Christmas Eve hike up Carr Peak with Ellen and Zana

 

Ellen arranged this a few days ago.  I had planned on bagging Carr while on winter break, and when she asked me if I wanted to do it today, I jumped on the chance to have good company.  We agreed to meet at 8am.

The alarm got me up at 4:45am.  I got up to open the back patio door and saw rain coming down!  Oh my, what a surprise.  Precipitation was measured at 24% for later.  An hour later the rain stopped enough and we didn't let any more rain stop us.  This rain is coming from the heavy storm blasting southern California right now.  We may get more overnight. We had cloudy skies and diffused sun all throught our hike

I took Zana on today's hike.  She was excited to get out

I arrived at the Lower Carr Canyon road parking area first.  Another woman had pulled up to hike the Perimeter trail.  She said after cooking the food and cleaning the house and waiting for her four kids to arrive later today, she needed a break for a hike.  Her husband doesn't help her with the preparations.  She looked a good 15 years younger than me and admitted that she is an avid hiker.  We wished each other a good hike and merry christmas.  So many women go through that holiday stress because of lack of help from the family.  I'm glad I don't have to deal with that.

Ellen arrived ten minutes later and we dove up to the Old Sawmill trailhead.  Skies were looking damp to the south and west.  We  started at 8:45am to 46F.  A golden pickup was also in the same parking area, and with fresh dog poop nearby, we knew other people were ahead of us with a dog.  Zana added her own poop to the pile.

I'm glad I hiked today.  It's not too often that I can hike Carr Peak this late in the year with no snow.  There was some water in the Sawmill Sprin.gs tub and smaller rock depressions with water for Zana to drink out of.

There were no colors today, as expected.  But the browns and greens and greys were more pronounced  today from the rain.

We made it to the top in two hours.  Zana got her can of dogfood and I had some water, and we both agreed we needed to start the descent fast as we saw the rain come in from the west.  It began to drizzle right after our selfie but it stayed a gentle drizzle all the way back to our cars.

The hike took us 3:33 hours.  We had a lunch at Culver's at 1:15pm and afterwards I stopped at Frys to replenish my chicken.  It wasn't until I was back home at 3pm that my thighs felt sore. 

Phoenix and its Roosevelt Row

 A day trip to Phoeni was on the agenda today.  I decided to drive to the capital to renew my certification rather than renew it online like I did last time.  I wanted an excuse to see parts of Phoenix I was unfamiliar with.

I planned on leaving at 9:00am but four dogs broke out the front door when an elderly man came by to drop off an opened DMV letter to my address about a suspended driver's license.  His wife opened it thinking it was for her as she was expecting something from the DMV.  He had put it on my porch chair without a note.  My dogs' fierce barking got me curious, and when I went outside to check on the men, four dogs broke loose and quickly ran down Kino Road.  I'm sure their escape scared him, but he was also apologetic/  I was curious what letter I got from the DMV.

It turns out it wasn't for me, but for a Kristopher Riley who apparently was the grandson of the owner of my house over two years ago.  Riley made local headlines when he stole a vehicle in early 2017 and got law enforcement to start a high-speed chase when he was just 20 years old.  I first became aware of Riley when in late October I had gotten three separate solicitations from three different criminal defense lawyers wanting to defend Riley in my mailbox.  I then did some public searches on him to get a better understanding. of who he is  He still has a facebook page.  He's gotten quite a few tattoos on his face and neck since his 2017 arrest.

The  elderly man who dropped off that DMV letter did the right thing by forwarding it to me physically, not knowing that I was not the one addressed in that letter.

I calmed down after the breakout.  Hansel came back right away and jumped into the car.  He was the one I had planned on taking with me today anyway.  Zana and Gretel came back a few minutes later.  Only Gretchen took a little longer, as she always does because she has no recall and likes to fence fight with Kim's dogs.  Once I started my car to go after her, though, the sound of the engine enticed her to come toward me and hop into the vehicle.  This seems to be the only way I can lure her back to me.

I finally got on the road at 9:30am, with an estimated arrival time in Phoenix at 1:05pm.  Traffic through the bridge repair work offMarshall Road was minimal, but there was another slow-down in Tucson near the Kino Sports Complex, and then again south of Gilbert with a three-car accident off the median.

I finally arrived at the Arizona Building near the state Capitol at 1:20pm and registered to wait at 1:26. I was out of there before 2pm. Hansel waited in the car for just over 30 minutes under cloudy skies.  After my certification renewal I took him to walk around the Wesley Bolin War Memorial across the street.  It's part of the State Capital Plaza.

