Mountain lion along the San Pedro river (no photos)

I'm in love with my pups.  I just want to stay home all day and watch them.  They sleep a lot and they sleep with the big dogs who all seem to have gotten used to them, but the one dog that seems to encourage play (as long as they don't nip at her face) is Minnie.  When I'm in the garden and the pups are awake, both like to follow me in the backyard.

Hans is growing big and Gretel seems to remain a runt. Her legs are not as long as Hansi's. Hans is easily a third bigger than Gretel. They are inseparable.  Hans goes where Gretel is., but Gretel seems quite content being by herself.

My day began with a quick sunrise (5:36am) walk with the dogs.  The stock pond is quickly drying up, but I sat there for a good 20 minutes to allow Minnie to swim around.  The shore is now down four feet and the big boulders in the center of the pond are now above the water's surface.

I spent the day getting a tire on my car, only to discover I was missing the special wheel lock unique to that tire size by Honda.  I had to go to a special auto shop in town to get the wheel put on with standard lug nuts.

And then I wanted a second walk with the dogs along the river.  Susan joined me and we agreed to just go slowly for a mile. We met at 5pm. We waded in the water, throwing stick for Minnie, when, near the cow mandible which is still embedded in the mud, we clearly saw a mountain lion hop over a debris pile to get across the water, with a second smaller cat behind it.  I instinctively grabbed Susan's backpack to hold her back.  Oh shit, a mountain lion! We both saw it and saw its distinctive rounded tail end and lean, sable-colored body. Sweetie saw the lion and took off in a chase, causing me to scream for her and then Zeke to come back.  Zeke did come back.  The lion ran up a tree and Sweetie tried to go after it.  Here is where Sweetie decided it wasn't worth it and came back to me.  Sadie and Minnie never got into the action.

We were both dumbstruck.  So after all these years living here, we have finally seen a lion in the area. It was too fast for me to get a photo of it.  We think it was a mother and a juvenile who were eating a kill, but we didn't stick around to investigate.  Susan was so excited to have seen a lion that she called her daughters right away.  One lives on Long Island, the other in Los Angeles.  I was just trying to get my heart beat back to normal.  We returned back the way we came, along the river, the dogs totally oblivious to the potential danger, and continued to enjoy the water.  We stopped at the Casa to talk to Annette, the birder here from California staying here for a week.  She got excited about the news.  Susan and I agreed that telling everyone where we saw the big cat will cause hunters to want to come out and shot the animal, so we're staying quiet.

It was a near record high today and I'm sure the big cats were thirsty.  I'm going to be a bit more cautious moving forward walking so late in the day anywhere.  I enjoy the cool shade in the late afternoon with the dogs by the river, but getting torn to shreds by a hungry cat is not how I want to leave this world.

***

Global cases: 3,180,100

Global deaths: 225,142

US cases: 1,038,593 

US deaths: 59,726 (77 in Lake County, IN)

Arizona cases: 7202 (38 in Cochise County)

Arizona deaths: 304

Scenes along the river

The pups continue to bond with each other.  They have free roam of the back yard during the day, and don't mind being crated at night.  Hansi doesn't wrestle with Gretel as much anymore.  Instead, he wants to play.  He is the assertive one and she is the quiet cuddler.  Hansi slept near Sadie for a while and Sadie didn't mind. 

The heat tired us all today.  It's going to be in the upper 90s for at least the next ten days.  The dogs lay around the patio and in the cooling dirt, including the pups.  They have taken over the area that Minnie had been using to stay cool.  (Minnie still hasn't used the kiddie pool I got for her)

I finally met Susan at 5pm to walk the river north.  It was near breezeless tonight and the water is warming up nicely, making wading in it refreshing.  We walked until we got to the southern part of the beaver dam and in those two miles we encountered a bull frog trying to camouflage itself in some river weed, a hawk, a bird call we couldn't identify, lots of small tadpoles, two ducks and a blue heron looking for that bullfrog, and a buried mandible of a cow with the teeth sticking out of the hardened mud.  We tried loosening it from the mud, but gave up when we realized that the sun had already set and we still had a mile to go to our cars.  The dogs hadn't been walked yesterday and now they were tired.

It was dark when I got back home.  We had walked 3.2 miles in two hours and the dogs were happy to be back home.

Our neighbors across the street, Jason and Linda, are now officially moved out.  They were good neighbors.  Jason said the new owner is an older woman who already wants to make changes to all the remodeling that Jason had done.  Jason is a certified carpenter who works for Mr FixIt.

***

Global cases: 2,996,241; Turkey now is ranked #7 with 110,130 cases and 2805 deaths

Global deaths: 207,344

US cases: 985,979

US deaths: 55,421

Arizona cases: 6534 (36 in Cochise County)

Arizona deaths: 275

Exploring the trail north of Zacatecas Canyon in Bisbee, AZ

The heat is on for the next five days.  The next three months will only get hotter and no relief will be in sight until the monsoon kicks in.  These are the worst months for me, as I can't handle the stifling heat and neither can the dogs.  Most of my hikes will be relegated to higher elevation or along the shaded river.

