Distance: 4.23 miles. Many options for longer distances
Significance: popular birding site, especially in the mornings and along the river
A misunderstanding on my part created an employment issue for me. Instead of teaching English, I had a day off. I used the opportunity to walk with Kim CF and three other women who had signed up for this meetup along the river. We met at 9:30am at the San Pedro House to walk one of the circular loop walks popular with morning birders. I took Sadie and Zeke. (Sadie pushed herself out the door to join me; I only wanted to take Zeke.) The last time I did this little loop walk, it was with Nina at a last-minute hike last fall. Not much has changed, but this time the owl nest in the huge cottonwood by the house is gone, and some of the native plants around the house have been removed to allow space under the cottonwood. The tree was trimmed of its damaged branches and with the branches went the owl nest.
It was initially a chilly morning under clear skies. I wore my fake leather jacket over my work clothes. We never got the high winds that were forecasted for today. Sadie and Zeke were offleash once we got away from the San Pedro House, but I soon leashed them. Both were running front and back and annoying us all. The trail wasn't wide enough along the river for their antics.
It was an "all girls" hike. Janet, Anna, Gina and I rounded out the fivesome. I hadn't seen Gina in months, so that was a little reunion. Turns out her fatigue from three years ago was from undiagnosed Lyme's Disease that she caught while visiting family back in North Carolina. At least now she has closure and is on proper antibiotics! The first doctor told her she had some mysterious blood disorder. She suffered for three years under this "mysterious disease;" I hope she doesn't have long-term damage to her body because of the neglect.
The walk was a chatty walk, as if we all were trying to catch up with each others' lives. Kim and I discussed future hikes. I don't mind leading hikes in our cool winter mornings, but it will all get hot come March. We are running out of weekends! One hike discussed was me leading the 10-mile flat hike down to the border and back. The last half-mile is down to the river. I only do that in the winter due to the exposure.
The walk went quickly, up and near the river, along a wash and past some huge cottonwoods, and then back on the wide maintenance roads built by the BLM. It was a figure-eight hike and each loop was just over two miles. The more northern loop was north of SR90 and none of the trails were marked.
At 10:30am we finished the first loop. I put Sadie and Zeke in the car to rest and drink water. The heat was getting to them. Neither minded the shade with their water bowl. I took off my jacket and left it in the truck, then continued with the gals for the second loop and finished by 11am, making this a quick leg stretcher. Not too many people were around the house, and neither were there many birds, but it was still nice to have an excuse to walk around and take a few photos. The river looked shallow due to lack of any rain. The plastic bouquet of flowers placed at the spot where a dead border crosser was found last year still has not been replaced by a more ornate memorial cross.
We were done with our walk shortly after 11am. We all chatted a bit but then departed. Everyone was in a hurry to get back home. I did the same. The one walk that is followed by a social lunch is the Tuesday mornng walk up Carr Canyon Road, but I'll be working during that one.
At 5pm I went out again to walk Minnie and Sweetie. Sadie and Zeke insisted on coming as well, but this time Sadie waited for us in the truck while I walked a brisk 2.43 miles with the pack. This makes my day's mileage 6.77 miles, a decent distance considering I did not walk the dogs twice last week.
The blue moon will be here Wednesday evening, but the ample moonlight is lighting up the night nicely.
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