Bisbee's Zacatecas Canyon

 I had this little hike planned since the rains began last week.  Zacatecas Canyon off Brewery Gulch and its reservoirs fills up with water after heavy rains.  Bisbee was hit hard with the storms from last Monday and Wednesday.  Flood waters were running down Brewery Gulch and the street department had to work feverishly all day Thursday to get ready for this weekend's Pirate Festival.

I'm not into pirates.  I just wanted a "wet" hike with Zana.  It was her turn for a private hike and I think she really enjoyed it. Water was running in the streets so I stayed in the Gulch for 0.4 miles before climbing the stairs by the Mimosa Market up to OK Street, from where I started the official trail.  Debris and folded over grass were still visible from the storm waters.  I let Zana off leash from here.

Zana has become a great hiker.  Not once did she take off chasing anything.  She stayed up front and kept looking back at me.  Whenever the trail got hard to follow (thanks to the overgrown Lehman's Lovegrass) she would slow down and get behind me. Catclaw mimosa with its purple-pink bloom straddled the trail. I was focused on finding the first left turn back down into the Gulch.  My Strava app kept me on trail even when it was hard for me to see where I was going.

The trail was much easier to follow and less overgrown when I got to the intersection where I needed to take a left turn.  Zana ran on ahead and then went straight into the reservoir.  It was filled to the dam line and trickling over.  This was the source of all the water in the Gulch.

I let her swim for a bit before continuing my descent.  This is what I came for, afterall.

I never came across another soul while in the canyon.  The water stayed  with us as we walked downhill.  Two campers were by another reservoir but I didn't want to bother them as they were most likely homeless.

Pirate events began at 9am.  By then I was taking a break with Zana at the Allen and Co coffee shop, where I sat on a couch sipping an iced latte.  Zana acted a little nervous around all the people that came in shortly after I did, and joined me on the couch to cuddle.  She can be a real lovebug at times. Several dogs came through, but she didn't bark (although I had to hold her by the collar).

The hike took us 90 minutes for the 3+ miles.  I didn't get an accurate reading because my Strava app kept stopping, but my Samsung Health app says I did close to four miles by the time I got back to the Honda.

I stopped in Tombstone on my way home, trying out the new Iron Horse Cafe (a new biker bar) where again I had an iced latte, then stopped by a new sandwich shop for a roast chicken breast on whole wheat and Swiss cheese.  My final stop was at the Tombstone Brewery for a quick blood orange wheat.  It's my favorite beer of theirs.

By then Zana was exhausted.  The brewery's AC wasn't working and I was the only customer that first hour, nibbling on my sandwich before finally heading back home at 1:30pm. 

Zana has become my favorite urban hiker.  She's good around people and most dogs and doesn't whine in the car.  She seemed genuinely happy to be back with the pack and snoozing on the floor with them in the afternoon.