I slept in, finally getting some much-needed rest.  I got up just before sunrise, but didn't walk the dogs because I wanted to save my energy for the walk later in Bisbee with the Muleteam hikers, the town's own hiking group.  John, a local historian and a native Bisbeeite, was leading an exploratory hike up Zacatecas Canyon and the old toll road.  The old toll road, I discovered, is now part of the Bisbee Loop trail.  I had last discovered this five years ago with Sadie, Minnie and Zeke.

I knew the heat would slow us down or even make the group change its plans.  It was 74F at 9am. We started out with 13 hikers at the start, but two quickly dropped out and two more, Carole and Larry, dog parents to 13-year-old Sheila, dropped out when we rested at the saddle two miles into the hike.  The town was quiet, rather unusual for a Saturday when tourists roam the old parts. Most businesses were shuttered due to the pandemic and the "stay home" orders by the Governor, and it was already warm, but orange poppies and purple verbena dotted the road side and trail.

We became a strong group of nine: Leader John, Elizabeth, Vermonter Deb (who has spent her quarantine in Bisbee these last six weeks), Mollie, Tagan, George, Eric, Paul and I.

I got to the meetup late, arriving as the group was ready to get going. I had miscalculated the time it took to get my recyclables ready for drop off.  I had plenty of cardboard to break down. "Go on ahead, I'll catch up with you!" I said as I got Zeke ready.  But it took me almost a mile to catch up with the group in Brewery Gulch because John led the group via some lesser-used side roads.  They came down to the Gulch via the stairs by the City Park while I came in via the south.  I was able to catch up with Eric and Paul who were in the rear.

I like this group of people.  It's only my second time hiking with them, but I appreciate the diverse group.  Most are locals who have hiked and traveled around the Southwest and northern Mexico all their lives.  A few are transplanters and every now and then there's a snowbird.  They are an older bunch, but an enjoyable group to hike with.  "We stop whenever someone needs to rest!" said John, and we stuck to that rule.  The 6.1 mile out-and-back hike took us five hours, as we stopped under every shade tree, especially on the return hike.

The old road off of Wildcat saddle is much rockier now from what I remember from five years ago.  It's all single track off the saddle for 3/4 mile, then ends at a cattle grazing area.  Catclaw, dried grass, agave, prickly pear and cholla line the path, with a few mesquite and oaks.  I wore jeans to protect my legs from the catclaw, but the jeans were also very warm for me. The oaks provide some shade and are usually near water sources.  Everything looked dry.  From there we followed a cattle trail down into a shaded wash where we rested, had our lunch, and went back on our return hike.

John entertained us with his experiences all over the Southwest talking with Native Americans, their social time at water points, and their cultural differences to conversation.  He also shared with us his experiences while in Phoenix on the metro.  Because he wears a wide-brimmed straw hat and usually wears a long beard on his tall, lean frame, he's perceived as a homeless man.  "I got carded [sic: checked for his metro pass] three times in one day!" because metro cops thought he was homeless.

I remembered stopping at the old trough the last time I was here.  It still had water in it, but today the water was algaeic.  I picked Zeke up and plopped him in the trough to cool off.  I had enough water for us both, but he was feeling hot from the sun and seemed to enjoy the refreshment.  There were some fresh cow patties nearby, but no sign of any cattle.  I don't blame them, as it was in the upper 80s by now.  It was 89F when we finished. There was still some water in lower Zacatecas Canyon from February's rain.  Zeke took advantage of that.

The town itself, though, was dead.  All the places that make Bisbee unique and a fun place to visit were closed due to the pandemic.  All the restaurants and bars in the Gulch were closed. St Elmo's bar was shuttered and so was the Old Bisbee Brewery.  A sign on its door said the place was only open for growler refills between 5-6pm daily.  The public parking area in the lower Brewery Gulch was near empty and void of the local drunks who usually hang out in front of St Elmo's and play hackysack.

John took us through an alley I had never been through before, right off Brewery Gulch.  It's the Bisbee Broadway Stair Art Gallery, with the walls on both sides full of art donated by local artists or "curated from thrift stores," according to one informative sign.   I had never been through this narrow alley before, and the art has been here, according to John, for at least five years. 

How could I not have noticed this? Some of the art was rather nice, but some art was something I could have created and that's not saying too much.   The alley provided us with some much-appreciated shade.  The only witness to our passing through was a local cat staring us down at the end of the road.  When we got out of the alley we were on Opera Drive, a narrow road along the Bisbee Stair Climb.  Around the next corner a homeowner was offering free face masks; one simply had to ring the door bell.  There were plenty of locals walking around wearing face masks.

