Zana was my hiking dog today. It was her turn
We agreed to meet at 6am at the trailhead. We both arrived at the same time to an empty parking area. It was sunny with a cool breeze.
It has been a few years since I hiked this challenging trail. The 2011 Monument fire totally changed this trail from shaded to exposed. Our lingering drought has made new growth here impossible despite the dry creek nearby.
Zana started out enthusiastically but was visibly tired when we got to the mine 2.8 miles up the trail. She drank her quart of water and had a can of food and would have taken a nap had we allowed her.
This mine was always a popular campsite for bordercrossers. The shaft was full of plastic water bottles and black plastic bags. During the monsoon this mine floods, but today the mine and the entire mountain range was crispy dry. We could face another dangerous fire season as we have two months before any rain falls and our flora is dying.
The higher altitude here made the wind chilly. My hands got cold fast. I never took my flannel shirt off but Bill only had one long-sleeved tshirt. We didn't stay long here because of the wind. On a milder day I may have wanted to hike to the intersection with the Crest trail, another 0.7 miles higher.
The drought has kept any flowers from blooming. The one flower we spotted was on a bushel cactus
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