Carr Peak with Bill, Sadie and Zeke

I did not hike up Carr Peak for May due to the drought.  I was not expecting any new growth after two months of no rain.  The April hike proved rather dull for flora.  But I knew that I needed to hike up the peak for June.  I expected today's hike to be no different.  I wanted to hike up to the peak just to have "before" and "after" photographs with the incoming rain due tomorrow.

Both Bill and I were pleasantly surprised.  He joined me at the last minute, as he wasn't initially excited about hiking up a hot, dry peak.  I almost cancelled the hike because the predicted high today was 97F and I didn't want to hike in the heat.  Granted, it's always ten degrees cooler on top, as well as cooler in the morning, but the lack of any forecasted clouds had me a bit concerned.  Was this going to be more of a chore, rather than a hike?  I could always do this hike next week when cooler temperatures are forecasted.

We met at 5am in the Perimeter parking area.  We drove together in my truck, with both Sadie and Zeke excited about the hike.  Do these dogs really enjoy hiking as much as I do?

We stopped a mile up the road to watch the sunrise.  The cloud cover added to the color scheme, and there were reds that I don't normally see at sunrise.  We watched the colors for a good 20 minutes.

This view had us both invigorated.  One thing about hiking with Bill is that he enjoys these acts of nature.  He can easily post 220 photos after a hike, showing flowers, mushrooms, birds, grass blades, insects, all with the enthusiasm of a small child.  Who gets up to watch a sunrise?  He appreciates the little things in life.

We made it to the Sawmill trailhead by 5:40am.  No one else was parked there.  It was 6am when we got to the intersection with the Carr Peak trail.  The sun was now behind clouds and it was a cool, pleasant hiking for the first half of this hike before the clouds disappeared and we faced clear skies.

I felt good.  I didn't have to stop once to gather my breath.  Perhaps all those power hikes that Bill and I do are paying off!  Even when the sun came out, we marched on forward.

The biggest surprise for us both was the wildflowers.  They appeared a few at a time at first, and I told Bill I was going to photograph every species we come across.  By the end of the hike, we had spotted close to 20 different flowers, from sunflowers to blue salvias, Red Cardinals, verbena, firecracker penstemons.  There were many others I couldn't quickly identify.  I also noted that the vista from the peak in all directions was greener than it was in April.  It didn't take much rain after all!

Bill wouldn't believe me when I told him that this 5.7-mile hike takes about 3.5 hours, including breaks.  "No way!" he said.  By the time we got to the peak, he realized that I was correct.  He didn't take into consideration the many stops we made to photograph the flowers, or to stop and watch the birds (woodpeckers, titmouse, ravens, even a Western bluebird!)  The birds were more vocal when the sun was behind the clouds.  They quieted down when the sun came out in full blast.

We didn't come  across anyone else until we were a mile from the finish.  We had all this splendor to ourselves!  I brought plenty of water for the dogs as there was none along the way.  Both took it all in stride.  If they needed a shade break, I stopped to give it to them.

The landscape's flora has changed since the 2011 fire (which was burning seven years ago this week, ugh).  Firecracker penstemon dotted the hillsides then.  Now we have various species of sunflowers.  A few penstemon and salvias are evident higher up.

The last 100 feet, so above 9000' is where I see different flowers.  This is the alpine region with its unique habitat of exposed wind and frost.  We spotted four different flowers here.

We didn't stay at the peak for long.  The dogs rested in the shade of the manzanitas and had their water.  Bill and I took more photos.  I spotted one ladybug.  (Ladybugs gather on our high peaks in late July to mate, so this one came early)  And then we went back down the way we came.  My phone warned me that I only had 15% charge left, which surprised me since I started this hike with it fully charged.  Luckily I had two phones to track the GPS.

We met a group of eight hikers going uphill as we were almost done.  We were back at the cars in 3:35 hours, both feeling excited about having done this.  Now I want to come back up here in a week to see of any changes (new growth) after this weekend's rain.

We saw the Thursday Carr Canyon Road walkers as we drove down to our parking lot.  The dogs were barking loudly so I didn't stop to ask them if they were going out to eat after the walk.  I dropped Bill off at his truck, then drove back up to talk to Steve and Rick, who were both still walking the course.  Rick wasn't eating afterward, but both Steves were interested.

And this is how I ended up spending two more hours eating lunch.  We ate at Taco Giro in town and didn't leave there until past noon.  No wonder I never get enough done at home!

Two hours later the house got dark.  I was in the guest bedroom writing an Amazon review when I noticed the lack of light.  We normally have the full afternoon sun against our southern walls. That was from the dark clouds moving overhead.  Oh my, the big storm forecasted for tomorrow came a day early!

And then it began to rain.  And rain hard.  The wind kicked in, it thundered.   This is all from Hurricane  (now a Tropical Storm) Bud (now Bud Lite, ha!)  swirling up the eastern Pacific. Minnie went into hiding and the rest of the dogs lay in the bedroom.  It was still raining when Kevin came home.   Small pools of water gathered in the backyard.

When the rain stopped at 6:30pm, I once again ended the way I started today:  with a refreshing walk and a colorful sun.  I hiked over nine miles today and it didn't even feel exhausted.