The only place that was visibly open was the Bisbee Coffee Company, with its employees offering a street-side sales counter.  Who wants to drink hot coffee when it's in the upper 80s?  Eric and I both lamented the lack of any cold beer post-hike, a place where one can sit down with the hiking group and share a meal and some beers.  There was none of that usual camaraderie today and we both missed that.  Eric looked visibly exhausted from the heat and I was feeling thirsty by then, too.  We had no place to sit back and rehydrate so our only option was to drive on home.

Our good-byes were quick.  Most of the group had walked on ahead and drove off but I had stayed with John, Eric and Paul.   It was nice to talk with Paul and Eric again, both members of the Huachuca Hiking Group, and John is such a hospitable host.  I plan on going on more local hikes led by John.

I stopped by the recycling point off SR92 on my way back home.  I noticed that two other recycling points had been closed and I had plenty of cardboard to drop off.  The main recycling station was void of its usual orange-clad jail inmates who normally sorted all the stuff. A city employee, Alex, told me that the recycling point is now only open to Bisbee residents, as the residents had been paying for this station for years but county residents had been using it.  Starting next month, the city will start charging a yearly fee to use this drop-off point.   Alex told me to check online next month for the negotiated fees.  "Lots of county residents want to recycle," said Alex " but it's not fair to the Bisbee residents to pay for it all.  I agree.  "Hippies want to recycle!" he added, and I smiled.  I'm not a hippie but I support recycling 100%.  It's the upper class snobs who seem to have something against reusing our natural resources.  Alex was kind enough to let me drop off my cardboard one last time for free.  My only options going forward is to save everything for my trips to Tucson, I pay the annual fee to Bisbee, or I change what I buy to reduce the need to recycle.  That is hard to do when I buy most of my pet food from Chewy.com and feed my pets a lot of canned food. Cardboard, tin cans and aluminum beer cans are endless recyclables for me.

Kevin was briefly up when I got home at 3:30pm.  The pups were exploring the back yard and the big dogs didn't mind.  I'm very pleased with how the pack as accepted the pups.  Little Hans acts like he's already in charge.  Little Gretel has some catching up to do, but she will quickly learn to beat the shit out of her brother Hans.

One sad note for the night.  As I was streaming through my Facebook page, I learned that Bruce Wertz, the reliable county photographer of sun rises, sun sets, lone trees and full moon rises in the area, posted a heartfelt message to all his followers.  He was diagnosed with Lou Gehring's disease about six months ago.  He lost 50 pounds, started having trouble with balance and stamina, and decided to move back to his home state of Ohio three months ago where one of his sons will take care of him in his extended home in Doylestown.  I've always enjoyed talking to Bruce.  We first met at a county get-together of photographers back in April 2014 in Fairbank and Susan and I would see him along the San Pedro River with his tripod and chat.  Bruce is a retired Army LTC who worked for Arizona Workforce before retiring completely five years ago.  Just last fall he confided that he got into photography years ago as a way of coping with his then 16-year-old son's suicide. We are all in the cycle of life, but it's always sad to say good-bye.  I took the photo of Bruce off his Facebook page.  He's already visibly much thinner than I remember him being.

***

Global cases: 2,921,789

Global deaths: 203,376

US cases: 958,641

US deaths: 54,020

Arizona cases: 6310 (36 in Cochise County)

Arizona deaths: 273

Bruce died June 6, 2021 from ALS

A playmate for Hans

I need another dog like I need a penis on my forehead, but I had told Paige last Sunday that I am still interested in a female puppy, a playmate for Hans who gets no attention from the big dogs.  I had regretted not taking the female pup that Susan declined to take last week, so this was my last opportunity.

She texted me early today and said the breeder in Benson has one left from another litter.  She would pick her up for me.  Since Kevin agreed to get a playmate for Hans, I told Paige I would take the little girl, the runt of the litter, whom I named Gretel.  So now we have Hans und Gretel.  I am so original with these names.

Can

Gretel was born March 6th, exactly 12 years later than Sadie.  She's much smaller than Hans and her ears are still floppy down.  She is no match for Hans, who pummeled with her later in the day and was rather rough with her before settling down in the same crate at night.  Gretel is quiet, with much darker markings than Hans.  She will catch up to Hans in strength and stamina, but that will be months from now.

Today was the second night in a row that I couldn't sleep.  Even Susan told me later as we walked along the river that I looked like a Zombie.  As soon as I got back from the walk, I went to bed, fell asleep around 8pm and slept through the night.  It was the best sleep I had in several days.

Tinker Pond; walking the river north

It was a busy day for me hiking.  I took the pack on a sunrise (5:43am) walk for two miles, then hiked to Tinker Pond for another four miles, then did four more miles with the pack again later in the afternoon.  This will be our last pleasant week for hiking, as triple digits are due by this coming weekend.

