Today was a nice Sunday hike at a perfect pace and distance. Alicia and I agreed to meet at 9am in the parking lot of the Hereford Bridge trailhead of the San Pedro River. She wants to start hiking again and help her new pup meet other dogs outside her pack. Sounds like a perfect excuse to take the dogs out on a hike again! I left Sadie at home since she had her turn yesterday. Today was reserved for the pups.
By 8:15am we were ready to go. It was noticably cooler and windier today, which blew in more dust but which kept our dogs cooler. We were the only ones parked in the lot.
We headed south on the trail with the dogs on leashes. They barked at each other and squirmed around. Since we were hiking with the dogs so that they can be better socialized, we did what we had to for them to better get to know one another. Once they were off leash, things went better and soon both Sieger and Luna, a German shepherdX pup, were playmates.
I had no idea how far we would go since Alicia hadn't hiked in a while, but she kept a good pace. We made it down to Waters Road, the 2.5 mile mark, and then went east toward the river. This is the standard route I always take when I walk this section of the trail and I always enjoy it. It's flat, offers water, and provides shade to view any birds along the way. Today the big wild life were the pesky western caterpillar.
The dogs had fun in the water. Sieger prompted Luna into the water, and soon there was a splash fest. It was fun to see the young dogs be dogs.
We once again encountered no one. Even birds were few although I did spot a Swainson's hawk high above. There was plenty of horse poop on the widened trail as well. The wind picked up more force on our return trip.
How far we hiked I am not sure. I don't think we did five miles since we cut back a bit along the creek. Regardless, two days in a row of decent hikes and company is a good thing. Alicia and I are talking about having another hike next Sunday as well. We have plenty of trails nearby to choose from.
The river area is in complete bloom now. Soon this place will be one of the few cool places for the dogs. I like this area, though, because this part of the trail hardly gets used, and I feel safe having the dogs offleash around me. The Huachuca Mountains cover the horizon. The entire mountain range looks so small.
I wasn't tired much at all considering all the hiking I did this weekend. I am on a roll! To top things off, at 4pm I took all four dogs down to Hunter Canyon for a short romp. Sara is clearly getting too old to enjoy long walks, but she does enjoy sniffing an area and exploring. Two men ready for target shooting pulled up a few minutes after I got there, so to avoid the dogs fearing the sound of gun shots, I took them further away up an illegal trail into Stump Canyon, where last year's fire raged. Some people are still rebuilding their homes, others look abandoned altogether. A family walking their dog off leash prompted me to quickly move down the hillside and on another trail. That was as much excitement as we had all day, other than Sieger finding more deer legs (coyote kill) to show off.
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