Walking toward the border

I didn't come home till almost 4pm.  I filled in at the middle school, for an English class, and the middle school doesn't end until 3:45pm.  The best part of the day was meeting a Labrador Retriever service dog, Zane, who sat obediently by his owner's side.

I was curious how the dogs would take to the new gate and let Sahne, Gretel and Wolfie (always happy to have Wolfie) in the front yard.  The gate was only a short deterrent.  They found a gap in the dead juniper and were soon on the street running.  Those little shits!

But luckily they came right back to me when I called.  First Sahne, then Wolfie, then Gretel jumped in.  Since I had three of them in the truck, I decided to take them down to the Palominas trailhead to check on the river there.  We started the walk at 5:36pm.

Wolfie has not been outside the yard in months.  He has gained some weight around the middle, but he looked so happy following the two girls, who were running ahead and exploring the tall grass.  Wolfie, however, always stopped to make sure I was nearby. 

We never made it to river, though.  Water was filling in the wash a good quarter mile before the river, under to grove of cottonwoods.  This only happens after days of heavy rains. At first the wash was damp, then wet, and then totally impassible.  I slipped a few times on the mud before I decided to turn around and walk in the opposite direction, and go south on the official trail. The official trail is a wide road that goes straight to the international border.

I didn't have a pack with me because I wanted the dogs to drink from the river.  I had at best two hours of daylight left as well, and didn't want to be on the trail at sunset as this is a popular border crossing for the illegals coming across.  I gave us a two-mile turn-around.  Skies were looking stormy from the south as well.

I turned around just past the surveillance tower two miles from the border.  The road here is notoriously rutted and fills up with water.  I remember this from years ago when I last walked this stretch with Sadie and Zeke.  All three dogs took a quick mud bath before resuming our return walk, going back the way we came.

A USBP SUV was parked just south of the wash.  Perhaps I had activated a sensor.  There was no agent at the wheel, so perhaps there were illegals elsewhere that the agent was tracking.

I was back at the truck in 1:35 hours.  We had walked 4.4 miles.  Not bad!  Wolfie panted the entire drive home.