Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Carr Peak with Sadie,Minnie and Zeke

Today was my last chance to hike up Carr Peak for the month, since I'm back to work tomorrow for a few days. The weather was overcast and cool, much like it was on Sunday, with cooler wind near the peak.

We started the trailhead at 9:55am, and, as expected, no one else was around. The Buick was the only car in the parking lot. We started at the Old Sawmill trail, where a 1/2 mile uphill we stopped to let the dogs drink from the spring. I noticed the wildlife camera near the springs had been removed.

The vegetation around me was much like what I saw during the Lutz Canyon hike two days ago: very little new growth and much dried vegetation from the oaks. But perhaps the cold front that is due in this weekend will bring much-needed cooler temperatures and rain or snow. The elms and aspen haven't budded yet so there would be no damage done to those trees. We desperately need the rain NOW or else we have a repeat of 2011.

All three dogs did very well today. Zeke is learning trail etiquette and staying close-by. Minnie and Sadie got into a fetching contest right away that made Sadie bark non-stop at the start, something I had little patience with. "SHUT THE FUCK UP, SADIE!" I yelled, and she quieted down. The last thing I need is a dog to ruin my experience with nature.

I could see the cold front coming up from Mexico: the southern hemisphere showed a band of grey cirrus clouds moving north. This made for great hiking today, although the wind was a bit cold on top and I never took off my ski cap that kept my ears warm. I wore my blue-grey Columbia wind breaker, a nylon shirt, and my jeans. No gloves were needed.

There were a few small patches of snow on the northern slopes along the aspen grove, but there was no water running off the upper falls. We drank a quart of water today, half that from a few days ago.

I spotted one falcon overhead, and a few sparrows, but that was all the wildlife we spotted today.

We made it to the peak at 11:43am. The wind wasn't too bad as long as I sat near the manzanitas. It was on the cool side today, cooler than my January hike, but I'm glad I managed a hike for this month.

Each dog got their hotdog and water. I ate some KitKat bars and drank water, took photos, and then we scurried back down as I had to get to the shelter later today (made it there by 2:20pm)

I'll post photos tomorrow.

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Lutz Canyon

After last week's horrific heat wave we are back to cool, overcast skies. I hadn't been hiking much; preferring to take the dogs to Hunter canyon for a two-mile jaunt after work several times a week. It's the only hike Sammy can do now.

I should have gotten out on the trail a few hours earlier and bagged Miller Peak! Instead I hung around the house and didn't leave until Kevin came back from the commissary. It was just after noon before I hit the trail with Sadie, Minnie and Zeke.

My knee did OK on this steep hike but I should have done a different trail as the pain began again the longer I was on this trail. I stopped a few times to rest and give the dogs water. We all drank a quart of water after just one mile and that's when I realized I didn't have enough water to make it to Miller Peak. Same with the chicken jerky treats.
Zeke is starting to be a really nice trail dog. He stays near by while the two girls are always competing for sticks for me to throw. Minnie likes to egg Sadie that way, and that just gets her to bark and whine.

This trail seems to get more damaged with every year. It barely looks like the trail from before the fire. The trail is now badly rutted and eroded. The lower mine equipment is washed away and most of the trees, the pines and oaks in the lower section and the big Doglas firs in the higher sections, along this trail are burned, providing no shade. At least the cool overcast were ideal for the dogs; this time Sadie had no trouble making it to Upper Bear Mine (8124').

The higher we got, the more audible the target shooters were in lower Ash Canyon. But on this trail, there was not a soul. This trail has been so badly damaged that the Forest Service can no longer maintain it. Lots of loose rock on this trail. Most of the water that once flowed here has gone underground since 2011. This is now a very dry trail.
The higher I got, the more I realized how dry the forest is. By now we should be seeing some new growth, but all I saw were some Columbine leafing out. No wildflowers anywhere. Just lots of dead, tall grasses and seedheads. The lack of moisture this winter will make it harder for the new growth to get established.

I rested at the Upper Bear mine with the dogs. The mine has its usual trash in it from border crossers, but the trash didn't look fresh. This may be trash that was in the mine shaft last year when I hiked this.
The wind was cold and my hands were feeling it at this elevation. All around me was a grey layer of clouds, far to the south into Mexico. I was not prepared for this wind so high up, and decided to turn around here. It was 3:30pm and I had to think about daylight. I really should have gotten the courage to get started at 9am instead of noon. I probably made it three miles up this steep grade, just below the Crest Trail.
As I was driving down the road, another car was coming uphill, with two dogs running along side it. A pit bullX and a pug were coming toward me, and naturally my dogs went ballistic. The poor driver saw that the dogs were chasing after me (once they heard the barking) and he had to get out of his car to hold his dogs back. The man surely wasn't expecting to see other dogs, let alone other people, this late in the afternoon on such a remote trail.

I drove Kevin's car today, but yesterday I had my van fixed (it needed two new tires and the engine trouble was a mere leaky gas cap) so my next mission is to clean the van out and use it again. It had been sitting in the driveway for six weeks, ever since we got back from our Chicago road trip.

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Lower Carr Falls

Walking to the Lower Carr Falls from the road's gate is a nice four-mile round-trip hike on a wide, relatively well-graded road. When the road's closed there is no vehicular traffic to worry about, and as long as there are no other dogs around, I enjoy this hike. Today there was only one other vehicle parked at the gate and the people were at the falls there and not on the road.

I have been doing shorter local hikes lately for two reasons: to give my right knee and left ankle a break, and to save gas money. My van needs to be serviced and has been sitting in the driveway for the past month. I couldn't afford a mechanic bill last month because of Eric's tuition costs. Shelter work has kept me busy as well.
The road up to Carr Peak is closed again after the peaks got a sprinkle of snow last week, so all we could do today was park at the gate and walk up to the Falls. I took Zeke, Minnie and Sadie. It was another lovely day and it is even supposed to get warmer during the week! I spent that hike uphill throwing sticks for the dogs. And even though Zeke doesn't fetch, he likes to get on his hind legs and feign interest.

The only people we met were a couple with a small dog. We were off the trail at an overlook, so I kept the dogs with me off trail until they passed. We were alone the rest of the walk to the falls.
Minnie teased Sadie with sticks she wanted me to throw for her. This gets Sadie excited and she tends to get an epileptic fit later (she had none today, as she calmed down once we were back home). This is why we do not encourage this kind of teasing from Minnie, who does have an aggressive streak in her. Zeke shows no interest in getting involved with fetching.

I let the dogs play in the water at the falls for 15 minutes before we turned around for our return hike. The ice has completely melted and was exactly what they needed. There was also no trash here this time, but I noticed that the memorials that were placed along the fence (where people had fallen to their deaths) have been either removed or vandalized.
Minnie teased Sadie with sticks and Zeke kept following Sadie and for the entire time we were at the overlook, we were alone.
Our little walk took less than two hours. Sky was blue, wind was minimal and I wore a slight windbreaker over my cotton t-shirt that was almost too warm.