Miller Peak with Hansel and Zeke

Today was my last chance to bag a peak.  I was tired from yesterday's hike, but still needed to go.  I took the boys (Zeke and Hansel) and left the house shortly after 10am.  High winds were predicted for the afternoon, but I figured I'd be almost at the peak by the time the winds came. 

I was almost right about that.  We got going at 10:45am from Montezuma's Pass to mild, but cool, weather.  I didn't feel any wind until I hit the three-mile mark, at the first exposed ridge, where the trail crosses from eastern to western ridgeline going north.  I wore thermal pants and three upper layers, but my top layer was a vest.  My arms were cold and later my hands got cold, all thanks to the wind.

The mountains are still white-capped when seen from town, but the trail to the peak is mostly dry. All that snow that is visible is off the trails.  The dogs enjoyed biting into the icy snow.  While I did have a gallon of water on me, the dogs got their water from the ice they ate.  There was no other water around. My feet stayed dry and warm the entire time.  It was my hands that got cold.  Despite that frigid wind, I saw three people in shorts.

I hiked at a steady pace. getting to the peak in 2:45 hours but staying only long enough on the peak to take a few pictures and feed the dogs.  The wind was ferocious and my face felt the cold quickly.  And yet I still saw a few ladybugs crawling. I was off that peak within ten minutes and then kept a steady pace going back down.  

Both dogs did well, too.  They were off leash the entire time and were well-behaved.  Hansel stayed on the trail with Zeke.  He didn't chase anything, or drag anything dead back to me.  Both dogs took a nap as soon as we got back to the car.

Despite the late January snow, the trees look dry.  That red hue I see on the eastern slopes is from dead oak leaves.

The trail was surprisingly busy, too.  I passed a couple going up, then met six people on the peak, then ten more by the time I got back to the Honda.  Eight of these people were Arizona Trail thru-hikers.  I got to talk to one of them, "20 Footer" who told me he started this hike to lose weight; he had gained 80 pounds (!!!) during the pandemic because he spent most of that time on his sailboat.

https://www.strava.com/activities/4869080607

***

Global cases 114,900,551

Global deaths 2,556,411

US cases 29,255,292 (+51,910)

US deaths 525,950 (+1183)

AZ cases 816,782 (+1075)

AZ deaths 15,980 (+70)

IN cases 661,673 (+731)

IN deaths 12,573 (+17)