Brown Canyon Nature Loop

It was a busy and productive day.

Instead of a sunrise walk with the dogs and then a meet-up with the usual gang in Garden Canyon, I met Susan at 6:30am to walk the Brown Canyon Nature Loop.  This loop is part of a three-mile route in the mouth of the canyon. I took Zeke and the pups and met Susan and Allie in the Ramsey Canyon Road trailhead parking lot. Susan led the way. Some of the lesser-used trails were unmarked and I would have gotten confused without her guidance..

 It was overcast and breezy and not as hazy as it was all day yesterday.  "Today is our best chance for rain this week" said Susan, although the forecast called for a mere 15% chance.  We are not expected to get any rain from Hurricane Laura, approaching Louisiana right now.

The Nature Loop officially begins at the old ranch house.  One can pick up an informational panhlet that describes the various numbered sites along the way.  The actual loop is only  a half-mile long, but It's a mile to get to the ranch house from the trailhead via the forest road and them a single track off this road.

I had never taken this trail although I knew of its existence.  Taking this trail to get to the Nature Loop gives one a different perspective of this scenic canyon.  It would be even more scenic had the pond been alive and any drainages flowing with water.  There weren't too many flowers out besides sunflowers and yellow ragwort, but there were plenty of tall agave getting ready to bloom.

As soon as we got on the trail from the road, we let the dogs off leash.  Susan likes coming here because one can see the trail and what's coming, and we can see hikers and cyclists ahead of us.  This trail wasn't busy this morning, but twice we had to leash up the dogs.  And the pups listened, too!  Most people who walk Brown Canyon stay on the road. (Snakes are easier spotted while on the road)

Even Susan noted that Gretel is starting to listen to me.  She is finally bonding with me.  Her recall is getting better, too. She'd come back with Hansel when she needed to be leashed.  She didn't fight me.  The dogs all stayed together, although today it was Allie's turn to be the lead dog.  Allie would prance around in the grass and the pups would follow (while Zeke stayed by my side).

It's a mile to the duck pond from where we started at the trailhead.  The pond is very low right now, with tall reed hiding most of the water.  The dogs were happy to prance around and drink the water, cooling off their paws.  From the pond we then circled back to the ranch house, took a short break,  had more water, and then walked back via the road and then trail.  The only glitch was Gretel's leash getting loose from my hand and she then menacing several visitors at the ranch house with her barking.

The entire walk took us two hours.  By 8:30am the heat of the day became obvious.  The clouds made this walk enjoyable, but on a hot day the exposure would make the loop less pleasant.  I'd even want to try this walk earlier, like at sunrise (5:54am), but Susan says there are too many javelina out then.

We then departed.  I stayed at home working on the bathroom, then took the pack minus Sadie to the river for a quick mile romp before coming home, bathing Gretel, and taking her on her first obedience class at a local pet boarding facility, Going to Grandma's.  The class was more for me to know how to train her.  For Gretel it was more of a socializing hour, as she barked and growled at the dogs around us for a good ten minutes before calming down. She was one of four German Shepherd Dogs out of 15 signed up for this class.  Another dog was a young Mini Aussie Shepherd.

And she did quite well  I thought she had forgotten her "sit" and "stay" commands, but she did fine. always looking up to me for approval.  She did not do too well when the instructor, Rocky Boatman, asked to use her for an example.  Gretel was shy and nervous but then opened up as the hour progressed and I finished off the day with a loop around the block with her on leash.  It was too dark for her to see other dogs on the way, but she walked nicely by my side. I was very proud of her progress.

***

Global cases: 24,078,788

Global deaths: 826,674

US cases: 5,954,712 (+40178)

US deaths: 182,357 (+1250)

AZ cases: 199,273 (+859)

AZ deaths: 4792 (+21)
IN cases: 88,421 (+829)
IN deaths 3259 (+18)