Stump canyon connector trail

I had planned a 3:30pm start for a Brown Canyon hike of around six miles. It was a short-order announcement from yesterday. No one signed up so I cancelled, allowing me more time to relax once I got home from the middle school at 3pm. It was still warm out but I wanted to take the dogs somewhere cool.

At 5:15pm I finally left the house with four happy dogs. I kept Sweetie at home, who was jumping three feet straight in the air with desperation. She was on the back porch with Kevin with the window closed and she barked to let me know she wanted to come, too! I had Hunter Canyon in mind, and she's too much of a free spirit to take her there off leash.

But Sammy wanted to come. This was the first time since my road trip that he's shown an interest in a walk, so I let him join us. I helped him into the van. He's been slowing down quite a bit these last few months, is showing his age, and his stiffness seems to be in all his legs now. I opted to go on a little-used connector trail into Stump Canyon, which goes past a closed-off and sealed mine and which provides views of the valley. Traffic on AZ 92 is audible.

I parked the van at the old campsite which Kevin and I call "Camp Boston." It's the place that target shooters have ruined with their bulletholed trees, and which the forest service for so long tolerated. "No Target Shooting" signs are now posted, but I did see a full-size Dodge pick-up truck parked along the dirt road and heard shots off the trail. The dogs and I were on the connector trail by then and out of danger, but there are homes nearby. The most northern homes in the canyon were burned down in the 2011 fire and remain ruins, but new construction is coming back.

I walked a grand total of 1.2 miles, slowing down for Sammy. This allowed the other dogs to run around at their own pace. Water from TS Newton still flowed on the trail, but the spring's pipe looked clogged up and the water looked dirty.

The sun set without any spectacular color show. The walk took us 30 minutes. I turned around when I could hear dogs barking from a nearby home. To avoid any confrontation, I turned around and walked back the same route. Shade from the setting sun had already drowned out any decent light by then.

When we got home Sammy plopped down on the memory foam mattress I've laid on the floor specifically for him, but which all the dogs use. This walk exhausted him. I'm going to take him on separate walks around the block from now on. All the dogs got some chicken jerky strips. Sammy got his served to him directly.