I was not feeling up to hiking Carr Peak this morning, but I didn't want to disappoint Pat, a new gal in the area who had never been up Carr. It was just the two of us, going at our pace, and made this a slow-to-moderate hike. It was Zeke's turn to hike today and he did splendidly.
Weather was forecasted to be warm and partly cloudly, with rain in the PM. We met at 9am at the Perimeter trail parking area and then drove up together to the Old Sawmill trailhead. A few cumulus clouds were already gliding across the sky but nothing threatening. It was humid, and I felt my energy drained from the start.
Was I dehydrated from yesterday? Overcome with heat? Or just tired from yesterday's hike in Rucker Canyon? Were my Keens not the right footwear? Am I just getting old and plagued with this chronic back pain?
We started at 9:20am and slowly meandered uphill. We were the only ones on the trail. I stopped four times to give Pat a chance to get her breath back; hiking Carr for the first time can take one's breath away. Zeke's fur was warm to the touch and I made sure that I stopped only in shaded areas.
The trail was lined with golden rods all throughout the hike. Thistle, fleabane, lillies, wild geraniums were all out. The golden Colombines were still in full view along the aspen grove. There was some water trickling from the falls which Zeke used, but we didn't break long here. Three soldiers from Fort Huachuca passed us by. They are here for their AIT as 35M, the new nomenclature for Humint Intelligence, which is what I did for 23 years. That's what I did in the army, back when it was numbered as 97E, or "interrogator/linguist". This was their first time up Carr. They had to pay a taxi driver $32 to drop them off at the Carr house and they walked the rest of the way, making their hike more like 14 miles. I offered to drive them to post so they could save their money, but they politely declined.
It turned out to be a great day for a hike afterall. While I never got my energy today, I'm happy we made it. We made it to the peak at 12:20pm, making this a three-hour hike. Pat said it was more like 2:45 hours. Still, that is awfully slow for me. Pat has now seen the peak. She'd stop every few steps and sigh out "Every step is different!" She loves the terrain here, but she's only visiting as she's staying with her army son who's here for the Captain's course and should only be here nine months.
Zeke had a can of Nutro food, I ate a few melted gummi bears, and then we descended. We saw a few hawks at the peak, but most of the birds were vultures circling overhead. The raptor migration should be underway soon; perhaps next month we'll see more hawks and eagles.
We gave the three soldiers a ride down to the Mesquite Inn where they told us a friend is picking them up. Pat and I had alate lunch at Culver's as Zeke sat in the shade outside with us. We chatted some more. My legs were tired, too. Clouds were starting to billow over the Huachucas. I predicted rain clouds to come over by 6pm and I was right.
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