This was a dogless hike so it doesn't really belong here. However, my other travel blog is nearly out of GB space and will soon come to an end.
Yesterday's hike in the National Park east of Tucson was a change to the original idea of hiking Sabino Canyon. Recent reports had stated the water level in Sabino Canyon made fording the creek in some places treacherous, with swift-running water over two feet high. Although that's about as high as I like water to gush around me (admitting also to a fear of getting swept away by flash floods), I also didn't want to carry any guilt should anyone in the hiking party get injured or swept under. Most of the people I hike with are quite older than me.
Other than the strictly-enforced NO DOGS ALLOWED rule of this park, it was a lovely hike on a beautiful day. The eastern half of the country had gotten nailed by "Snowmageddon" (as quoted by Pres Obama) but snow was the last thing on any of our minds. Most of us hail from "Back East" so we migrated here for the land and the weather.
I followed Paul's advice and left my wind jacket in my truck. My long-sleeved white t-shirt was sufficient and I never got cold. The high temperature reached 72F.
We were a comfortable party of seven people: Big Steve, Susan, Paul, Rod and Caci and Kevin and me. Kevin continues to get accolades for his drastic weight loss and "healthier living" from everyone, but he's still a little slow and will need more time to catch up to his former hiking pace of our Appalachian Trail hiking days of 2001-2004. This loop of 7.5 miles was ideal. Water in the washes was minimal, if there was any water at all. The Bridal Wreath Falls were running but not at full force.
We arrived at the trailhead at 9:15am. The parking lot was packed. A park volunteer stood at the trailhead making sure no one had dogs. A sign stating this was clearly marked at the register, and later we came across a mounted patrol of more volunteers. Brenda and Gordon didn't join us today because of this dog ban and ended up hiking in the Dragoon's Slavin Gulch area, where they enjoyed a solitary retreat away from civilization and Chalita could romp around unimpeded.
Horses and their subsequent horse shit, however, are gladly accepted by the National Park personnel. And the trail damage these creatures create? No problem! That's where the rising park entrance fees come in handy! Although I wouldn't want to hike with dogs around horses anyway (out of concern for all the animals), this hike was so busy that having dogs would have been unenjoyable. The dogs would have wanted to sniff other dogs, Sara would have rolled around in horse shit, and Sadie would have made herself a few organic snacks from that shit.
I had a loop already marked out and passed out the maps to those interested. I had gotten the map from Boy Scout Troop 141's website out of Tucson. The scout leader had posted a map that was more legible than the official park map I had bought the week before at Summit Hut for $1O!
We started the hike on the Douglas Springs Trail, a wide and popular cactus-studded trail that leads into the Rincon Mountains and remote backpacking trails. The flora in this park is typical of the Tucson area and even typical of the yards of Tucsonans: palo verde, mesquite, thiornybrush, creosote, ocotillo and plenty of prickly pear and sage filled the landscape in all directions. Some ocotillos were even already in new bloom!
The grade was gradual at first, but after the first mile proceeded to get steeper. We had climbed 1000' in the two miles (Rod said his GPS read 1300'). There was a lot of traffic on this trail as hikers were coming and going in both directions. Most had hiked to the falls for a glimpse of the flow.
"It's not running as high as I thought it would be after all this rain," said one older hiker when I asked him about the waterfall. He had started his hike after sun rise for an early start.
Caci was a little weak and had to rest a few times. This gave Kevin an opportunity to rest as well. For someone getting back into shape, he was doing quite well.
I had hiked to the falls years ago when Susan led this hike, but back then we started off Broadway Blvd and climbed from the west. This time we were hiking from the north and traversing a southeastern direction. The views of the Catalinas to our north and the Tucson skyline were quite beautiful, but what always does me well are the views of the saguaros. The saguaro is strictly a Sonoran Desert flora which we in the transitional desert of the Chihuahuan influence don't have. They rise elegantly from the shaded desert floor to become monumental landscapes. They grow 1-1.5 inches a year and take 80 years to grow an "arm."
"I feel like I am hiking in the Superstitions" I told Kevin, "Without having to drive quite so far." The Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix are another wonderland of saguaro, but the mountains are even more heavily used by the greater Phoenix area.
