Garden Canyon Road (Fort Huachuca)

It had been two weeks since I last walked this 5.2-mile out-and-back route with Zeke and some friends, and that last time I worked up a sweat.  Today we started at 7am instead of 8am and what a difference!  We had a cool breeze for most of the walk, didn't overheat, and when we were done, we still had most of the day ahead of us.  This was surprising as we had another heat advisory for today, with highs later in the low 90s. It was 70F at 7am and 84F two hours later.

We still had plenty of water for the dogs in the creek.  Flowers are still in bloom, especially the Golden Columbine and orange monkeyflower.  June's bloom now includes the yellow Butterfly weed and red Castor bean plant.

We were a small group: HollyW, BonnieM, SteveT, DavidB and I.  Holly and Bonnie stayed together while I split time with the guys.  Somehow in the end David and I were up front and finished the 2.6 miles in an hour, not much slower than it takes for me to get to the trailhead!  We then sat on shaded boulders and waited for the rest of the group to show up, chatted some more, and then opted to walk back.  We met SteveD on the way up.

We were back in the parking lot of 9:50am but then sat around and chatted some more.  SteveD made it back before we all departed, and SteveT and I had lunch at Culvers. The entire morning walk was pleasant, and even conversation was more cordial.  Two weeks ago we talked about the Covid-19 pandemic.  Today we talked about the ongoing race riots that have spread across the country since Memorial Day, when a 46-year-old black man , George Floyd, was arrested and strangled by a white cop using a knee choke for trying to pay for merchandise with a counterfeit $20 bill.  All these young people meeting in cities to riot and loot surely can't be good for this ongoing pandemic.

Governor Ducey signed a week-long 8pm curfew that started Sunday night through next Saturday.  I just hope this country calms down.  White people need to understand why black people are angry, and both sides need to come together and work out solutions.  I'm tired of police brutality and abuse of power. I want some normalcy again, so that I can safely drive to Chicagoland and back in mid June.

The original weather forecast had a slight chance of rain after 11am.  Indeed the clouds over the mountains darkened and I did hear thunder, but nothing else happened.  By early afternoon the sky was back to normal. This is our third day of clouds forming, which is always a good sign for the upcoming monsoon season.  Our first tropical depression, Christobal, is forming in the south Gulf of Mexico.  I hope we get some residual rain from that storm.

Meanwhile, the pups continue to grow.  They are almost too big for the crate.  Gretel's ears are finally starting to stand up some, but they are still in that goofy stage.

***

Global cases 6,480,826

Global deaths: 383,041

US cases: 1,881,156

US deaths: 108,059

Arizona Cases: 21,250 ( 90 in Cochise County)

Arizona deaths: 941 (3 in Cochise County