After work at the high school I had time to rush home, grab the recyclables, and take four dogs with me so that after the dump stop at 2:30pm, I could take them all down the lonely path toward Murray springs near the San Pedro River. I had not been down this route since 2009. The grass was heavily overgrown and taller than me in sections. There were two other cars in the parking lot, so I kept my eyes open for other walkers in the area.
It was 2:50pm when I got to the trail head, and a van load of what looked like high school students were loading up to return to their school. Our high schools finish at 2:49pm and buses leave the campus at 3pm. I waited for the students to get into the van before I let the dogs out. I didn't bring leashes and didn't want any complications.
Murray Springs is not a very populated area to hike around. It's a level trail that goes west-east toward the San Pedro River. There are some ruins along the way, but I usually just go straight toward the river with the dogs and turn around, for a 4.4-mile level hike.
I had no plans on going that far with Sammy. He was fine with the .6-mile o/w hike. Once we got to the springs, he sat down and waited for the younger dogs to run off some energy. I was throwing a stick for Minnie, Sadie and Zeke to retrieve for me, but they seemed just as happy chasing each other in the marshy terrain. Most of the cottonwoods here have shed most of their leaves, except for a top canopy on the older trees.
The sky overhead was overcast, and it would have been a perfect day to hike up Carr Peak. It felt warmer than it should have been, but I am not complaining. We never got any rain, but the warmer-than-usual weather for today was fine. This gave me a chance to give all the dogs some running time. We were back at my van by 4pm and drove home.
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