We got to the falls at 11am. I wasn't ready to eat lunch yet. I wanted to see the falls and take photographs. Two smaller groups had already staked out the best viewing spots. A fat grey squirrel begging food from the hikers was entertaining us all. It even got bread from Rod who clearly enjoyed the encounter.
After a break of 30 minutes we continued westward, following the Three Tanks Trail downhill. We were now away from any shade. In the summer this surely would be a brutal hike. We stopped and had lunch on the rocks of a wide creek bed and sat there warming on the warm surface for quite a while. We discussed club issues the entire time. Despite being stressed out by college, the members present agreed that I should be re-nominated as club president a second year with Steve as the secretary/treasurer as no one else wants to have either position (either because they had already served in either position or are clearly not interested). As long as members don't expect me to lead a hike EVERY weekend, I'm OK with this. And as long as they don't get bent out of shape when I take a month or two off in the summer for my road trips (when most of Arizona hibernates from the desert heat) then I really don't mind at all. I have a few hikes I want to do this summer, but some hikes will be to get in shape for the Oregon road trip. The people that hiked with me today were quite honestly the ones I hang out the most with and whose company I trust and enjoy. Only Brenda, Gordon and Little Steve were absent from the standard "Regulars" of the Huachuca Hiking Club.
I already told the members I want to hike up Mount Humphreys over the July 4th weekend. It's Arizona's highest peak at 12633'. It's a nine-mile hike with a starting elevation of 9305. The only drawback to hiking this on the July 4th weekend is that surely every other Arizonan seeking a reprieve from the desert heat is going to want to hike this big hill. To get in shape for Mount Humphreys also means more peak bagging of other peaks, like Miller or Carr in my "back yard."
We now had just under half the hike left to go. The frequent rest stops for Caci and Kevin slowed us down quite a bit but then I never said we were going to conduct Olympic race trials today. At the Steel Tank we turned north to merge with the Wild Horse Trail. From this high point we could see the long reflecting line of cars parked at the trailhead. My goodness, there were a lot of hikers out there today! The park was working on rerouting badly-damaged trails here, especially the Wild Horse Trail. The Wentworth trail on our map was renamed the Converse trail. We didn't realize until back at the trailhead that the park had just started this rerouting project in mid January.
We made it back to the parking lot at 2:05pm. The others took off but I stayed under the shaded canopy at the trailhead to wait for Kevin. He had walked ahead but then took a wrong turn. Luckily a quick phone call got him back on course.
A park ranger pulled into the parking lot while I waited for Kevin. His uniform and car looked too much like a Border Patrol uniform and car. "People confuse us all the time with the Border Patrol" but in this region that's understandable. "I was here at 7am and the parking lot was full" he added, "and it's still crowded now!" Why would Tucsonans not want to park here, where admission to the trails was free as compared to the $10 admission from the main entrance.
The hike was the highlight of our trip to Tucson. We finished off with a stop at Udall Park for yet another recycle drop-off and then a stop at Trader Joe's. I didn't realize until I was at the cashier's, however, that I was missing my credit car. Where the hell was it? I had used it the day before on post to buy overpriced electronics (which I discovered later was $60 mistake; if only I had bought the stuff on Amazon.com!). Embarrassed, I had to cancel my purchase. The friendly cashier didn't act too annoyed. The gourmet dog and cat food in my cart had to stay behind.
"Damn," I told Kevin, "now the dogs are going to be really disappointed."
"They'll never know" he replied.
In the end the dogs got back to us for leaving them at home: Three bags of "Happy Hips Chicken Breast Treats" had been swiped off the kitchen counter, ripped open and devoured. These bags had been in their original sealed bags inside a larger plastic bag and were part of my first order of six from Amazon.com. Each bag costs $5 individually. I had gotten them from Amazon.com as hiking treats for Sadie ($25 an order of six bags). She's going to have to eat cheaper treats for a while until the next shipment of "Happy Hips" arrive in two months. Try explaining that to a dog that likes to eat cat shit as an appetizer.
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