congregate around a windmill and water tank, which happens to be right next to the gate. A lone bovine is rarely cause for concern. But a whole platoon of cows, accompanied by a number of wild-eyed calves, is another matter altogether. I slowly open the gate while fellow wrangler Yvonne Mery drives the truck through. A particularly large cow glares at me with less than doleful eyes. A brace of man-goring horns follows her gaze. Quietly praising dairy products and cows in general, I latch the gate and affect a nonchalant shuffle toward the truck. Meanwhile Mery, wanting to make sure the gate has plenty of room to close, drives the truck farther and farther into the sea of hooves and horns. "OK," I say, "hold up...far enough...thanks--please stop!" while the truck continues rolling forward. She stops and I make it past another mother and calf. The calf starts bucking, its head and haunches hurling into the air like a bovine see-saw. Nonchalance utterly abandoned, I jump into the comforting armor of the truck. About two miles down, the road forks. We head left about a mile farther and park under some trees. We hike down the road and pass another cattle fence. Past this fence the road completely dissipates at the top of a rise. From here we encounter a beautiful vista of Casa Blanca Canyon, Ditch Mountain and, looming over everything, Mount Wrightson. A trail meanders off the rise and down toward a meadow in the valley below. This takes us into Adobe Canyon and past El Pilar, a large outcrop of rock perched above a little pond. Once in the canyon some ominous thunderheads roll over and a heavy downpour pummels us. More importantly, we find ourselves unexpectedly under a barrage of lightning. A vexing question presents itself. Obviously, we'd like to get out of the lightning assault, not to mention the rain. Unfortunately, the truck is now a mile and a half away and, in order to get to it, we have to cross an open hill--one of the most likely places to become a human lightning rod. On the other hand, the canyon bottom away from any tall trees looks pretty good to ride out a storm. We opt to weather the storm in the canyon bottom. Once decided, another vexing question looms: Do I want to be on solid rock, or loose sand; among a group of low-lying trees, or away from all trees in a grassy field? "You did the right thing," says Philip Krider, University of Arizona atmospheric science professor. "You need to stay away from isolated tall objects." Krider says that once you are off a ridge line and on the lowest terrain attainable, everything else is splitting hairs. Nevertheless, solid rock can carry an electrical charge farther than loose soil, Krider says. Being the shortest thing in a grove of low trees, rather than the tallest object in a grassy field, also improves your odds--just stay away from each particular tree and its branches. In addition, wet clothes are better than dry, as electrical current takes the path of least resistance and would be more likely to pass through a sheen of water then, say, your cranium. Once caught in a storm, be sure to remove metal from your body, like hair pins or necklaces. Sitting inside a tent with metal support poles is also good, he says. If the tent gets hit, the current will flow along the poles and into the ground, as long as you don't touch the poles. Lastly, lower your own altitude. A catcher's stance is the best position to be in, but can, of course, grow tiresome over a long period. The Muslim prayer position is another good alternative. "The basic message," Krider says "is if you're exposed to the elements, there is a very real danger." On the other hand, just driving to work can snuff you out, too. As for me, I'll take pissed-off cows and lightning storms over rush hour any day. GETTING THERE Take Highway 82 south through Sonoita. The entrance to Hog Canyon is just past milepost 29 on the other side of a small bridge and wash off the highway. MAPAGE The Sonoita and Mount Wrightson 7 1/2 minute USGS maps work well.

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