Yesterday I took Zeke and Minnie with me on a short drive to Tombstone, to drop off some dog and cat food for Carol. She's looking tired, along with her husband Chip. She won't even find out how far her lung cancer is until Monday, when she sees the oncologist. I am very worried, and I'm sure Carol and Chip are, too. I don't even want to worry about her 28 cats...
Zeke and Minnie splashed around in the San Pedro river on my way home from Tombstone. The river was still very swift and muddy, and that made me realize I should hike Brown Canyon as there surely would be water in the creeks. I was right!
I went through the McDonald's drive-thru for a late lunch, then paid the mortgage, and finally got to the trail head just before 3pm. There were no other cars in the parking lot, which I thought was odd. It was a nice day for a hike! There was no wind, but the blimp that's normally floating high in the air, was docked when I saw the blimp area. It didn't get hoisted until 4:30pm when I was near the water fall.
Zeke and Minnie did very well today. They didn't chase anything or bark at imaginary demons. At one point they got ahead of me to see a woman come toward me, but they didn't bark at that woman. That woman introduced herself as Jane from Park City, UT. She was walking the loop clockwise, and complimented me for the two well-behaved dogs. She was the only hiker today. Later, near the end, I almost got close with a mountain biker racing downhill right toward me. He came toward me so fast, not even the dogs could react.
I had plenty of water for the dogs and me, but the dogs didn't need my help. They drank plenty of good water from the various pools along the way. They ran around sniffing along the trail. This is perhaps Zeke's first time on this trail. The only changes I noted was more erosion in the mouth of the canyon.
My destination was the water fall, both the lower and the upper end. They are a mile into the Miller Peak Wilderness. Water was running well here, and the trees are still very much green. I got to the falls at 4:30pm, an hour too late for sunshine so that the photos came out dark. But the dogs had fun and neither had much difficulty climbing the wet rocks. Zeke's quite the agile athlete, but Minnie, being stockier, quickly whines and whimpers when she can't scale a rock wall right away.
We didn't stay at the lower falls for long due to the waning sunlight. I just had enough sunlight to get to the upper falls, which are easier to get to, but again there are some steep rock walls that intimidate Minnie. Water is running nicely through this slot canyon.
We made it back to the van at 5:50pm, with just enough sunlight to get home. I should have started this hike a good hour earlier, but errands got in the way. I really do need to do a mid-week hike every week, to stay in condition. I had no trouble today on the hike, taking no water breaks or rest breaks.
We still have plenty of water in the canyons after TS Simon from last week. Wonder how it is in Ramsey canyon? With fall break this week, I do have time to explore that canyon, since Monday is a holiday.
I do need to get Sammy a check-up, though. He's been vomiting more often lately. And my feral kitten is old enough to be spayed, a cost I will take up since the local rescue did not approve her since she's a feral. It would be nice to keep her long enough so that she knows she has a family here in this house, and food, water and shelter are always open to her.
Pache came back home tonight, after four days away (although Eric said he saw him two nights ago). He's back in the garage, but for how long? He'll dart outside as soon as the garage door is opened.
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