Full moon hike over Juniper Flats

I wanted to lead a full moon hike in Bisbee this month.  The timing for the moon rise, however, meant I had to hurry from school, grab a dog (Fritz) , and then drive to the trail head.  I scheduled the time for 4:15pm and I got there right on time.

There were eight people waiting.  I only recognized SteveD and his dog Morgan.  I introduced myself to the group.  There was TimB from Green Castle, IN, Esther and her toy chihuahua from Germany, couple Patrick and Sabine (who also hails from Germany), Cameron from Lubbock, TX, SteveD with dog Morgan and his friend Terry. HollyW joined us minutes later.  Steve and Holly were the only familiar faces.

Sunset was at 5:19pm with moon rise at 5:40pm, creating a good time for photographs with the remaining ambient light.  However, the skies today were hazy and the sunset lacking any dramatic color.  It looked like a fire was burning nearby, as the sunset had more brown than red.

The walk from the parking area to the hilltop was just 1.3 miles, much shorter than I thought. But at least we were able to see the sun rise for a while and didn't have to wait long for the moon, despite the brown haze.

I led the group to the view point.  Everyone kept their distance from me and then I realized why: they were afraid of Fritz.  He had lunged at Morgan when  she got too close.  Fritz was on leash and didn't do any damage, but this was the second time for him.  While he is calmer than he was two months ago, he still needs some training with his reactivity.  My next move will be a training collar.

I spent most of my walk back talking to Cameron, a young man from Lubbock who works for the National Forest as a biologist.  He's stationed out of Douglas and is an avid hiker, but added that there aren't many hikers in Douglas.  The town lost its one grocery store and now everyone has to shop at the Walmart.

We were back at our cars two hours later.. Cameron, Patrick and Sabine and Holly joined me for beer and chili at the Old Bisbee Brewing company.  Fritz stayed in the Honda. We chatted some more but left once the beer and chili were consumed as temperatures were dropping.