I woke up at 5:30am missing Pache. He slept in my armpit overnight again, but had disappeared as soon as I awoke. He was my greatest loss this year and I still miss him and think of him every day.
At least today's hike was sobering. A new member to the local hiking meet-up organized this hike. I just came along with Zeke for the exercise and seeing the hills again. I always enjoy coming to Bisbee.
It was raining on my drive to Bisbee, with rain clouds of various shades shrouding the horizon. But once in town, the rain had subsided. Chris, a man we met the day before at Chili's showed up, so there were three of us at the 8:35am start. We all wore rain gear just in case.
Thad, the official hike leader, had just gotten off his shift as USBP, but he kept a good pace. Chris, however, lagged from the start so we slowed down some. Zeke and I were in the middle of the trio as we started up from OK street, and then took the shrine trail around the hillside, eventually joining up with the loop trail that goes along the ridge line. This was a new way of doing the loop, and I like it! It seems to level out the steepness some, although it deprives the dogs of any water in Zacatecas Canyon. With the rain gathering in rock depressions and the cool temperature, I was not worried about Zeke lacking water.
We only had one passing moment of rain. The wind gusted, the rain came over us, and just as quickly, it dispersed. Chris opted to bow out at the 1.6-mile intersection with the canyon trail, giving himself a three-mile intro walk. "I see you guys at the coffeeshop!" were his last words. Thad and I continued our hike at a steady pace, stopping only to take photos of the rainy hillsides. We didn't talk much.
The biggest obstacle on the hike was not the rain or fog, but the cold wind. As soon as we got up high enough, at the 2.3-mile ridgeline at 6076', that cold wind blew hard! No one else was foolish to be on the ridgeline today, but after the second hill the wind was stopped by the peaks, as we were now on the backs side of the wind. My rain poncho kept me dry, but my boots had gotten damp from the wet grass whisping around my feet.
We finished the walk in 1:53 minutes. That's a good pace. There is only a 976' elevation gain, with the high peak at the 2.5-mile walk with 6129'. The course then resumes its town streets on Tembly, the road that intersects steps #4 and #5 on the Bisbee 1000 course.
There were few people in Brewery Gulch. The sun was now coming out, making the wet roads glisten. The rain clouds were slowly changing to blue. My feet were cold and damp from the grass and when Thad and I shook hands and went our separate ways, I joined Chris at the coffee shop, (Zeke rested in the van) the one place in town that seemed to bring all the visitors! Everyone looked cold. The shop was busy, people were coming and goig but the noisiness never subsided. I had a triple shot cappuccino with hazelnut flavoring just to warm up. I seldom drink hot coffee after a hike! It's usually two pints of beer, but today I made a necessary exception.
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