I haven't walked any new section of Tucson's 54-mile Huckleberry Loop since this spring. Today I opted to add a few miles. I haven't walked any of the path since March 10th. Hansel was my canine companion.
Today was also the Beer Festival at the Borderlands Brewing in Tucson. I had bought my tickets online on August 1st and Steve and I split the cost. We didn't find out until later that that was harder than planned.
The morning was reserved for a walk along the Loop, starting at the Brandi Felton Memorial Park off Dodge Avenue and walking east to just before Craycroft. The mile marker signs stated this was a 2.7-mile section, but it was more like 3.14 by the time we parked on the far west side of the park and got to the pavement. It was 80F with a 76% humidity when we began walking at 11:17am.
The Rillito River was rushing with brown silt. The dogs were anxious to cool off in it. To keep their paws from burning, we opted to walk on the softer horse trail that parallels the pavement. This gave us more shade and kept the dogs safe from the many cyclists today. This also gave Hansel plenty of opportunity to want to chase after gophers and lizards that taunted him.
I felt the humidity quickly. My red polyester shirt felt sticky against my body. My jeans felt too thick for the weather. Hansel panted a lot. I let him dip into the rushing water at the half-way mark to cool him off.
This is a pretty section of the Loop. We stayed on the north side of the river. Elegant homes on bluffs towered near us. We saw horses in nearby fields, but no horses or horse shit on the trail.
It took us 1:45 hours to walk the 3.14 mile section. We rested in the shade of the Craycroft parking lot. This will be the same lot I'll park in to continue with my next section along the Pantano Wash, whenever the weather cools down again. The loop turns south on Craycroft. I have now finished the Rillito River section east of the Tucson mall.
We got to Borderlands at 4:20pm. The festival didn't start until 5pm so we waited inside. When I picked up my chits, I discovered that only I was allowed in the outdoor garden. Steve wasn't allowed to join me (something about liquor laws?) even though he's well above legal drinking age. He stayed inside. Whenever I picked up a 3-ounce sample, I gave it to him to drink. Combined we didn't even use up all the chits.
The festival was disappointing. Most of the beer was IPA or sour beers. My favorite varieties were the two Mexican breweries, Malvida from Sonora and Buqui Bichi from Hermosillo. Mostly young people gathered closely together (I'm thinking covid surge!) Hansel handled the noise very well and got kudos from everyone, but I stayed with Steve inside.
https://www.strava.com/activities/5793730581
Loop Miles completed: 17 (12 for Steve)
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