Last week Eric came into my office and said "I want to hike up that peak you keep going to," referring to Carr Peak. I just about fainted, as Eric has never before expressed a desire to hike with me (or anyone else) and explore. I immediately got excited and planed several training hikes, wanting to make sure Eric was well-conditioned for the elevation.
I convinced him to start out with a slower, lower hike. The options are endless for that, as we have plenty of five-mile hikes to choose from nearby. There's the Bisbee Loop Hike, Joe's Canyon in the Coronado Memorial (no dogs are allowed there, though), Brown Canyon, Slaving Gulch...
In the end I opted for nearby Carr Falls, as the trail is two miles on Carr Canyon Road, the grade is moderate and there's no real danger of tripping on rocks. It also offers the vista he wanted to see. The only thing that held us up today was the rain, as it rained on and off all day until around 2:30pm, and by then we were half-way up the road. We started our hike at 2:18pm from the bridge on Carr Canyon Road.
Eric was a real champ today. I may have under-estimated his endurance after all. I think he could have made it up Carr Peak today with an impressive time, had the weather been more cooperative. It was clear at first, then foggy, and then it briefly rained hard and we stopped to get our rain gear on. Luckily this rain didn't linger too long, but we were drenched enough to remain chilled had we taken the jackets off.
Both dogs had fun. Minnie, as usual, lost all decorum and wanted to play fetch with Eric. He wasn't interested, as he was focused on his rhythm. But Minnie insisted, so I threw the stick for her, which of course just gets Sadie all excited.
We meandered up the forest road. It took us under 50 minutes to make it to the falls. It was foggy here, and I feared we'd gone all this way for no vista. The dogs ran down to the water and Eric surprised me by wanting to explore the falls more and continued scrambling uphill. I gladly followed.
Minnie continued to be a little reckless the entire time, always wanting to fetch something, even if that meant endangering Eric, who easily could have slipped on a wet rock. He had to yell at her a few times to "stop it!" but those words didn't phase her.
Water was flowing nicely all the way down, and he was very careful with his footing. This is my second time up this way, and it certainly was a beautiful day for it, as least as far as it being cool and overcast. My only concern was a flash flood after all this rain. Hearing thunder scared me.
Eric seemed impressed with the beauty. He stood at the top of the falls with the dogs, looking down on me and the valley. He didn't say much--he's a man of a few words--but I was just so happy to share this hike with him, our first official hike together. He hated walking as a kid and I stopped forcing him to hike with me, letting him discover the wonders of exercise in nature on his own. He's discovered the benefits and has become serious about his fitness.
We came upon no one on this walk. Several cars came and went up the road, but we had the road to ourselves for most of the time. Several half rainbows sprouted from the rain clouds as we descended.
We got back to the truck at 5:21pm, just three hours after taking off. We celebrated with a dinner buffet in town at the Hibatchi Grill. When we got home just before 7pm, Eric changed into his running gear and did another 1.75 miles!
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