Lower Ash Canyon Trail

A three-mile romp with the dogs in the foothills.

I didn't work today but did a lot of other things. In the early morning I gardened, with suddenly many new seedlings coming up thanks to the mild overnight temperatures. The hot dry temperatures continue.

But by noon I decided to take all three up Ash Creek. The brown dry oak trees were immediately visible. A fawn pranced across the road; I slowed down. Then came another fawn following its sibling. And then, out of the treeline like a speeding bullet, came the mother doe who jumped out and froze in the middle of the forest road. I screamed, the dogs barked, I braked and was glad I didn't hit the animal. She would have gotten a direct hit and died. That had my adrenaline going for a while. Despite the dry forest I'm seeing plenty of white-tailed deer.

We rested for a few minutes near Ash springs, where the girls pranced in the water, rolled around in the mud, and chased each other. I looked for brass but found little, so it's nice to know the cars that were camped out here the last time I was here have kept the place clean.

One thing that is becoming obvious in Ash canyon (and Hunter Canyon) is that target shooters are using live trees as targets. The bullets eventually tear the tree bark open, killing the trees, and here in Ash Canyon there are a few young oaks that have been shot up.

The glucosamine that Sara has been getting this past week truly has shown progress on her arthritic joints, and this afternoon she ran and played with Sadie as if she were two years old again. She didn't slow me down as I meandered up the mining and then illegal trail up to the springs where we rested and went the same way back to the truck. Again we were alone until at the trailhead, when a young active duty man came for some prospecting. We both commented on the dry brush before departing.

I did not see much trash today, and definitely not the kind of trash I'd come across a few years ago. The border fence has made an impact, but it still isn't clean enough.

There may be a chance of rain later this week. I sure hope we get some. New Mexico, Oklahoma, west Texas and Colorado are already much worse off than we are, with a massive fire burning near Albuqerque.