The sunrises lately have been clear and rather boring, but it's been in the mid-to-upper 40s and great for the dogs.  I don't have to worry about rattlesnakes when it's that cold.  But it warmed up fast by 8am when I met HollyW's group in Garden Canyon on post, only the canyon was gated shut because an EOD team was looking for a missing explosive.  Now that would have been a blast, ha!  Since we were already in the area, the other option was to hike the Tinker Pond route, except I wasn't wearing the best shoes for the decomposed granite and it got rather warm.  To my surprise there's still water trickling in the creek for the dogs.

I was distracted by a phone call to Erin, who had wanted to know about my history with  cervical cancer, my paternal grandmother's death from ovarian cancer, and her paternal grandfather's death from colon cancer a week before she was born in 1986.  She was diagnosed with Lynch Syndrome, which makes her more susceptible to colo-rectal cancers.  I was talking to her until I lost reception behind the first big hill, not noticing that the two Steves took a wrong turn and never made it to the pond.

Trace, however, stayed with me and the rest of the group, then jumped into the algae-covered pond to retrieve a stick I threw him.  The pond dried up quite a bit since my last visit to this place two weeks ago and the surface now as a greenish-grey mass floating on it.  He came out smelling like rotten fish, then squirmed around in the leaves to dry off, prompting some in the group to yell out "Crazy dog!"

The walk in the heat tired me out and I just wanted to get back home once we all got back to our cars, where I stayed on the porch and played with Hans, intermittently also tidying up my side of the porch.


The big walk turned out to be a river wade at 5pm with Susan going north from the Casa.  We stayed in the water until we reached the southern part of the old beaver dam, then walked back via the official trail.  Water is now slowly receding, but there still are portions of the river deep enough for Minnie to swim in. We met a lone man camping here with his two dogs, a rather unusual sight since he looked rather dirty.  Was he homeless or just not very good at personal hygiene?  We greeted each other but continued walking in the river.

Starting tomorrow, all campfires in all six of Arizona's national forests are banned until June 30, or unless rescinded beforehand due to monsoonal rains.

Walk along the river

Yesterday's hike up Huachuca Peak kicked my butt! It also kicked my thighs and ankles and both were hurting all day.

I slept in, too, and Kevin let me sleep.  It wasn't until 8:30 when I slowly got up for coffee.  I then spent most of the day playing with Hansi and watching him interact with the big dogs.  He's learning fast!  He's already showing a talent for fetching, as he grabbed one of Minnie's balls and took off with it while she stood back dumbfounded. Minnie didn't seem to mind the competition.  I also noticed a distinct curl in his tail.  German Shepherd Dogs are not supposed to have curly tails.

The dogs were anxious for a walk, but I didn't take them anywhere until later in the afternoon, when Susan wanted to walk the river.  The water is low enough and warm enough to wade in it now.  We both enjoy wading in the water and the dogs seem to like it when we stay close to them in the water.

There were two other vehicles in the parking area, so I suggested we walk south instead of the usual north.  We hadn't walked south along the river all year yet, let's see what's out there.

We only went a mile as I was tired and looked it, too.  We saw a few more downed trees and a dead badger that Sadie had to sniff out, and found some animal tracks in dried mud that look to be either raccoon or badger.

The trees are fully leafed out now, creating a thick, green canopy over the river.  I like walking the three miles south along the river here, as there is always something new to see besides dead animals.  The river snakes gently here and widens out; I find it very peaceful along this stretch of water.

Huachuca Peak with Sadie and Zeke

I hadn't hiked this peak since I bagged it with SteveT in November 2018.  Today I took two members of the SVHikers meetup, SteveD and Jeong, and led the way.  Zeke and Sadie were my canines and SteveD brought his mellow Morgan.  Temperatures ranged between 62F-71F and winds gusted 12-20 miles.  I never had to put on my wind breaker.  My nylon shirt and overshirt were warm enough as long as I kept walking.

We had a red flag warning, but the canyon kept most of the wind out.  We didn't feel the wind until we were on the Huachuca Peak trail, that last mile to the rocky peak.

We started at 9:20am and parked off Garden Canyon Road on Fort Huachuca.  Parking here versus the abandoned campsite 1.2 miles up the road in McClure canyon adds 2.4 miles, making this an eight-mile hike that took us 5.5 hours: 3.5 hours going up and two hours coming down.  This section is not a good introduction to the hike as it's an ankle twister and exposed to the sun.

I was the slow one in the group.  This is not an easy hike at all, and I knew this before we started.  I should have had a decent breakfast before doing this hike.  Even SteveD noted I was very slow today.  I even considered turning around once we hit Pine Park, but then I knew that having a guide would be easier for them as the trail is hard to follow at times.  I kept repeating the mantra from Lethal Weapon, "I'm too old for this shit!"

