Back to the river

I hadn't been on my preferred trail down to the river in three weeks (1 Aug). I wanted to see if it was still flowing. The Lehner Kill site trail is nice, but not challenging enough. I like a good challenge. 

 I was up early for my morning coffee, then took Fritz, Gretel and Wolfie with me. They were in the back yard together so all three went. Fritz is the one who needed to run, then Zana. I would take Zana on her night walk later. 

 We got started at 6:42am at 75F. The dogs were excited. Wolfie was even running, albeit with a slight limp. I made it all the way to the second long jam at the 2-mile mark before turning around. The water was flowing, mostly clear, and the trail mostly dry. This is what I had hoped for.

 The rains earlier this month, however, caused the grass to grow tall. The single track was hard to find at times! Creosote blooms are now turning to seed. The dominant color is yellow among the flowers. Butterflies are out. 

 Wolfie was much more tired on the way back and was limping more. I will keep him to the shorter walks going forward if I can.

 In the end, Gretel was by my side and always within view, but I had to wait for Fritz and Wolfie before driving off. 

 I was back home by 8:30am. The house was eeriely quiet. Hansel was inside, but where were Gretchen and Zana? And then I saw the damage: the screen to a front window was pulled out. The girls had jumped out and were on the loose. Damnit. This is the second screen they (most likely Zana) have destroyed. 

They were probably outside for at least an hour in 85F heat. I initially drove off to look for them, going north on Kino but then turning around because of the mud. The annual "Kino pond" is still in the middle of the road and one sedan was trying to drive through that. Bad move. The pond on the southern end of Kino had dried up, but left deep crevaces in the road. 

 Knowing that Zana comes home on her own, and Gretchen returns on her own when she's exhausted and thirsty, I waited this one out. Prior breakouts lasted 2-3 hours. I didn't hear any nearby barking. They could be anywhere within a half-mile radius. As long as they weren't harrassing livestock or in danger, there was not much more I could do. 

 By 9:30am I heard a thud on the front porch. It was Zana, covered in dried mud. She had jumped over the 18" "fence" I had put up to keep javelina off my porch. She came inside right away, but Gretchen wanted to go inside the Honda. I let her stay there for an hour as by then the sun is on the western side of the house. Zana looked exhausted. So did Gretchen. But so did the three dogs who had gone down to the river earlier. All of them chilled the rest of the day. We aren't expecting any rain until next Saturday.