The Wesley Bolin War Memorial covers all the wars in which Arizonans took part.  This includes the Navajo Code Talkers, women pioneers, Law enforcement and fire fighters.  There's even a Canine War memorial that Hansel barked at several times.  I walked around the entire complex to read the plaques before heading toward Roosevelt Row.  It was now 3pm and 81F.

I started my visit here at the Sana Sana Cerveceria with its dog-friendly patio. It's a new brewery that opened last year. Everyone here spoke excited Spanish.  Hansel wanted to get to know a MinPinX better, but kept him on a short leash.  I had one Mexican Lager and then started my walk west on Roosevelt.

I was at the edge of the ASU campus.  While I saw a lot of art, most of it is what I would not consider high-quality.  I like realistic murals, not popart, and there was a lot of that.  But there were also some good murals which I will feature here. There were also nice ceramic flower pots and trash bins. After a few blocks, I was in a historic district with old brick homes and native plants.

But there were also many homeless sleeping in the streets.  They didn't threaten me, but Hansel wanted to sniff them all down.  My main complaint is the trash they leave behind: food containers, dirty clothes, cardboard. 

I soon followed the art and got off Roosevelt and landed on Grant.  There was more art here.  And more homeless the closer I got to downtown.  I used my Strava app to get me back to Roosevelt.

I finished the 6.5-mile walk with a visit to the Greenwood Brewery at dusk where I stopped in five years ago.  I recharged my phone here, sampled too beers, and finished off with a late meal at the Il Bosco pizzaria a block over.  The Neopolitan pizza was very tasty.

I finally got on the road back home at 8:30pm and at home by 3:10pm.  Four dogs were still in the back yard (so that Gretchen wouldn't be attacked) and were glad I was back home.

Miller Canyon to Hohenstein Mine

This was Margot's idea.  She wanted another challenging and steep hike of no more than five miles.  We agreed to meet at 9am in the Upper Miler Canyon parking lot.  I like these late starts this time of year so that I have time to get ready and give the dogs some attention.

The dogs got me up early again at 4:30 so I made coffee and waited for it to get light enough for .a sunrise hike with Gretchen.  We went to  the mailboxes and back for two miles.  Heard a couple of Great Horned Owls on a post on my way out.  This is the first time I've heard them in this area!  Both were gone when we walked past the post a second time.  The other excitement was seeing three juvenile coyotes cross the street about a quarter mile east of us.  Gretchen noticed but didn't get agitated.

I chose Zana as my canine partner for Miller Canyon.  She was overdue a walk and gladly came alone. She did so well staying by my side.  There were many recreationists out this morning, making both parking lots crowded, but we only came across a trail runner and three guys while on the trail.

Steve came along but just to sit in Margot's car and read and to join us for lunch at the Angry German restaurant.  He looked really tired again.

Margot has a steady pace and seldom stops to rest.  The incline up this canyon is also steady, as it's uphill all the way and we were in the shade all the way going to the mine.  No water in the creek, but Zana enjoyed her hike

The mine is at 2.5 miles from the trailhead, but Margot wanted to turn around at the two-hour mark, just 0.3 miles away up the last switchback.  We had gained almost 1700' elevation. She and Steve had errands to do today and she needed to get back

The last of the fall colors were visible.

The sun was up on the way back once we got near the orchard.

Our post-hike meal was at the Angry German.  I had a chicken Rahmschnitzel.

Thompson Saddle with Margot and Gretel

 

Cold Moon

Today was the official full moon, aka The Cold Moon.  We have had a bright sky for the past two days and tonight it came to a head.  Margot and I had planned a moon hike, but then had to cancel when she remembered a 4:30 conference call.  Moon rise was at 4:58pm.

I took Gretchen out to walk the road east in the evening.  And yes, the moon was bright.  I didn't even use my phone's flashlight.  She is still limping so I only went out for a mile.

A dead coyote lay on the road, just a lot over from mine.  It was a young one, perhaps one of two I've seen prancing around at night.  Whoever hit it left it on the side of the road.  Speed limit here is 25mph and I've seen cars drive 30+.  I think the driver purposefully hit the animal.  I moved the coyote off the road and a good 10 feet in the embankment.  An outline of the animal remained on the road.

Gretchen did not seem interested in the dead coyote/