Murray Springs Trail

Distance: 4.6 miles
Level ground across desert landscape.
2.5 hours

My initial plan was to hike up Carr Peak late this morning, but the road to the trailhead is still closed. I had Sadie and Sammy with me, and then decided to drive back home for Sara. We all then drove on to the easy Murray Springs trail off Moson Road on the east side of town so that all three dogs could refresh themselves in the water. This trail is seldom used past the fossil dig site.

It was warm and windy today, and I quickly regretted not having worn a hat to keep the sun off my head. The wind blew sand which created a hazy, sandy vista.

This is a near-linear trail of about 2.3 miles one way to the San Pedro river, passing an abandoned railroad path to where a bridge once carried the trains over the river. The only thing left are the bridge masts.

It takes about an hour to walk this trail at a leisurely pace, but it took me longer since I stopped a few times for the dogs to drink water. This is perfect Chihuahua desert landscape, with agave, yucca, mesquite, cholla and catclaw growing.

The cottonwoods are now in bloom, but the mesquite is still stunted by last month's deep freeze.

The dogs seemed to enjoy this easy walk. I watched Sara, determined to turn around if she showed signs of exhaustion, but she trekked on with the rest. Sadie, who hadn't been out on a walk all week, had a blast.

The dogs found a shortcut to the river, which was a faint trail along the railroad. I could feel the heat radiate from the slag. Turns out today's humidity was as low as 1%, and my lips were chapped.

We got to the river at 1:15pm and stayed there for 45 minutes to give the dogs a rest. I sat in the shade of the old bridge and soon the dogs joined me. I could hear birds sing but didn't see any. The river flowed peacefully and clear past us.

I had forgotten the dogs' treats and all I had was an apple.

We returned to the car at 2:10pm, walking without breaks back to the car which I reached by 2:50pm. The dogs looked tired, perhaps more from the heat than from the walk. The wind picked up as the day grew on, with gusts as high as 30mph.

This walk took place instead of the neighborhood walk I've been doing in the evenings with the dogs. Once back home, I did some more gardening, planting a few more bean seedlings, although the increasing wind quickly made me regret that move.

More later.