The access road to McClure canyon and the road from the old campsite is mostly uneven rocks and not good for ankles or paws.  It also gets steep once you head away from the campsite and head uphill.  I told Steve and Jeong that the trail begins right before the waterfall (which was dry today) that it gets more scenic once we are in the steep forest.

The trail work that some members of the Huachuca Hiking Club did two years ago remains.  There were now only two snags in the way, dead trees that had recently been felled by strong winds.  They were only minor obstacles as we were able to bend down under the first tree and walk around the second one.  The bright pink markers, though, had faded.  Only two remained blowing in the wind.

The trail itself is not used as much as other trails in the Huachucas.  This trail is totally on Fort Huachuca and access is restricted. Steve said this was a brutal trail that felt more like a game trail.  Some switchbacks past the narrow canyon were hard to follow.  Luckily I knew the way and Steve and Jeong waited for me at every unknown turn.

The peak itself is fascinating from a geological standpoint.  Fossilized corral are embedded in the rock, indications that this peak was once under water.  Wild onion grow here under the shade of Ponderosa pine, the only place I've seen wild onion grow in the Huachucas.  I pointed out both fossils and wild onion to my co-hikers, and every time Jeong would enthusiastically cry out "Oh wow!"  They were both good hiking partners.

We didn't stay long on the peak.  The winds were gusting too much, so we moved away from the scenic edge and had our water and snacks closer to the old fire tower look-out foundation, which burned in 1977.  The plaque that was carried up to the peak by some soldiers years ago is now cracked in one corner.

We met one young mountain biker coming up that last mile on his bike.  I had never seen a mountain  biker up this tough road.  He said he started from Peterson Peak (7912') off the Arizona Trail on the western side of the Huachucas and was heading out to the peak.  Amazing! He did somehow manage to enter the post through a weakness in the post boundary fence.

The hike down was the same route going back up.  That's when I realized this is a steep trail, when one looks down and sees the grade.  Jeong slipped a few times with near falls, but none of us took a fall.  We all did slide some, and Zeke and Sadie were so close to me by then that their bodies would unintentionally push me forward.  SteveD later confessed that another hiker in the meetup "hates Zeke because he pushes his way to me."  This is why I prefer being in the rear when with a group, so that my dogs don't bother others.  I wish that hiker would have told me about Zeke so I could have prevented Zeke from being a "bully" as he said.

The end of the hike was rather uneventful.  Jeong was up front, walking with confidence.  We gave each other high fives for tackling the peak.  This is my third peak over 8000' in three weeks; I don't need to bag any more for April.  Sadie and Zeke did fine today and rested well the rest of the day.  When I drove over to Susan's later to introduce her to Hans, Sadie wanted to stay home and rest.

I ended up having a nice visit with Susan.  It was intended as a meet-and-greet with Allie, to see how she would behave around a puppy.  Susan has toyed with the idea of getting a second dog, a playmate for Allie. All the dogs played independently and Hans was running around on the green grass chasing after the big dogs.  The big dogs sniffed Hans but otherwise were disinterested. In the end Susan decided not to get another puppy, and she admitted she didn't want Allie to think she was less important than a new dog.  Allie is a rescue dog that has come a long way in the 18 months Susan has had her.

I took a bad fall while running after Hans in Susan's yard.  I seemed to have tripped on the uneven flagstone and barely fell on the little guy.  My fall so close to him did startle Hans, but he was otherwise fine.  I did crack my phone's glass, though.  Hopefully it's just the screen protector.  Got me a nice bruise on my right hip, too.

Susan told me her stories of growing up in Birmingham, England with German Shepherd Dogs.  "I wasn't raised by my mom, I was raised by German Shepherds!" and she shared her experiences with her first dog, Lilly, who was put down when Susan was seven years old.  The dog had developed epilepsy and her grandfather ordered her destroyed.  "I never  spoke to my grandfather again because he killed my dog." she said.

Hans ended up sleeping in bed with us without any accidents.  I guess I lost that war of teaching Hans to use a crate at night.  Kevin really loves the little boy.

***

Global cases: 2,325,615

Global deaths: 162,333

US cases: 742,677

US deaths: 39,271

Arizona cases: 4724

Arizona deaths: 180



   

Our latest addition: Hans

I had talked with Kevin about how Sadie and Minnie are getting too old to go on hikes with me.  While they do fine around the river with walks under four miles, they clearly hurt when the hike is longer.  It's not fair to them to push them beyond their limits.  They are 12 and 10 years old respectively and they won't live forever.  Kevin agreed that I can get two more dogs to train them as hiking dogs in the next year while the pack is still intact.

