I had an active day today/ I was up before sunrise for coffee. The dogs heard something outside and darted outside. Only Gretchen stayed by my side, so I kept the pack outside until I walked Gretchen around the 'hood for two hours. It was a chilly morning at 34F when I started at 7am.
I don't like walking her because she always pulls. But she needs her turn at walking and she was past due. Today I decided to tire her out. By the third mile she realized that pulling wasn't going to get her anywhere. I walked east on Barataria and then turned south on Mescalero, a narrow dirt road that stops just before Madera. I then went west back to my place. This formed a long, narrow rectangle.
The 5.75 miles took me two hours. It was much warmer by the time I got back but I kept the other dogs outside for another hour as I wanted to get some gardening in. My trees needed water.
The dogs were barking ferociously at something on the east side of the fence and that caught my attention. I stopped watering my trees to check it out. It was two coyotes taunting my dogs and Gretel wasn't having any of it. She's quite the fighter! I am not 100% sure but it looked like the two coyotes were fighting the dogs at the fence! Both scurried off when they saw me coming. Those two shits come by every night just to taunt my dogs, but I have been leaving my back door closed at night to keep the warmth in.
I had a second cup of coffee and ate leftover pizza before I decided to take Fritz on my second hike, this time in Papago Springs. It's a 55-mile drive. I like the foothill trails there. He was happy to get some alone time with me after a vicious fight with Hansel on Wednesday that left a deep gash below his left eye. He's been more clingy since the incident.
Fritz is my best protector. He stays by my side to protect me, and today he protected me from all the cows off the trail. The trails around Papago Springs are horse and cattle country and today there were cows everywhere! They all stared at us as we quietly walked past and Fritz did not chase them, He was such a good boy!
There are many unmarked single tracks in this area but today I stayed on forest roads and formed a 4-mile loop. It wasn't the most scenic loop but it was just me, Fritz and the cows. We did stop at the springs for water. Next time I go back here I want to explore the abandoned roads further south. Exploring them would mean starting earlier than 2:30 like I did today. I want to explore that area more and perhaps create a hike for the HHC. I just need to look at a topo map to see how to get to the higher hills there.
I would have walked longer but the earlier walk with Gretchen tired me out. I stopped at the El Campo Cantina restaurant afterwards, the old Tia Nita's pizza place. A new owner revived the dive and turned it into a gourmet Italian place, serving pinsa instead of pizza so I opted to try pinsa. It's like sourdough flatbread, with a lighter, crispier crust. It was ok but it's not something I'd pick over traditional pizza again.
We got home right before sunset. The dogs were quiet tonight.
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