It drizzled most of the night. The wind had died down before sun rise, replaced by a cold front that has hit most of the West. Denver got hit with hail the size of baseballs yesterday, and northern Arizona got heavy rains. Rain this time of year isn't so unusual. What is unusual is how cold the rain is. It was only in the low 50s this morning!
The mountains were shrouded in fog and more rain was moving in from Sonora. With no call-in for today, I decided to take advantage of this fine weather and take all the dogs down to the river. Sweetie needed her exercise so I picked the remote southern terminus of the San Pedro River Trail outside Palominas on the eastern banks of the river for a hike. I wore a medium-grade fleece shirt and my yellow North Face rain jacket. Both came in handy. I had no concrete plan as for time or distance; that all depended on the weather and the dogs. The Mexican border is only four miles one-way straight south from this location.
A USBP van was parked in the trailhead parking area. I waved at the agent and immediately took the pack across the wash and south along the marked trail. It was 11:17am. It was nice to see the dogs chase each other and have fun. I definitely felt the chill but it didn't prevent Minnie from panting at the one-mile mark. That's when I decided to turn southwest on a maintenance road and take the pack toward the river for a cool refreshment. This was a wise decision for the dogs, but not so much for my van later on.
There was no one around me. I figured the cool weather would bring out more wildlife, but perhaps everything was hunkered down and staying warm. We got to the river within two miles. Last night's rain didn't create water volume, but the wash was damp. I was able to walk in the wash the entire way back to the bridge. There were small pools of deep water and shorter runs of flowing water, but nothing long-flowing yet. That will come with the monsoon. The river changes its course every year. Some years there is so much water that I have to stay above the banks when walking along the river. Today I had no such concerns.
The trees along the river look healthy this year. I'm not seeing a moth infestation as in previous years. All four dogs ran around some more, chased each other, and fetched sticks that I threw. I'm sure they all picked up ticks while in the water, though, so I'll be watching for that in a few weeks.
I ended up walking back north along the river, joining the wash again south of the bridge and taking the wash back to the parking area. Other than some tall dead grass near the river, I had no major obstacles to surmount; it was easy walking today. Sometimes the weeds along the river grow so dense that bushwhacking through that is cumbersome.
The walk was 1:39 minutes long. The USBP agent was still there. I waved at him once again before driving off in the rain. This was a well-timed walk, as as soon as I neared the van, another short thunderstorm erupted. The dogs all did their share dragging mud into the van.
Some people may complain about this unseasonable cold front, but this cold moisture will help curtail our wildfires burning across Arizona. Our mountains' trees need this water. Sunny, warm and seasonable weather should return in full again by Thursday.
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