A Facebook friend shared a post of nine shepherd-mix pups found in the desert.  By the time the woman contacted me about the pups, three had already been adopted.  I was looking for a male, to round out the sexes in the pack.  The male I wanted was already taken and I didn't want a pup that looked like a terrier.  Inquiries to local rescues and shelters all proved useless.  No one was answering me and the one shelter that always has GSDs to euthenize, the Maricopa County Animal Control Center (MCACC) where I got Minnie eight years ago, has a lottery system now for potential adopters who must make an appointment two weeks out (!) to just see specific animals.  And what if that animal turns out not to be what one is hoping it would be?

So fast forward to this afternoon, when a co-worker texted me that she was picking up a litter of purebred German Shepherd Dog pups and asked if I was interested in a boy.  Oh my, of course I was, yes yes yes!  An older man in Benson was getting rid of his pups as he was getting too old to tend to dogs and my coworker drove to town to get the entire litter.

An hour later she texted me back saying she has the dogs and I could come over.  She didn't have to tell me that twice.

She handed me the first of three male pups.  That first pup immediately took to me and I didn't even look at the other ones.  Hans was freshly bathed but still had that puppy smell I had missed so much.  He was born on  February 28.

An hour later I was back home.  Kevin was on the patio and also seemed happy to have a pup.  Hans seemed to take to him, too.  And when I returned from my dog walk with the pack, he was in bed with Hans!  He wanted Hans to sleep with us. I drew the line there, because pups will wake up every 90 minutes or so to poop or pee and I do not want to be rolling in puppy poop at night.  I took him outside every time he woke up, and when he peed I put him back in his crate for the rest of the night.

I should have stopped by the store for puppy chow.  I fed him cat kibble and he barfed that up.  My Chewy.com order for Blue Buffalo Puppy formula chicken and rice will take a week to get here.

My days will now be busy, but what better time to devote to training a dog than now?  Hans won't be ready to hit the trails until he's six months old, and then only for a few miles.  Sadie was six months old when she went on her first hike.

So far the dogs seem disinterested and I hope it stays that way until Hans is a little bigger and can fend for himself.  Hopefully Sadie and Minnie will live long enough to teach Hans the ropes.  I jokingly posted on Facebook that I have cancelled all hikes for the next six months and will just lay in bed with my new pup.  He already has those soulful eyes of a German Shepherd Dog.

***

Global cases: 2,207,744

Global deaths: 154, 044

US cases: 707, 109

US deaths: 37, 182

Arizona cases: 4511; 20 in Cochise County

Arizona deaths: 169 

Blow out

My car had a flat yesterday that I didn't notice until I got ready to drive down to the river to meet Susan and walk the dogs.  I made it a block before returning home, completely crestfallen.

"I have a flat, can't walk the dogs today" I said to Kevin when I got back home.

"Here," he replied, throwing me his truck keys, "They're my dogs, too."

It's moments like these that make me realize why I fell in love with this man.

Kevin drives a BA Honda Ridgeline Pick-up, a manly vehicle the dogs were uncertain of because of the lack of cushioning in the cab. (He has lots of work tools back there) I managed to meet Susan by the river 30 minutes after our original time. We had an hour of daylight left and got our walk in.

The truck gave me repeated warnings to fasten the passenger seatbelt. The "passenger" was two anxious dogs moving around apprehensively in the front seat.  None of the dogs had been in Kevin's big truck before.

I did manage to meet up with Susan before it got dark, starting our walk at 5:45pm.  The sun was low by then, giving the trees along the river a golden hue.  I made it back home in the dark.

"Make sure you call Triple A first thing in the morning!" said Kevin before going to bed.  

I did call AAA, but not until early in the afternoon.  The computer voice asked me three questions about coronavirus before processing my claim:  have I had any flu-like symptoms in the last 30 days?  Have I been around anyone else with coronavirus within the last 30 days?  Have I traveled to a coronavirus hotspot in the last 30 days? The young man who put on my donut came within 20 minutes and was gone in ten minutes.  Then I got to see the damage of my rear right tire.  This was not just a flat tire with a screw embedded deep in the middle, but a complete blowout on the inside.  How did that happen?  Glad the flat happened while driving 15mph and not 45mph or faster.

My other three Uniroyal Tiger Paw tires all look evenly worn.

I was going to get new tires anyway before any road trip, but now decided to go all out and order Michelin Defender T&;H tires via Costco, taking advantage of their $149 off for a set of four tires.  Delivery to the Tucson store off Kino Parkway won't be  for 5-10 days and  I'll just make it a day trip.  There's not much I can do in Tucson when many of the trail heads and all the brewpubs are closed.

Madera Canyon Creek and Nature Trail

Distance: 6.9 miles
Elevation: 4329' - 5480'
Significance: riparian habitat with waterfalls, interpretive signs, historical sites, vistas. Hike uses both the Nature Trail and Madera Creek trails.

