It was a brisk walk this morning that Minnie was able to participate in. Zeke surprised me by coming back from a romp in the grass with a dead dove in his mouth. I scolded him for killing the bird. I didn't even see him or Sweetie chase any birds or go after a flock hiding in the grass; perhaps the bird was injured or ill and laying in the grass. I placed the dead bird on the side of the path. When we returned back the way we came, the bird was gone, so perhaps Zeke helped feed a hungry coyote by catching its meal for it.
The rain stopped after sunrise, but more was forecasted. Phoenix and Tucson were also slated for heavy rain, but I took the chance and drove to Tucson with Zeke at 10:30am. I got in town by noon with mild temperatures in the mid 60s. I normally avoid driving in inclimate weather. I had to go to the Tucson office of the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) on West Congress Street to renew my documents. This way I would get my new teaching certification right there, with no wait for snail mail or email processing. (I'm offered a semester of Special Ed starting in January, but I must have all documents updated before I'm in the running for the job.) It took me ten minutes and I was out the door. As usual, I also stopped by the metal recycling facility($8.66) and got there without using my GPS. The impeachment inquiry hearings with Ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, were on NPR all day long. This is only the second week of public hearings and I try to listen to all the witnesses. It's going to be a long winter...
I brought Zeke so we could do some local hiking, and today I chose Sentinel Peak, aka "A" Mountain in Sentinel Peak Park, just four miles west from the ADE. The trailhead parking was easy to find, but little did I realize that there is no trail to the peak from the lower parking lot. I just went on the first marked trail I saw, the Gilbert Escandon Jiminez trail, in honor of a local hiker active with the Southern Arizona Hiking Club. This trail was renamed in 2012 from the Sentinel Ridge trail.
There are many shorter trails in this park and most are unmarked. Most have loose rocks on them. The Jimenez trail is a mile long, but I took a wrong turn and ended up at the boundary of Tumoroc Hill, a research area that belongs to the University of Arizona. Dogs are not allowed on that hill. I made it to Sentinel Peak by reversing my course. That was a 2.6-mile hike, but I added another 1.4 by walking all over the park on trails, some which may have been unofficial trails.
Sentinel peak is one of three hills in the park, with Sentinel being the highest at just under 2900'. Tucson's earliest inhabitants lived at the base of these hills, along the Santa Cruz River. Later white settlers mined here. There is now a river walk at the base; I will explore that another time. I had to walk on the road with Zeke once I finished the Jiminez trail, so I will note that getting to Sentinel Peak is best done by walking on the road's shoulder if getting there the fastest way is the goal. The park is popular with young people. Alcohol is allowed, and many drinkers throw their bottles and cans into the desert. It's an easy way to see a sunrise or sunset, or even a moon rise, but a word of caution: there is a lot of broken glass near the peak!
There are also several crosses in memoriam of someone, including a ghost bike in memoriam for seventy-three-year-old Richard Ellwanger off the road where Ellwanger landed in the ditch on October 11, 2018. He was hit head-on by an impaired 20-year-old "Dreamer" Yanibra Moreno driving the wrong way down the narrow one-way road. She later hit two more pedestrians before crashing into a few boulders and then trying to flee the scene. Her blood showed five times the legal alcohol limit.
The few cyclists I saw were coming down the road rather quickly, and I can see a rider veering out too far outside the lane and hitting an oncoming car.
The views are nice from the top. Despite the windy, damp weather, there were many people on or near the peak. Rain clouds were to my north, but it only drizzled briefly. I imagine the hills are hot in the summer, and the threat of meeting rattlers is real.
I finished off the hike around the smallest of the three hills, where an old mine entrance still remained, as well as an old foundation to a hillside home. Sentinel Peak Road borders some nice homes as the creosote and saguaro-studded desert comes in from the west.
The hike took me two hours and we were done by 4pm. I finished off the day with a visit to Sam's Club on the north end of town. It's on the north side of the Rillito river, near the Tucson Mall. I hadn't been here since 2015, when I dropped my Canon 5D off for repairs at the Tucson Camera Shop and then walked with Sadie along the river trail.
I had finally decided to pay for an annual membership at Sam' Club last month. but had never been inside a Sam's Club. My purchases have all been online sofar. Kevin suggested I try any of its cheap meals while there, and had a $2.71 slice of pizza and a drink. I was sitting in the dining area and going over my Facebook feed when I learned of the 15-year-old dog of one of my animal shelter friends, Isabella, dying today. Sienna was a border collie mix who was diagnosed with cancer two years ago. The dog just had her 15th birthday on the 1st. That pup loved her visits to the San Pedro River until her last days.
I ended up getting over $206 in edibles. If I lived closer to a Sam's Club, I would say the annual membership is worth it for everyday consumables. For me, the "free" shipping via the online sales is the best deal with me. I found a lot of deals that are better than on Amazon. I'm curious if I get my money's worth in dog food, coffee and cleaning supplies. The Tire and Battery services hopefully will come in handy during my longer road trips.
I finished off the day at the nearby Dillinger Brewery, where I had an Aravaipa Wheat and a Festbier while Zeke napped on the floor. There were only a few customers when I walked in at 7pm.
The I-10 Marquees warned drivers to be cautious of heavy rains through Friday at 4pm, but I lucked out and didn't get any rain until I made it to Whetstone at 8:30pm.
We so need this rain! I may do some gardening this weekend, now that the soil has softened some.
https://www.mapmyhike.com/workout/3907107160
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