I didn't mind too much. I had slept in until 7:30am. Watching over Sadie kept me up until 2am and I needed that sleep. I missed the sunrise, but I was also expecting to see a sky shrouded in clouds, but the sky was mostly clear. What happened to those TD Lorena rains?
Sadie's spirits are better today, but I still kept her off the trail to give her body more rest. Her lips are still swollen on the right side, but she seems to have less pain now. Her hunger was back and she gladly took chicken jerky strips. Susan texted me with good news about Allie as well. Her swelling went down already. I'm thinking the snake bit Sadie first, and had far less venom for Allie, so she got less venom.
At 3:30pm I took Zeke and Sweety up to Ash Canyon to hike up Thompson Ridge. This is still one of my favorite training walks because of the steep grade. Views are scenic, too, as one gets up close to the steep draws and spurs of the southern Huachucas. One can glance into Mexico and the valleys far into the south. At this time of day the sun sheds its final hour of light before it disappears behind the mountains and the cool mountain shadows take over. Winds blow harder here than elsewhere. When I left the house it was 81F. It was 75F at the trail head. It was a cool 70F at the ridge. Winds weren't blowing hard like they were blowing the last time I hiked this ridge in May.
This is a little-used ridge. One could easily get lost in a rock crevice and not be found for days. That's not my intention, but it certainly is a nice spot to hike up to for some solitude. Perhaps one day I will attempt to hike up Thompson peak, that round mountain top just north of the Coronado National Monument. I saw a potential route I could take around some rocks, but it's not a route I'd do alone. There are too many potential dangers off the steep cliffs.
I thought a lot about rattle snakes on this hike, replaying the event from yesterday in my mind. Had Sweety been bitten, she would have been reactive and fought with that snake, giving herself multiple bites and more venom. That dog does not back down from a fight. Zeke and Minnie would have yelped in pain and jumped back. That Sadie didn't whine all night surprises me, as she is our most talkative dog.
Ten years ago Thompson Ridge was a popular route for drug smugglers. Today there's hardly a trace of drugs or border crossers. I saw no sun-bleached backpacks, shoes, clothes, Pedialight bottles or empty tuna fish cans tossed behind rocks. I found only one can, and that was an Armour sausage can tossed in the shrubs on the peak. I doubt border crossers eat that stuff while hiding in the mountains.
I came across purple penstemon, red salvia, and a few other wildflowers, but the ridge is drying up. We need the rain from Lorena!
I was hoping to see distant storm clouds moving north, but it didn't look that way. Clouds were forming over the peaks, but that's from the usual daily condensation over the mountains. I got home at 6pm, missed the sun set, and pretty much called it a day.
https://www.mapmyhike.com/workout/3807814945
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