Today was the first Wednesday of the year that I did not host a power walk in town. When I drove home from work and an errand on post, the thermometer in town registered 88F at 5pm; too hot for Zeke and the multi-trail. He was showing pain last week and had been walking slower than normal, and I didn't want to harm him. Today I opted to walk with him later, when the mountain shadowns were over our neighborhood. At 6:20pm I took him and Minnie for the power walk around the Oaks. This would be my first power walk with Minnie hanging on. How would she do?
Minnie did amazingly well. She stayed within sight, although by the second mile she was dropping behind me. She quickly learned that today I was not going to be playing fetch with her, or slow down for her. She did not chase Zeke, nor did she follow him into the fields, and neither did Zeke. Zeke seemed to know that at my fast pace, that I was serious today. Both dogs stayed on the pavement with me.
By 7pm the sun was behind the mountains and the coolness began. The waning sun and the few clouds burst into flames of orange and red before twilight began. I spotted a young coyote on the road who didn't seem bothered by the dogs and me and even seemed curious enough to follow me. The dogs did not chase it. It looked like the same young coyote from a few weeks ago. I also spotted an owl perched in the top of a tree, and I also spotted the ubiquitous rabbits flitting into the brush. The dogs did not take chase.
I still managed a respectful 1:09:41 hours for the 5-mile walk and the short water breaks I gave the dogs at each loop completion. Their bucket of ice water was empty of water by the end of this workout. It was nearing the end of civilian twilight when we got back to the van. The dog's collar lights barely helped me seeing them. Both jumped into the van and panted all the way home. Minnie continued to pant for a good hour afterwards but showed no other signs of distress. This power walk for her was a way to get her back on track to a more normal weight. She needs to lose ten pounds. I'm already removing the food bucket from easy access at night, so that none of the dogs snack at midnight. Sadie is the only dogs who needs extra kibble.
When I got back online afterwards, I learned that Holly's husband Doug did get the job for Seward, Alaska. They are now taking a recon trip up there this weekend, but will be back for my May 21st hike through Sheelite Canyon. Although I'm happy for them, as both had been talking about wanting to explore Alaska, I'm going to miss them. Of all the people I met last year through the hiking meetup, she is the one I meshed with the best. We always had great conversations no matter where we hiked. We hadn't known each other for long, but I always enjoyed her company. We had talked about doing parts of the Arizona Trail together on weekends, with her husband shuttling us to and from trailheads. We have now until the end of summer to get that done before they leave in October.
I'm happy that Doug got the job he wanted, but I will miss them.
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