Carr Peak with Zeke, Theresa, Nicole and her friends Bert and Christine

A teacher colleague of mine wanted to hike up Carr Peak with the aspens in full fall bloom.  She used to teach science at the middle school, but now teaches PE for the Bisbee school district.  Theresa and I joined her and two of her friends, since we were planning on hiking Carr today as well.  We joined them to make a group of five.  We met at 7:30am in the lower Carr Canyon Road parking lot, carpooled in two vehicles, and began our hike into the clouds at 8am at the Old Sawmill trail.  We were the first cars in the lot.

It was in the mid 50s at the start, and fog still shrouded the peaks.  Would it rain, would we be too chilled?

We all hiked at a steady pace.  I was very impressed with everyone's physical condition.  Theresa and I were perhaps the two oldest in this group and had no trouble staying with the youngens.

The aspens were in their prime.  We caught a few sun beams shining on the grove and illuminating the hillsides in bright yellow.  The color alone was worth hiking up today.  The upper grove was less scenic, with most of the leaves killed off from the brown spot virus.  The Golden Columbines were also gone, but there was water in the falls for Zeke!

I was also surprised at the wildflowers still in bloom.  Asters and sage were still around, but the goldenrods dominated.  The late monsoon this year had delayed everything by three weeks.  As we neared the peak, we could see fog move in over Miller, just a quarter-mile from Carr Peak.

We made it to the top in 1:50 hours.  That's not a personal best (it's only 2.85 miles one-way, but with over 2000' elevation gain).  The wind was minimal.  While others put on windbreakers, I stayed in my dryweave shirt and white hiking blouse.  (My white Royal Robbins hiking blouse is eight years old, badly stained, but very, very comfortable.  I'm always looking for more Royal Robbins blouses, but the style I like seems to be no longer made. ) We had our snacks, Zeke had his liver chips, and we quickly descended.

We didn't stop on our way down.  The sky was clearing.  Here is when we came across several groups going uphill late in the morning, including a retired teacher from Buena.  We got back to our cars by 11:50am.  I love getting a good hike in and getting done before noon!

While Nicole, Christine and Bert took off for their homes, Theresa and I went to Native Wings for lunch, where we both had two Barrio Blonde ales.  She had her fish and chips, I had a 1000 Island Burger (which wasn't as messy to eat as advertised).  We sat at the bar for over an hour, as she told stories of her life in Montana.