$8 Day use fee or Coronado National Forest pass

_______________________

The day began with a quick 1.5-mile sunrise hike with all the dogs.  Then I got ready to see Nina.

It had been a while since I saw her.   The last time we were together, we were with HollyO in New Mexico last September. I had to cancel our planned hike in March.  Today was the make-up and weather was ideal, with mostly sunny skies and temps in the low 70s.  We agreed to hike the Nature Trail in Madera Canyon, meeting in the Proctor Road parking area.  This is the first pay station.

We met at 10:20.  I noticed right away that Nina had lost weight.  "Yes, I lost 20 pounds" by starting a fasting diet she heard about from a friend.  We didn't hug because of this pandemic, and we kept our distance when we hiked or when we stopped to rest and talk.

This is Nina's playground.  She showed me part of it last year when I flew back from Carol's birthday celebration last year, but a good half was new to me.  The parking area was crowded with older birders and I missed her car when I first drove up.  She was not late this time. We went down to the waterfall that was still trickling before resuming our hike uphill.  The trail has a west and an east loop and we did both as a loop.

The trail was busy with families, photographers, people picnicking as it meanders uphill.  The creek gurgled the entire time.  Zeke appreciated the shade and water.  We stopped often to drink and chat and we got each other updated on the happenings in our lives.  Her husband is a regional supervisor for the Methodist Church, which currently is doing online sermons.  She doesn't have a job right now and has more free time, which she fills up with making music videos for her church.  I just hike, although there is plenty I could be doing right now.

There is plenty to see on this trail.  The Nature Trail is named after native Iowan Bud Gode, who moved here in 1998 with his wife.  A lover of all things related to biology and nature, he became very involved with preserving and protecting Madera Canyon.  Gode died in 2005 and the interpretive trail was named in 2007 in his honor.

While the grade is easy, there is lots to see on this trail that requires extra time.  Every tree species along the way is labeled, with a short description of the tree.  Bat houses are erected for the bats that help pollinate the flowers in the summer.  An unknown pioneer's grave is noted, as well as the grave of homesteaders from early in the 20th century.   This place was busy in the frontier days!  Many of the mines are now shuttered and mining roads are now hiking trails.

There are two picnic areas along the way that offer picnic tables,  Nina thinks the portapots that are next to the shuttered restrooms were donated by the Friends of Madera Canyon.

Nina was quiet today, perhaps tired or stressed out, but she was clearly happy to see me and mentioned several times how thankful she is that I drove "all the way out here to see me!"  Why would I not?  Nina has a special talent of soothing my hyper mood.  She can calm me down with her wise words of support.  She knows I'm not a religious person, but she still respects me for my difference.  I respect her because her church is more progressive than the standard Methodist Church today, which broke into separate churches when the Church authorized rights for the LTGBQ community.  I would spend more time with her if we weren't separated by 80 miles.

She asked me about a mutual friend of ours, one with whom she had a bitter disagreement early last year.  It dealt with the treatment of illegal immigrants. He, being bi-polar and an altrighter, said some awful words to her that she felt betrayed  her trust.  He had always asked for help when he was feeling down and she was always there for him.  And then that comment...  He has since moved away and I hear news about him through yet another friend.  I filled her in on the news and she seemed at peace, but it's obvious that his words have permanently scarred her.

Nina comes here to Madera whenever she can.  This is her hiking ground like the Huachucas are mine.  She lead the way, stopping to show me several unique trees or flowers, including the purple periwinkle that adorned one side of the creek.  Perhaps, I said, these flowers were once part of a homesteader's garden that have now gone wild.  The flowers were only at one spot along the way.

We rested at the amphitheatre picnic area before resuming the next part of the trail, the higher trail that Nina said is the original Nature Trail.  Signage said it was 2.7 miles to the even higher RoundOut, the last parking area in Madera Canyon, but our GPS tracks showed less than that.  Here the trail leaves the creek and now meanders up a hillside, offerening views to either the west and the Green Valley, or east, toward Mount Wrightson and the crags.  One can hear the traffic below.  The trail then descends as it nears a B&B and finally the parking and picnic area.

We finished the hike here in the parking lot, at a shaded picnic table with an elegant trogon's barking sounds above us.  How can such a beautiful bird have such an awful sound?  Zeke appreciated the rest.  The poor dog has done a lot of hiking lately; I should give him a break.  All my dogs are now getting old and are having a hard time with the distances I make them hike with me.

We walked briefly on the road on our return hike, then cutting back to the trail by the amphitheatre.  This way we cut out the ascent back up the Nature trail.  Traffic was light.  When we got back to the amphitheatre, we took the west loop of the trail to the end, passing the White House ruins, the pioneer graves, ancient American Indian mortars, and a curious deer that showed no fear of Zeke.

