The Verde River Canyon

Despite my late-night visitor, I went back to sleep shortly thereafter. At 4:45am Mike came by to knock on my window and this time I thought it was Tommie again and yelled at him to go away. Sadie growled and then barked, but then I realized who it was and apologized. Mike had come by to wake me up for coffee and an early hike to the hot springs.

And brr, was it cold out! I quickly doned my overclothes, jeans and two shirts, drank the coffee and hiked out to the hotsprings via the old road. Linda and Mike led the way.

This trail was a lot easier than yesterday's river crossings and by now Sadie was comfortable following us, despite the limited visibility. She even crossed the river and sat by the hotsprings.

We didn't have much time left to enjoy the fading starlight above. Venus rose to our east and the sun's early reds and pinks were rising on the other side. I was comfortable in the warm water.

Today turned out to be more cloudy than yesterday, a better day to hike up an exposed ridgeline.

And no one came by to bother us. I was expecting a morning crowd after sunrise, but we saw no one other than a sleeping couple near the springs. Most of the campground was still quiet when we came back, and even Tommie who, surprise surprise, had his new space closer to us and was still asleep. That didn't bode well with me.

Realizing that I had lost my beloved Brooks top cool-max shirt I use for swimming, I went back to retrieve it. It was hanging forlorn on a mesquite tree off the main road. I grabbed it and power-walked back to the campsite. On my way back to Linda's site Tommie was wide awake and chatting with two other men.

"Sorry for waking you up last night. Thanks for not shooting at me!" he said sarcastically.
"You are lucky" I retorted and walked on.
"Hey babe (a name he calls all women), come back here!" but I trekked on. Tommie was smart enough not to follow me back to Linda's place. By now I realized that I had better drive back home Sunday afternoon rather than at sunrise Monday morning, just to get away from him. My goal was to leave at 3am to get back home by 9pm.

After another delicious breakfast we drove to a trailhead three miles up the road, with spectacular views of the Verde River below. I was completely packed for a departure after this hike, never to see Tommie again.

The Verde River Canyon It was all like a mini-Grand Canyon, with the river snaking below. We were walking on an ancient volcanic ridgeline covered with prickly pear, mesquite, barrel cactus and thorny bush. This wasn't the kind of vegetation that could sustain cattle or other livestock. There was very little shade.

We came across a radio tower which we used as a landmark and continued down the ridge for another hour. Fossil Creek, the original destination, was still at least three or four miles away over steep, inhospitable terrain. We only saw it from a distance and walked back the way we came back to my Escape. It was 2:50pm, on time, and when we reached the intersection to Verde River road, Mike and Linda were able to hitch a ride with an incoming pick-up back to their campsite. We bid farewell there.

The drive back to Strawberry on the same road I came in on took me 50 minutes for the 20 miles. I stopped twice along the river for photographs and to let Sadie take a drink, but once on US87 I stayed on the road toward Mesa, driving back the same way. There was more traffic everywhere this time, people driving home after a weekend outside.

Gasoline prices had jumped ten cents at some stations overnight. The Circle K in Payson went from $2.38 to $2.43; the one in Mesa went from $2.19 to $2.31. Prices in Tucson and Sierra Vista seemed untouched for now.

But what bothered me was seeing a wilfire burn near Mount Ord north of Mesa. When did that fire start? Had it been burning Friday night and I just didn't see it in the dark? (Wouldn't the fire have caught my attention?)

Sadie slept behind me as I drove home, stopping in Tucson to drop off the weekends' recyclable trash and to buy some more goodies at Trader Joe's. As planned, I had left most of what I bought Friday night with Mike and Linda (as thanks for inviting me) and bought more quick foods for me for the upcoming week.

I got home at around 10:30pm. Sara and Sammy ran up to greet me. Even Pache Boy joined in, happy to claw up my naked legs again to cuddle in my lap.

It's now been a day later. This morning I heard about 14 deaths in Afghanistan. That shook my senses as that news reminded me in a flashback of my misery in Iraq, when it wasn't unheard of to see 7-10 deaths a day across that godforsaken hellhole.