I had to rearrange the bags of cans before resuming my drive so that Trace could sit comfortably at least until I dropped off the cans. He ended up leaning on the center console for the drive into town. There was plenty of room next to Zeke for Trace to lay. In the past Zeke wouldn’t have minded sharing the back seat with Trace; why the attitude now?
I was relieved of the cans by noon and stopped by Costco for dog food and treats and nothing else. Then a quick lunch at Popeye's nearby, then dropped off other recyclables and then finally the drive up the Catalina Highway for a walk in the woods where temperatures were in the low 70s instead of the upper 90s. I also wanted to see some golden aspen.
We drove past a motorcycle accident halfway up. It had just happened as emergency vehicles were racing down the road. Witnesses were keeping the man's face shaded with a windshield sun shade, but he was on the road, laying sideways. All I saw was a bloodied back. He must have survived as there was nothing in the local news of a death on the highway. The last death on that road was August 16th when a 19-year-old man died on his bike when he failed to negotiate a turn.
I knew that the Bighorn Fire, a wildfire that began June 4th from lightning, burned 119,987 acres and lasted until July 23 when m monsoon rains helped put it out, had burned in the area. What I didn't know was that all the trails above 6000' off the Catalina Highway were closed for public safety and will remain closed until November 1st. We couldn't even walk around the Ski Valley area. Park rangers and county sheriff deputies patrolled the highway via motorcycle.
The only option we had was to walk along the road. Our dogs were on leashes but neither were happy with that. We walked 1.5 miles from Ski Valley to the intersection with Summerhaven, then walked back up the road. We did see some aspen in and around Summerhaven but they hadn't peaked yet. There were many other people up on the mountain for some leaf peeping, so we weren't alone. Traffic was constant. It was not a pretty walk, but at least it was a cool walk.
The area had taken a bad burn in 2005 with the Aspen fire, burning many homes in Summerhaven. The town was spared this time, but the fire did char what didn't burn 15 years ago. It was like deja vu all over again, with blackened hillsides just outside the town and wildlife searching for food. The creek around Marshall Gulch was dry. Whatever aspen had survived this last fire were too much in shock to turn yellow. Trees were either burned or stunned.
We left the area by 4:30pm, just in time to see the sun set over the hills. I must admit I always enjoy a sunset from this highway. What I don't like is a dark drive back home. People can't hike the trails for now, but it didn't stop hordes from driving up the road for some sunset views.
We had a quick meal at the Firetruck Brewing off Tanque Verde and sat out on the dog-friendly patio as we had several beers. We arrived at 6pm. By the time we left an hour later, the patio was crowded and the inside was empty. I fed both dogs a can of Purina One so that their hunger was staved for a while.
I was back home by 9pm. The house was quiet but the rest of the dogs were happy to see me.
I spent the late night watching the Vice Presidential debate between Mike Pence and Kamala Harris via C-SPAN, then looked over my email when I noticed a short one from my supervisor, saying a student I was exposed to last Friday, who was sent home sick, came up positive for the coronavirus today and now I must self-quarantine until next Thursday. Oh Lovely. I don’t have any symptoms but what if I am asymptomatic?
***
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