The hike took us five hours. I was tired and hungry in the end, more because of the time on the trail than the distance or elevation.   I thought this would be a 5.3-mile hike, according to my Alltrails app, but we actually did two trails: the Nature Trail and the Madera Creek trails that came to 6.9 miles. Despite that, I wanted to have a post-hike meal with Nina like we always had in the past.  Our only option was stopping at Culver's in Sahuarita, where we  ordered via the drive-thru and then ate in the shade of a strip-mall parking lot, sitting on a median with our cars next to us.  It wasn't the most enjoyable experience, but these are pandemic times. Zeke rested in the car in the cool  shade while we ate and chatted next to our cars, then said our good-byes till next time with an elbow bump.

My original plan was to stop in Tucson on my way back and shop at Costco, but I was too tired and drove home, then went straight to bed.  It was a very long day, but a very good one.

***

Global cases: 1974,585

Global deaths: 127, 697

US cases: 581,891

US deaths: 23, 604

Arizona cases: 3809

Arizona deaths : 131

Lutz Creek rock scramble

"You hiking today?" asked Kevin before leaving for work.
"No, I got too much to do," I replied, intending on getting some clothes sorted for Good Will.  I probably folded ten shirts and filled up one bag before Susan texted me, asking me if I were interested in walking today in a non-windy spot, "perhaps a canyon tucked away...you know the canyons here better than most and I haven't been in some for many years.  I trust your judgment."

I thought about Lutz Canyon and its creek.  Few people besides hunters go up that way as people tend to congregate in the wider Miller canyon instead.  We could take the dogs there without disturbing anyone.

I almost always am willing to go for a walk with the dogs.  Walking benefits both the dogs and me, and a few miles would be what the dogs needed.  They had been longingly watching my every move, as I didn't walk them at sunrise.  I wanted to conserve my energy for tomorrow instead.  I knew the dogs would enjoy the exercise.  I quickly agreed to join Susan.

We settled on Lutz canyon at 11:30am.  After a delayed start because of a low tire and a wrong turn, we finally made it to the trailhead just before noon.  There was one pick-up nearby but we encountered no one.  We went down to the creek, followed it south, but turned around when the water quickly ran dry.  We instead went uphill on the road, then along the trail, and then cut off on a short connector trail that took us to the main creek that was cascading.  Here is where we found so many gems. This was the creek I didn't find when Chuck and I hiked up this trail to Miller Peak in February.   Lutz creek was badly eroded during the 2011 fire and flood and cut a new creek nearby. Many of the old side trails that would lead to a former mine or homestead have been left to return to the wild and are now overgrown.

I had walked this creek with the dogs years ago, with Sammy and Sara, before that fire and flood ripped so many trees from their roots and sent them tumbling downstream.  It was a beautiful creek shaded by old growth.  It runs for a mile, then disappears again near where the creek intersects with the trail and starts a steep ascent up the canyon.  There are some wide rock slabs along the way.  Now the sides of the narrow creek threaten to erode further.  One can still see sections of the old trail along the creek, but most of it is gone for good.

We ended up rock scrambling for over two hours!  There were many snags we had to overcome, and at times we had to help push Minnie or Sweetie up a slab as they had no traction on the wet rock.  We came across some Golden Columbines but we basically would walk a short distance and stop when we reached the next pool of water and let the dogs splash around before resuming our scramble.

.

Both Minnie and Allie have joint issues that prevent them from walking far.  Allie starts limping and Minnie's arthritis stiffens her. The rock hopping quickly tired them out.  While Susan was now interested in going up the trail for another mile, I opted to turn around to give Minnie a break.  Both Susan and I could easily have gone farther otherwise.  Susan, like me, likes to explore hidden trails and I like that about her. We agreed to come back here another time  Perhaps, suggested Susan, I could lead a hike up to the Crest Trail with the SVHikers.  Perhaps.  The seven-mile hike would definitely be a workout.

We ended up scrambling for just two miles when we got back to the cars, returning to a quiet trailhead with no one else around.  The dogs looked well-exercised.  It was a fun day and both Susan and I agreed we must do this more often.  I would like to go back to the hidden mine camp high up Ash Canyon, but the main trail there was washed away in the flood and is hard to follow without a GPS.  Search and Rescue teams would have a hard time finding us if either of us were injured. There is an impressive waterfall there that is otherwise unknown to most hikers.

***

While Governor Cuomo from New York announced a downturn to the coronavirus outbreak in NYC today, deaths continue to mount elsewhere in the country, including Chicago and Philadelphia.  A sailor on the USS Teddy Roosevelt, docked in Guam, also died today.  He was a Chief Petty Officer in his 40s.

Global cases: 1,879,752

Global deaths: 119,383 (6.3% mortality rate)

US cases: 558,199

US deaths: 22,783 (4.08% mortality rate)

Arizona cases: 3705, with now 16 cases in Cochise County

Arizona deaths: 122