Bill and I met at 5:15am in the Perimeter trail parking lot. We started our walk up the road at 5:32am. We were the first ones in the parking lot and on the road. There was no traffic. It was a cool, refreshing hike. None of us wore a backpack.
The big discovery today was seeing wild geraniums poking out of the rock wall along the road. Bill noticed them. I wouldn't have seen them otherwise. They looked past their prime.
We hiked six miles in two hours. Once we made it to the middle falls, we stopped just long enough for Zeke to drink some stagnant water and then walked back down the hill. We were back by our cars by 7:30 and then drove off to our homes. It's a rewarding feeling getting such a good workout done so early in the morning.
I was tired once I got home, though. I stayed indoors and watched a German movie on Amazon, shredded some junk mail and got the recyclables ready. At 3:10pm I drove north into town, but was immediately surprised by dark smoke and flames in the distance, right in the area where I walk the dogs. It looked like a control burn as there was no one actively fighting the fire. How long had that been burning? I hadn't smelled anything while in the back yard. Sheriff deputy cars were parked along the highway but no one was closing Ramsey Road or Avenida Saracino, the two west-east roads through the burn area. I wasn't too concerned and continued my drive toward very to check on Chip's cats.
Shelly was there. She had been tending to the animals every day. Chip is still in the hospital and no one knows when he is coming home. There are only two cats left, and the two remaining ones are the two most shy around people. Tending to the animals has worn Shelly out. We agreed to meet again Monday for a chat, as we were both pressed for time today. I hadn't planned on staying around for long. I hope to keep in touch with her even after the chapter about Chip and the cats is over.
I could see the fire still smoking as I drove back home at 5:30pm. The flames were out but now the roads were closed. I had missed all the serious action while in Tombstone. Kevin was released to go home, Hereford road was closed but no mandatory evacuations were issued. It turns out the fire was started by two teenage boys on private property on Calle Ceveza, just under two miles from our house. We all are lucky it wasn't very windy out when this all happened.
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