Fairbank riverwalk and loop

https://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/4718393800

Distance 4:58 miles

Elevation: 3868-3873" Elevation gain 68'

Significance: Mostly shaded walk where the dogs can walk offleash.  Grist mill ruins and old cemetery are along the way

Today's walk was a river walk from a new perspective.  It was a walk on 2.3 miles of mostly compact sand shaded by prematurely yellowing cottonwoods starting from Fairbank and walking north to the first wash, Willow Wash.  SteveT and I met at 7:15am.  He brought Trace, I brought Zeke and the pups.

The first mile was cool and breezy.  The riverbed is wide here. I wore my old but favorite white hiking shirt, blue pants and Teva sandals.  No jacket was required.  It was 63F at the start, but it quickly warmed up.  It was 80F when we finished the walk 2:10 hours later.

I don't ever remember this part of the river running dry. The wildlife surely must be suffering from the lack of any water.  We could see where cattle or other critters were trying to dig into the sand to find water.  There was none along the way.  There is no rain in the ten-day forecast.  How will the animals survive?  Hansel found the remains of a very young fawn; was it the victim of this drought or a victim of a kill? I also worry about entering another fire season.

The only good thing about the lack of water is seeing the geology of the riverbed that would normally be submerged.  Steve pointed out what looked like volcanic uplift (I forgot what he called it), dried lava that looked out of place among all the sedimentary rock.

The intersection with Willow Wash must have been the site of a lot of history.  Parts of an old bridge's cement pillar remains and part of a water reservoir or dam.  The big mill of Contention is another two miles away, which would be a great hike on an overcast or cool day.  But today's walk was focused on the Fairbank Loop.  We got back on the official trail from Willow Wash and finished our hike on the wide trail that's partially canopied by mesquite.

We never saw other people along this hike.  We were the only cars in the lot when we got back to our cars.  We had a late breakfast at Sunny D's in Huachuca City (they make a delicious Biscuits and Gravy!) before going our separate ways.

When I got back home, all three dogs attacked the water bucket and then took a long nap.  Even the weeds in the backyard are wilting.

A few hours later Susan contacted me.  Her Jeep has been fixed and she wanted to walk the river again.  We hadn't seen each other for at least five days, and I decided to take Sadie, Minnie and Sweetie on this walk, the dogs that didn't walk in the morning.  Sadie looked eager to come on this walk, and the three old dogs seemed to appreciate not having the rambunctious pups running after them.  There was far less barking without the pups around,

Sadie did well, but she lost her footing slightly a few times.  She still went into the water to cool off.

Even this part of the river is drying up.  We may not make it through October, and there are so many small fish in the stream still.  We also came upon a dead raven on a bluff that was not there a week ago.

We walked a mile north of the casa before turning around and walking back the way we came, always stopping in the few deeper sections to let Minnie swim.  She is so happy in the water.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do when the river dries up completely.

Susan and I talked about the disastrous Trump-Biden debate from last night. I try not to bring up politics as we are on opposite ends, but even I was disgusted with both men.  I knew Trump would be argumentative, but he was downright insulting and disruptive.  The moderator of the next debate needs to have a mic shut off switch when Trump goes beyond his time.  And maybe tie him to electrical wires when he interrupts his rival and/or the moderator.  We also talked about Helen Reddy and Mac Davis, two singers popular in the early 1970s.  Both died today at age 78.

At any rate, it was nice to have a day off in the middle of the week.  All the dogs got some serious exercise today and that always makes me happy.  Sadie did very well these last two days, but I'm sure she will want to take the next few days off.

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https://patch.com/arizona/tucson/tucson-officially-breaks-all-time-heat-record

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