Today's high was forecasted to be 89F and clear, not ideal hiking weather for man or beast. Steve and I agreed to meet at 7am in the lower Carr Canyon parking lot. We got to the Old Sawmill trailhead and began hiking up the rocky and steep trail at 7:34am. The sky was clear blue, meaning it wouldn't take too long for it to warm up for us all.
Despite the initial steepness and uneven, loose terrain of this trail in the first .2 mile of this trail, I prefer hiking up to Carr Peak this way because of the reliable springs a half-mile up this trail. It's a great source for tired, thirsty dogs that isn't available via the Ramsey Vista trailhead farther up Carr Canyon road. While that trail offers a more steady incline, it's also more exposed near the lower section of the trail. I also like hiking through the autumn foliage of the Old Sawmill trail. Fewer people hike up this trail because of its perceived steepness, but it's also less traveled and more serene than the Ramsey Vista trail.
I assured Steve I would hike at his pace, but would still hike on ahead and then stop to wait for him. This way I could photograph flowers and vistas, or stop to give the dogs snacks and water without having to make Steve stop. He hiked at a steady pace all throughout the hike and didn't stop as often as our first time up Carr two years ago. His dog Trace, who is a natural on any trail as he sniffs out coveys of quail, followed Zeke and me for most of this hike. But I am no fool: Trace knew I had snacks in my backpack and wasn't hesitant to pass them out to both him and Zeke.
We stopped five times along the way. Our first stop was at the Sawmill Springs, then the second one at the first mile mark along some rock slabs. I prefer to rest on rocks rather than logs or stumps because our native Arizona bark scorpion likes to burrow in wood (or under rocks) and one sting in the ass by one of those scorpions will land even Superman in the emergency room. These scorpions are a khaki brown, with a darker abdomen. When Zeke gave off a guttural growl, I knew that either people or a predator were approaching. I always prefer people. The two people were two older gentlemen, one with an energetic southern accent, the other one a more quiet bearded man sporting a Vietnam War campaign ribbon on his cap. "The VA just diagnosed me with Parkingson's" the man said, "but I am on medication to control my shakes." Both my mother and her father had that disease. Holding tightly to his hiking pole kept his shakes under control.
The best part of the hike up Carr Peak is the walk through the aspens. The aspens mark the last mile to the peak, with expansive vistas once one gets higher up the trail. Wildflowers also increase in diversity, and I saw the same flowers as I did last month: blue verbana, white asters, purple penstemons, red cardinals. While the grasses were faded from last month, blue swallowtails were out in abundance. This is the month of the butterflies! And higher up the trail, near 9000', I spotted several hawks gliding along a thermal. Hawks and eagles migrate through Arizona in the fall to their winter habitat, many staying here to live out the colder months of their more northern origins. We start seeing them in September.
After a lunch break at Contemplation Rock, a lichen-covered boulder underneath a shade tree just before the Carr Peak spur trail, we resumed our last half-mile to the peak. This last part is the most thrilling, as not only do vistas open up, but so does the variety of wildflowers along the base of Carr. I hiked on ahead to record this, and sure enough, when Steve got to the spur trail to head up the last 1/3 mile up Carr, I heard him cry out "Ohmygawd, look at the flowers!" as he gazed across an entire hillside of coneflowers, purple penstemon and red cardinals. His profile was diminished by the yellow carpet of flowers. Trace pranced obliviously on ahead, only focused on whatever birds he could flush hidden in the tall grasses.
I got on ahead to the peak with the dogs. Zeke was clearly exhausted and dove straight into the shade of the shrubs on the peak. There was no other shade on the peak and I joined him under the shrubs. Steve quickly followed and together we sat on the peak overlooking Sierra Vista below, talking about our family as we ate tangerines. The dogs snacked on Pupperonis.
We were here for a while, talking. Steve had asked me earlier if I thought he was a narcissist. Huh? Where did that come from? He certainly is no trump, who makes every issue about himself. I did think about this question a bit and told him that he does talk about his family a lot, but that never bothers me, except that he talks more while I listen. I'm that way with most of my friends. Maybe I'm attracted to egotists?
Steve told me I don't talk much about my family, although I mention Eric more than Erin. Hmm, I've never considered that, especially since Erin is the mother to three boys, all under the age of ten. It's not that I don't like talking about my family, it's that I learned long ago to give them their privacy. I will see Erin and the grandsons in October, when I fly out to Virginia Beach over Fall break.
A group of four came up to join us. We never saw the two Southerners from earlier again. Zeke greeted them and I asked one of them to take our peak photo, which he did. Both dogs manage to be in the photo.
Clouds were now forming. There was no fear of rain, but the diffused light felt good. Even the dogs perked up. I passed the dead tree near the peak, where last month I watched a collared lizard scurry around the trunk. I saw the lizard again today on the same tree, this time missing half of its tail.
We had cloud cover all the way back down to the truck. This was a long 6.5-hour hike, but we achieved our mission of bagging the peak.
Our last event was dinner at Culver's. We sat outside once again, and again Zeke got a Doggie Scoop. This time he ate his biscuit! That was probably to keep Trace from getting it.
Steve leaves on the 23rd for his road trip to Colorado. He won't be back until after Thanksgiving.
No comments:
Post a Comment