Thompson Ridge

Overcast skies were forecasted today and highs were in the mid 70s.  I slept in again, getting up past sunrise.  The dogs were also napping, as if they were just waiting for me to make the first move.

The bird was still alive and chirping when I got to the kitchen to make coffee.  I looked at it carefully.  It's missing the right eye and the left eye is swollen (punctured?).  I watched it move around in the cage.  I'm certain it is blind and can only see shades of light.  What kind of life could this sparrow have?  I gave it some water through a dropper, but it did not want to eat.   I will do the best I can to feed and tend to it, but I worry if I can sustain this.  The bird doesn't seem to even know why I'm pushing a dropper to its beak. It took some water, but refused any mushed dog food.  Despite its lack of vision, the little bird chirps with delight.  I placed its cage on the back patio where it could hear other birds.

It was a slow day for me.  I stayed inside to read and write a bit, but mostly I just wanted to relax.  Winds were picking up so I gave up hiking up Carr Peak.  Instead, I opted for the closer and shorter Thompson Ridge in Ash Canyon, a 3.2-mile o/b hike up an old mining road, with 1600' elevation gain in 1.5 miles.

The dogs were excited to get going.  We were the only car at the trailhead.  The only sign of life was a distant CFN fire truck parked at the intersection of Ash and Lutz Canyon.

The area was dry.  No sign of recent rains.  The only flowers I saw were a few bunches of Indian Paintbrush in shaded areas under the scrub oaks.

It took me 46 minutes to get to the ridge, even with a short stop for Minnie who doesn't do well outside of water.  Winds were getting stronger the higher I got.  The horizon was a medium grey and I could see the dust in the air.  The ridge would have to be my final destination as this 30mph wind could knock the dogs off a narrow trail.

We drank water and then went back down the switchbacks.   The winds were too strong on the ridge and I could tell even the dogs were not liking this. To extend the walk a bit, I took the dogs down the dry Ash Creek to the hidden spring.  The spring was buried in the 2011 flash floods and is not easy to get to because of snags across the wash.  Once one sees horse tail growing along the banks, one is certain to be close.  Today I also spotted the first Columbines of the season.

I let the dogs refresh themselves before resuming our walk up to the main road.  The springs are located near an old campsite that now sports a "No Trespassing" sign.  How is that even legal, being in the national forest?  I used to take Sara and Sammy to the springs all the time, but the flood of 2011 has changed the character of the creek.

It was now 5:30pm.  We had been in the canyon two hours. ATVers were now coming in and it was time to leave.  The last thing I did was stop in the road to make sure a large Sonoran gopher snake made it safely into the grass.