Alicia and I were supposed to hike around Kartchner Caverns today, but she bowed out a few days ago when the weather was forecasted to be stormy. It wasn't so much stormy this morning (the "Storm" came through late yesterday afternoon) as that I was too tired to want to get out and hike at 10am. That left me time to just relax around the house.
But then I got a message from Ellen at around 8am that read "Happy New Year! I'm going to hike Carr peak from Miller Canyon at around 1030 today with a few other folks if you're interested."
Of course I had to bite then! Ellen is a great hiker who loves snow hikes. Her invite challenged me to get some exercise rather than stay home and do something constructive like clean house. I gathered up my snowpants, polypro underwear, Merino wool socks and my Zamberlan boots, gear I hadn't worn since my backbacking trip through the John Muir Wilderness in 2010. I borrowed Kevin's gaiters (which proved to be a godsend!) and dug out my Thermo Insulate gloves for this hike. Just looking from my front yard I could tell that today's hike would be a severe winter hike. I just didn't know how deep the snow would be.
Today I took only one dog, Zeke, who showed me yesterday how much he likes the snow. This was a good decision, finding out later how big the hiking party was; more than one dog would have been a nuisance.
This was Zeke's chance to prove to me how well he behaves on the trail when he's the only dog. He did splendidly, except for barking at some of the people in the group who lagged behind and then joined us later. He quiets down as soon as he smells them, though. He stayed with the group and didn't chase any wildlife. Not that there was much wildlife besides birds to chase anyway...
I was the first one at the trail head parking lot at 10:30am. The road up Miller Canyon road was so much nicer and clearer than Carr Canyon road with its shaded curves. Ellen said she would be about 15 minutes late because she had to tank up. It was more like 45 minutes by the time she drove up with her friends behind her: two groups from her caving/mountain biking friends. We were a total of ten hikers. We didn't start until 11:20am, which to me is rather late for a winter hike. Two young kids were in this group, but also an active duty army staff sergeant who just happened to be riding his mountain bike down Carr Canyon road yesterday and saw my truck parked at an angle on the road.
"I almost slid into your truck, it was so icy there!" he said.
It turns out that Mark is also a passionate photographer. He carried his Canon T3i on a sling. Another strong hiker had a Sony dSLR. That came to three large cameras on this hike. I talked some techno stuff with Mark early in the hike. Ellen is used to that.
Zeke was on a leash the first mile, getting around the Beatty Guest Ranch and the barking hound dogs. Zeke barks right back when dogs bark at him, and I had to hold on to the leash. Once we were out of earshot from those annoying hounds, I took him off the constricting leash for the rest of the hike.
Hiking in the snow proved slo-mo all the way. The many rocks on the trail were hidden by almost a foot of snow, which gradually got thicker the higher we went. Zeke stayed up front with me and blazed the trail for two miles, but once we crossed the creek the steep grade knocked the wind out of me, and I opted to get behind Mark and Victoria so I could rest more. The family with the kids turned around just before the first mine. Victoria was wearing jeans that were wet up to her knees. She and Mark turned around 3/4 up the trail. I knew that with the late start going up an eastern slope that we would not have much daylight, and I was right. We were mostly in the shade the entire way, and when we did reach the exposed upper portion the sun was setting behind the western slope.
It was now down to Ellen, Jessica (also a teacher) and me. I was the slowest of the three. I've hiked this section before and I know how steep the last two miles of this trail are, and today with the added snow it was worse than usual. I was feeling tired and dehydrated and lacked all energy to move fast. Visions of being part of the Shackelton Expedition, Donner Party AND the main character of Jack London's "To Build a Fire" raced through my mind.
Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known. The dog sat facing him and waiting. The brief day drew to a close in a long, slow twilight. There were no signs of a fire to be made, and, besides, never in the dog's experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire. As the twilight drew on, its eager yearning for the fire mastered it, and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet, it whined softly, then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man. But the man remained silent. Later, the dog whined loudly. And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death. This made the animal bristle and back away. A little longer it delayed, howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky. Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew, where were the other food-providers and fire-providers
I felt very slow and kept apologizing to Zeke, who loyally stayed by my side. I was determined to make it to the tubs. If Ellen and Jessica were determined to hike up to Miller or Carr Peak I would have been fine with that. They would have caught back up with me going back downhill.
