The mountains were shrouded in deep clouds, so that meant no peak bagging today. I wanted to hike somewhere though, and somehow thought of Tinker Pond. I hadn't been up that way this year. It's a comfortable distance, scenic, and secluded. The dogs would have plenty of water.
I was able to get in touch with Steve at the last minute. He was willing to hike with me and was able to meet me at 10:30am at the Fort Huachuca main gate. I had all four dogs with me, so we drove in separate cars to the trailhead at the Tinker Pond Land Navigation parking lot. A lone deer pranced right in front of me as we drove into Garden Canyon, getting all the dogs excited, but no other wildlife showed itself today. No antelope, no wild turkeys.
The parking lot to this path is line-of-sight from the aerostat. The aerostat was hunkered down because of the weather, and its big front looked like it was aimed right at us.
The first half mile starts out level, following grassy fields along the northern boundary of the land navigation course. The oaks appear closer to the hillsides. Recent flooding has cut crevices in the path, and the higher we got, the deeper these crevices became. Some even filled with water. This was good for the dogs, who used the water to keep themselves hydrated.
There was more erosion the higher we got up the first firebreak. The path at times is eroded down to the bedrock, and is slick in parts because of the decomposed granite. I would not want to be here in a downpour. I also noted how many of the deciduous trees still had their autumn leaves.
This was the first time I saw so much water in the drainages. There was water everywhere! I never noticed so many depressions in which water could accumulate. The gallon of water I carried in my backpack was superfluous at this point.
Sweetie was ahead of the pack. Minnie, Sadie and Zeke stayed by my side. Trace kept wanting to mount Sadie, at times pulling her hind legs down with him holding on. She seemed annoyed, but didn't fight him off. I also watched Minnie, making sure she would handle the mileage. The cool, rainy weather worked in her favor.
We got to Tinker Pond in an hour, just as it began to drizzle. We sat under some oak trees while the dog splashed around in the water (only Minnie and Trace swam and fetched sticks). The drizzle stopped, but then rain began in earnest on our return hike, with just a mile to go.
We didn't stay too long at the pond. I'm glad we left when we did, as now rain clouds were getting denser. The dogs didn't mind, but my green jacket was getting wet, and the cotton shirt I had on was getting damp.
We looped around the navigation course on our return hike, forming a loop that totalled 4.2 miles. Minnie was slowing down in the end, panting hard but still walking forward. Once she realized we were on our return to the car, she relaxed. All four dogs refused to get out of the Honda once they were inside the cab, even during a short stop at the Middle Garden Canyon Pond. The pond's water level is high, but I'll explore that another day.
We finished off the day with a stop at the Popeye's Chicken store on post. I tried the Spicy Chicken sandwich with a side of rice and beans. I must admit, that is one very juicy, thick chicken breast sandwich! It tastes all natural, unlike the chicken at McD's that rubberizes once it cools off. The garnish includes two crispy pickles and a spicy 1000 Island dressing. No wonder so many young people are raving about Popeye's chicken sandwiches. I would eat these more often, but the only Popeye's is on Fort Huachuca and I'm not going to drive 28 miles roundtrip and then stand in line for 30 minutes to have one.
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