Thompson saddle

 This short hike was Ellen's idea.  She is recovering from lung surgery, after several blood clots were found in her lungs in early May.  She wants to slowly get back into shape again and wanted a hike that wasn't too strenuous, not a bushwhack, and mostly shaded.  I chose this hike as it's mostly in the shade until 9am.  This was Ellen's first hike up to the saddle in the summer.  Our first time was in the winter two years ago, with 3' drifts of snownear the saddle.

She agreed to this hike.  We met at 5:15am at the mouth of Ash Canyon, just as the sun rose behind the Mule mountains.  I took Fritz.  After an initial bark and then a growl directed at Ellen (which surprised me, as we all have hiked together before), Fritz did warm up to Ellen. "Just avoid any sudden movement" I warned Ellen.  Fritz is leery of sudden movement from people he doesn't know.

This was a very dry hike.  Very few wildflowers were visible.  Any grass on the trail was dead and dull.  We could see the burn area of the Wildhorse fire as we gained elevation.

Fritz was quickly enjoying his hike, running ahead of us on the steep switchback, chasing rabbits.  We were completely in the shade until we reached the saddle.  We took a water break, took a few selfies, and then descended, stopping briefly at a small mine shaft.  Ellen's lungs still are in recovery mode, so she did not attempt checking the shaft out. 

This hike was our "healing" hike, said Ellen.  After a double scare of blood clots and melanoma on her shin this spring, she's needing to slowly get back into building her cardio again.  This 3.2-mile hike was the longest hike since her lung surgery.  She took plenty of breaks, but kept a steady pace.  

The 3.2-mile hike took us 2:42 hours. Afterwards we chilled some more at Nirvana's, a local coffee shop with a dog-friendly patio.  We were here for over a hour, talking about our separate journeys of healing. I sipped on a sweet iced French vanilla cream drink. Ellen is a devout Christian, so her faith in the Lord carries her through hard times.  She also has a supportive and loving family nearby to help out, something I don't have.

Fritz by now was totally comfortable with Ellen.  He rested in the shade with his water cup, but then another couple with their Maltese joined us on the patio and Fritz did not want to share the patio with another dog.  His standoff forced us to call it a day and we went our separate ways.  She encouraged me to host a full moon hike for tomorrow.

I was home by 10:30am.  Fritz stayed by my side the rest of the day, even as the RV warmed up.  I didn't walk Gretchen until 4am the next morning.  By then six people had signed up for my moon hike, with just 36-hour notice.  My hikes are popular!