As it was, the women made it to Tub Springs not much sooner than I. And once I made it to the tub I was more concerned making sure Zeke had enough energy since his paws were in the snow the entire hike. It was noticeably colder here on the Crest Trail. He ate an entire can of dog food, plus a few chunks of dog sausage Kevin had cut up for him. He ate it all. I ate the last of the four tangerines I had brought but was too cold to want to linger at the tubs. Neither Ellen nor Jessica wanted to go any farther. It was 4:22pm by now and I was more worried about hiking down in the dark. My Zamberlan boots were also feeling tight and my feet were cold, but once we were on the trail again my feet and hands quickly warmed up. By now the trail was well-blazed after ten people came up and down this section.
Jessica was getting cold and took off first for the descent. Ellen and I soon followed. Going downhill was so much easier, but also knowing that daylight was limited was also pushing us along. I took no breaks except to photograph Miller Peak in the changing light.
I had left my headlight at home. I had another flashlight in my backpack but was too lazy to stop and drag that out. It didn't get too dark until that last mile, where we knew those rocks were all over the trail and we had t watch our footing. Snow that was melting earlier today was now freezing again, making crossing a bit more challenging.
We slid, stumbled and rushed down the trail in waning sunlight. We passed what looked like a snowman built by the two children in the group, a rather good-looking snowman for Arizona. Our snowmen don't have a long lifespan. There were also other trees that resembled aliens, animals or prehistoric critters. The dark shade made our imagination run wild.
Mark and another of his friends was walking toward us in the dark as we made the final stretch. Their bright flashlights looked like USBP lights. They had gotten worried about us. The bearded man said "It took you seven hours to hike eight miles?" and I was tempted to respond with "But you didn't even make it that far!" Yes, it's true that no personal records were broken on this hike. When Ellen, Stefan and I did this hike in November 2011 it took us only five hours. The foot-deep wet snow tired us more out than we wanted to admit.
But no hard feelings lingered. I was just glad to be back on stable ground. There were no injuries and that in itself is a blessing. Everyone was in a good mood. The family that turned around early had made a fire and sat there at the parking area waiting on us.
It was 6:20pm when we all got back to the parking area. I was feeling tired and I'm sure Zeke was, too. Mark invited everyone to eat at Olive Garden. If Kevin hadn't stayed behind making a great roast beef meal, I would have joined them because this was a diverse and fun group to be with and I didn't have a chance to talk to everyone on the hike. He had left a full meal for me in the microwave, which was still warm to the touch. It was a delicious meal again, as usual, and well-appreciated.
When I finally got home at 6:45pm I knew I was exhausted. The warm house and the smell of dinner still lingering made me even more tired. Kevin was already asleep but the dogs were happy to see me again.
This hike was a great way to welcome in the new year. Zeke proved himself to be a great hiking dog. Yes, he barks at people who leave the pack and then rejoin it, but he quickly quiets down and stays with the humans around him. He was a real champ today. He went from a starting elevation of just below 5800' to a high elevation of just over 8500' in under four miles, with snow that came up to his belly. He never once whined or whimpered.
Valli, a neighbor of mine and also a doglover, commented on my Facebook page that I need to get boots for Zeke to protect his paws in the snow. Are boots for dogs really necessary? I bought some boots for Sadie two summers ago and she hated them, always wanting to knock them off and losing a few of them over the trail. The boots proved more of a hassle as they prevented Sadie from getting good traction on rock. I'll research boots more thoroughly, though.
The good news for me was opening my newsfeed and learning that the House finally passed a bill that averted the so-called "fiscal cliff" (for two months!), even if that means my taxes are going up this year. At least Congress did their job, but their bickering from both parties is really grating on my patience. According to CNN, "In the 257-167 vote late Tuesday, 172 Democrats and 85 Republicans favored the bill; 16 Democrats and 151 Republicans opposed it. Had the House not acted, and the Bush-era tax cuts that were set last decade expired fully, broad tax increases would have kicked in. In addition, $110 billion in automatic cuts to domestic and military spending would have taken place.
The combined effect could have dampened economic growth by 0.5%, possibly tipping the U.S. economy back into a recession and driving unemployment from its current 7.7% back over 9%. No mention of the $16.4 trillion debt ceiling.
Kevin and my taxes will still increase this year. The government temporarily lowered the payroll tax rate in 2011 from 6.2% to 4.2% to put more money in the pockets of Americans. That adjustment, which has cost about $120 billion each year, expired Monday.
Now, Americans earning $30,000 a year will take home $50 less per month. Those earning $113,700 will lose $189.50 a month.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/02/politics/fiscal-cliff/index.html
All photos taken with my Canon 5DMII and 40mm pancake lens.
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