Walking the Loop from Rita Road to Kolb Road

I couldn't get out of bed in time for today's club hike to the Tortolitas north of Marana.  Last night's episode with Gretchen and Fritz wore me out emotionally.  As much as I was looking forward to today's hike among the saguaros, I emailed SteveS to cancel.

And then I just lay there for another hour before getting started with the day.

Gretchen always looks so peaceful when she's sleeping next to me, curled up and huddled next to me.  She is not an imposing dog when she's resting.  She doesn't look like a dog that can do a lot of damage, create a lot of mischief, or cause a lot of grief.  She always looks at me with that goofy drool and cocks her head to one side.  I love that dog nonetheless.

I'm not about to let anything ruin my plans for today.  I havr all the recycables packed and loaded in the truck.  I now need to get going.  I am wasting daylight otherwise.

SteveS sends me a short text at 8:49am:  "Traffic issue. Doing Gabe Zimmerman Trail instead."  I look up the traffic issue on the ADOT website.  There's a crash off the Wilmot exit.  The guys decide to hike elsewhere instead and pick the Gabe Zimmerman trail off the Marsh Station Road exit off I-10, exit 281.  This is an easy trail with a creek crossing.  By the time I see the message, though, the guys are surely done with the hike.

I drive into Tucson instead with Fritz.  I want to test him on his reactivity to other dogs and people unfamiliar with him. I begin the training day with a six-mile walk along the Loop, beginning at Rita Road and walking west to Kolb road and back.   It's 2.8 miles one way.  This is the eastern terminus for the Julian Wash.

The Julian Wash is not a very scenic section of the Loop.  It follows along the Union Pacific railroad and Interstate 10, along new and soon-to-be homes.  Along the western part of the section is industry and homeless people.

Despite the less-than-spectacular experience, good weather will always make a walk or hike more pleasurable.  Today it's in the upper 60s with no clouds in the sky.  I take off my outer shirt to keep from overheating.  Fritz doesn't have that option and soon tells me he's feeling warm.

It's a busy day on The Loop.  Cyclists, joggers, families pushing strollers pass me.  Some of the joggers wear race bibs, participants of the Run Around Tucson (RAT) even today.  RAT uses the Loop for its event and I'm passing joggers of Leg 6.  "I love your dog!" yells one woman in a group wearing red, white and blue. Fritz is oblivious to any admiration.

What this section lacks in beauty it makes up in history and information.  Informative signs along the way talk about the history of the railroad here and how the land east of Tusosn often flooded, forcing the railroad line to shut down for repairs.  I'm walking on "The Stormy Line," the section frequented with flash floods and water surges.  It's an important route going East as it meanders across valleys.

Now the land, the signs continue to inform, talk about the local wildlife.  Burrowing owls, hawks, desert hares and venomous snakes live in the area.  So all those holes in the ground are not just from mice and snakes, but owls as well?

Other signs inform of the mountain ranges in all directions.  There are the Catalinas to the north, the Rincons to the northeast, the Santa Ritas to the south and the Tuscon mountains to the west. There are other mountains, but are harder to see.  I stop to read all the informative signs while giving Fritz more water.  He tells me he doesn't want to go any further than the next major road crossing.  That is Kolb Road.  The section passes along the Pima County watershed before coming to the Roy Schoonover trail head.  Schoonover was an advocate for safe bike route and encouraged the development of The Loop.  He died in 2015.

 https://webcms.pima.gov/cms/One.aspx?portalId=169&pageId=199872

The Schoonover trail head parking is a nicely-designed rest stop along the Loop and easily accessible off Kolb road.  It has room for 30 cars and is shaded by palo verde trees.   I let Fritz drink water from the toilet and pose to take pictures with him.  The best selfies of humans are with dogs and he cooperates.  Then I turn around and walk the way we came, now focused on keeping a good pace, staying out of the cyclists' path, and finishing.

We are both tired and hungry in the end.  I drive another ten miles north into Tucson and stop at the new Borderlands on 6th Street.  I like Borderlands beer and this new location is a former gas station.  Its one flaw is that it is on a major street corner with a traffic light and there are only eight spots up front.  Getting in and out of the small parking lot is not easy.

This is Fritz's big test.  The front patio, covered in astroturf, is crowded with young families with dogs.  Two boxers bark at Fritz; I quickly find an empty corner table and walk in, holding Fritz tightly by a short leash.   He does not lunge back at the dogs.

I am happy for this.  Perhaps Fritz is simply too tired to fight back.  He lays down on the cool astroturf.  I give him his water and a can of food while I order a Prickly Pear Wheat Ale and a dish of Sonoran-style chicken tacos. More people come in after the kitchen opens shortly after 4pm.

I order a second beer, a German Chocolate Cake Porter.  This is one of Borderland's flagship beers. It's served in a 12-ounce tulip glass because of its 7.3% alcohol.

I am proud of how well Fritz behaved today.  He simply needs more exposure to real-life experiences like other dogs and people and strange noises.  He will have more slip-ups, but today he did not bark nor attack other dogs and people even when I saw him wanting to.  He learns fast.