I enjoy walking loop trails and I enjoy walking urban trails. The 54-mile paved Chuck Huckleberry Loop, named after the Pima County administrator who approved and funded this trail around Tucson, is one such trail I want to explore by walking it. I've already walked short sections of it over the years, but now I want to walk it in a continuous direction to get a better feel for the area. Walking other trails in the past, such as Northwest Indiana's Erie-Lakawanna and Oak-Savannah trails, are two other trails I've walked and completed in the last two years.
I only wish I had started walking earlier today. SteveT and I didn't get started until after 3:30pm, giving ourselves only two hours of daylight. That translates to about four miles of moderate walking with our . dogs. We had stopped for lunch first at the El Pueblita taqueria before starting our walk. We were both very hungry, but that took away valuable time.
I chose to start at the Campbell Avenue parking lot across from Trader Joe's. This is where I had turned around the last time I walked the Loop, on March 21st, 2015, with Sadie after a day in Tucson. I didn't know then that the paved path was called the Loop, as some connecting sections were not yet completed. I just knew that 12-mile northern part as the Rillito River trail.
Back then we had started at the Tucson Mall off Oracle Drive and walked east, making Campbell Avenue our turn-around point. Today I suggested walking two more miles east and then turning around at the Brandi Fenton Park on the north side. That's really all we could complete in the two hours of daylight remaining.
We started on the southern park of the trail, taking the dogs for one block in the wash so that they could relieve themselves. After two hours in the car, all three dogs had to go, and go badly! The sand was heavy and no fun to walk on for us (plus there was plenty of dog shit along the way) and we resumed our walk on the trail going east, with the dogs obediently on leashes.
We crossed the river wash a mile into our walk, at the Tucson Raquetball and Fitness club on Country Club Road. Here Steve used a porta-pot that was still open by the Country Club Bridge. A connector trail here was officially opened for use this weekend and left-over fencing and some signs remained in a corner for erection next week. We had another mile to go and the trail was getting busy with after-work walkers and cyclists.
The character of the trail here is rural with the smell of horse shit whaffing in the air. Perhaps this is a newer part of town and people had larger lots for animals. Equestrians use the dry wash to walk their horses. We passed a therapeutic center for children and horses/ponies before making the Brandi Fenton park our destination. There were plenty of people here! We rested at a picnic table, gave the dogs some water. and walked back on the now sunnier north bank back to our cars
Zeke and Gretel did well today. Zeke is always so good on leash, and Gretel lunged only twice at two smaller dogs that we had passed. She didn't seem to appreciate a woman coming up from behind her on roller blades, with a little pug in tow. The pug was having a hard enough time keeping up with its owner
I enjoyed this little section and I am looking forward to experiencing other sections of the Loop. I will continue walking this Loop clockwise, starting at the Rillito River park on my next section walk and going east. There is plenty of parking at the Brandi Fenton park across from the Rillito River park access. We saw plenty of cyclists, walkers, joggers and dog walkers, and even a few on electric skateboards (gyroscopes?).
One thing we did not see today were homeless camps, of which I saw plenty the last time. Maybe that was because I was closer to the Mall and its many food businesses. We also did not see much trash on the trail, or even in the wash. The city has done a good job keeping the trail clean and safe.
We stopped at The Address, a small brewery off Speedway. This showed up on my Google Maps when I searched for a brewpub closeby. IT's a quaint little nanobrewery with plenty of guest beers. It was cool and dark now and we kept the dogs in the Honda. They had water to drink.
I tried a Freak N Vanilla Hazelnut Coffee Brown ale and then a smaller Address Malt Witman, their own Belgian witbier. Steve tried their IPA and Porter. We chatted with one of the employees, a white-haired friendly man who claims to have worked for The Address since 1977. He's met plenty of people who have come through this place via the University of Arizona. Our server was also very attentive. Our visit was very enjoyable, and I even brought home a cheese pizza for Kevin.
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