Carr Peak in the fog with Bill, Susan and Zeke

Bill, Susan and I agreed last Thursday to hike up Carr peak this morning at 8am.  The Arizona Ash are in their prime and soon the autumn colors will blow away.  Last weekend was probably the best time to hike up Carr, but I was not in the area.

I woke up to see the peaks shrouded in fog again, but I didn't get a text message from either Bill or Susan about cancelling, so I drove off to meet them at the Perimeter parking lot off Carr Canyon Road.  We all agreed that the fog would burn off by the time we got to the peak.  So onward we went, in Bill's high-clearance Jeep.  Carr Canyon Road has gotten badly rutted again and I doubt my Honda could make it.

It was cold and windy at the trail head.  We couldn't see the peak.  We were in the fog and it got denser the higher we got up in elevation.  If it got too cold or windy, we could always turn around, but we all agreed to give the fog a chance to clear up.

"This reminds me of England," said Susan as we walked into the fog.  Susan is from England.
This reminds me of Germany in the summer, I thought.

The trees along the Sawmill trail were already past their prime.  The ash were yellow, the oaks a brownish yellow.  There were no reds.  The aspen were mostly naked. But once we were on the Carr Peak trail at the .9-mile mark, the sun came out and we were like little kids in a water park, trying to race to get the best shot.  We ran to find the best angle to photograph the colors.  We had to be quick, because the clouds were rolling in fast and the sun never lasted long enough for me to get a focused picture of the autumn colors in sunlight.  The north was clear, but the south was still fogged in.

Today's hike was all about the autumn colors.  Most of the flowers were now set in seed, and what few we saw were slowly fading.  We saw a few falcons and a few butterflies, and a young tarantula walking across the trail, but that was it. We were not in any race to the top.  We looked for the little things in nature, like a lone flower against a boulder straining for the sun, dead leaves creating a mosaic on the ground, or designs in the sedimentary rocks along the way. Susan did most of the talking and most of that was about her GSD Tala.  We listened with compassion.

The sky cleared up some in the second half of the hike.  The peak was clear and the wind was minimal.  We met Nicole, a science teacher from the middle school. She was heading down. Another young couple from Phoenix, who got to the peak shortly after we did,  hiked up from the Ramsey Vista campground and had some questions about the area.  "There are a lot of hikes down here!" said the woman, and Bill, Susan and I agreed.  The hiking opportunities is what drew me to this area (it definitely was not the politics).  There were more people on our return hike, which wasn't as sunny as the hike up.  Perhaps everyone was rushing to catch the last of the fall colors?

The trail talk today was one of the best.  While Bill and I will discuss politics  when we are by ourselves (and we both can get passionate about it), today we focused on nature and the life around us.  Susan's love for the outdoors is what I liked about her from the start.  We met over three years ago on a hike and have been friends ever since.  The complimentary conversation and the invigorating smells of leaves made today's hike to the peak rather memorable.  Like Bill said on Thursday, we could hike the same trail every day and still discover something new.  One simply must open one's eyes and see.

***

Rain was in the forecast by 4pm and clouds were in all direction by the time we were on our drive back to our cars.  And sure enough, when I took the entire pack out for another walk at 4:50pm, the sky to the north was thundering and blitzing!  I only walked one more mile, as I didn't want to be caught in a downpour.   I knew Sadie and Sweetie were looking forward to a walk, as I didn't walk them all weekend.

Despite her enthusiasm about going for a ride in the car, Minnie stayed in the Honda probably because she sensed the storm, and she is afraid of lightning.  Hurricane Willa is due to hit Mexico land  by midweek and move on toward south Texas, but rain for us is forecasted through Tuesday.  I don't mind the rain at all, but I do get nervous when flash floods and high winds are included.

By early evening, homes in Whetstone were reported flooded out, along with several main roads in northern Cochise County.  A tornado touched down much farther north in Winslow.  Our neighborhood was spared any havoc. though.