Little bird and hike up Holenstein mine

We had a pastel sunrise this morning. I was up by 535 to first walk Gretchen solo. Sweetie slept in the truck overnight and I kept her there until it was her turn to walk.

As I neared the intersection of Madeleine and Circle S Road, I saw what looked to be a big pile of dog shit in the road. Gretchen also seemed curious, but as we neared the dark puke, it turned out to be an injured dove. There were small down feathers near the crime scene, with more feathers near an oak tree where birds tend to gather. The bird most likely escaped the talons of an unfortunate hawk

I picked up the little bird and took it home, placing it in an old hamster cage I got from Chip a few years ago. It was docile but mobile. I gave it wild bird  seeds and water and placed it in a small flower pot lined with tissue, then covered the cage with a burned shirt of mine to give it shade. I could see the hawk tried to rip the dove's back feathers. Most of its tail feathers had also been ripped out. The bird needed to rest 

I had to get ready for an 8am Meetup with Ellen, but knew I'd be 15 mins late once I got to my morning doggy duties of fresh water, good, and meds for Minnie. Hansel, Gretel and Sahne pushed me out the front door, causing a delay in my departure. I put Gretel in the RV and took Hansel and Sahne on the Holenstein Mine hike with Ellen.

I checked on the dove before leaving. It had moved from the flower pot to the seed bowl.

I hadn't been up the Holenstein Mine hike in over ten years. I was here with Sadie and the Huachuca Hiking Club (they really should call themselves the Huachuca Bushwhackers) the last time I was on this unmarked trail.

I took the dogs off leash once we were on the side trail. I like hiking with Hansel and Sahne because they stick together and have very good recall. Gretel and Gretchen like to take off and chase deer instead.

The mine, or what is actually an abandoned dugout of what prospectors thought was a copper mine (judging by the green malachite in the area) is just a half-mile from the main trail, as it switchbacks up the hillside. It's very passable. Perhaps the Huachuca Bushwhackers trimmed the trail of overgrowth? The club likes to clear all the trails in the Huachuca.

We rested at the mine for a bit. The dogs got food and water, and I nibbled on a few stale cashews and mini KitKat bars that I found in the bottom of my backpack. Each dog got a can of Pedigree as well, which lightened my load noticeably. This was the high point of the hike, which Strava tracked at over 1700' elevation gain.it was cool here, as the sweat off my back chilled me a bit.

We looped straight down after our snack break, slowly coming down to the rusty chute. We had made a small loop going this way, but cut no time going down this steep draw.

The dogs were getting tired. I had planned on leashing them again once I got on the main trail, but the dogs ran on ahead to greet a young man hiking down with his offleash dog. There was no barking, but the man was surprised to see two offleash dogs here(can't blame him) but both dogs ran back to me on recall. ""All is good!" He yelled back. We never did get caught up with him, as now both dogs were back on leash and pulling me along. At least Hansel was; Sahne looked tired.

The hike took us 3:42 hours. The morning chill had turned to early afternoon heat. The clouds had dissipated and the dogs looked overheated. We saw no other people on the trail despite several cars at the trailhead 

I was hungry now. I stopped at the Speedway gas station for a cheap lunch of pepperoni pizza. The dogs got most of the pepperoni. I then went home.

The little dove had died, still in the seed bowl with its head against the cage, just as I saw it when I left. Damnit, I guess it had internal injuries I couldn't see.