A Spur Of The Moment Hike On Monday

With the hot sunshine out every day with cool temps, the hounds have been spending most of their time sleeping on the warm stones in the backyard. They rotate back inside once they get too hot. The weather has returned to beautiful with morning temps in the 30's. I'll take that with no complaints because I am not experiencing windchill temps below zero and no ice or snow. There has not been a lot going on ... but yesterday I took an impulse trip back out to the San Pedro River and hiked almost 4 miles in the late afternoon.

It's good to know that with each sunrise we are heading toward spring where the sun will start rising earlier, the hounds will get their daily walk in the morning right after my coffee and not in the afternoon. Then I will bike in the mornings right after we get back from the hound walk. I find it hard to ride in the afternoon because I am always finding something else to do. I don't have any projects going on like I would have in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana. I don't miss the house maintenance and lawn care or in some cases, shoveling snow.

My move from Cox Cable Tv to Apple Tv and streaming Amazon Prime Video along with YouTube tv has worked out better than I expected. I have all the same sports channels I had on cable. I have more movies to choose from that are free on Amazon Prime Video and the programing on Apple Tv is not large in numbers of shows but the ones they have are great, from what I have seen so far.

I stayed up all night last night watching all 10 episodes of For All Mankind, getting to bed at 5am just after I fed the hounds. A few hours of sleep I was up and felt normal except for the concept of time ... it did not feel like 11am. I still have plenty of time to get in a bike ride today after hiking yesterday afternoon. With high 40's and possible rain in the forecast this week, I have to get outside when I can.

After the holidays of not seeing a lot of the Aerostat, it was back in the air yesterday. For some reason because of that, it felt like everyone was back to work when I saw it. Combine that with the increase in early morning traffic in the neighborhood, I could tell it was a 'work week.' Less cars in the driveways and more traffic on the city streets and highways. Things were back to normal.

One little sign I have noticed that my hip continues to heal after it's 4 month anniversary, there is no soreness or stiffness in front of the hip or the socket when I get up out of a chair or the couch. I am also able to get in my cars and truck the 'normal' way now, without facing my back to the seat and sliding in that way. I am also catching myself getting in and out of bed the normal way again, instead of sitting on the side the bed and swinging both legs around on top of the bed.

Small things but big differences.

I still want to take a tour of the inside when it's anchored but there is a zero chance of that ever happening.

Stella likes to check out the temperature of the sun numerous times during the day before she decides whether to sleep outside. She continues to sniff the air or perk her long hears up for any signs of the black lab puppy next door. We hardly hear the puppy anymore as it gets older. It is tall enough now that when it jumps up on their flowerbed on it's back legs and leans against the fence, I can reach over and pet it. Stella can only smell the puppy but can't see it.

I'm noticing in my Blogger traffic stats that when I blog less, the spam comments increase and bot traffic from the Ukraine takes over the lead of all readers.  The other day the number of visits from the Ukraine tripled the number of visitors from the United States with Canada being a distant third place.

With the return of the great weather I honestly thought I'd be riding my bike outside every day this week. I still can get in a lot of riding this week but yesterday I couldn't make up my mind if I wanted to or when to ride. Of course if I wait the temps will get warm as it gets later, but the winds increase. 11am seems to be the best time for both worlds to ride. It's not too cold nor windy and I can get home before the winds pick up.

Yesterday about the time I was going to change into bike clothes I had an urge to take a local drive, just to drive. But by the time I was almost walking up the hounds to get ready to leave, I changed my mind. I didn't want to drive just to drive ... I wanted to go hiking.

I had joined the hounds off to the left of them in this photo soaking up my own sunshine. So it was close to 2pm when I decided I was going to get out and do something. Like I have said before, this area is fantastic for doing things outside and the trails or bike paths/lanes are all close to the house.

By the time I had loaded my small backpack with water, changed shoes and grabbed my hat, Heidi had moved inside to the coolest part of the house to continue her afternoon siesta.

When I want a flat trail and quietness, the San Pedro House/River area is the place I like to go. As I pulled into the parking lot I was the third car and one of the other two belongs to the host at the San Pedro House. I was going to have all this vacant land and trails to myself. People were back to work, kids were back in school ... perfect weather with cargo shorts and a flannel shirt. I was going to start my normal path but had a different plan where on the way back I would make a right turn and head for the river, then circle back to the house.

I was walking at a pretty good pace because I wanted to get some miles in for hip exercise and I wanted to get back to the car before they close the gate out by the highway. I wasn't sure what time they do that so I wanted to get back to the car and on the highway by 4pm. I found out later the gate stays open until sundown. I can explore new territory next time even if I have a late start.

I was traveling light, with only a small pack for water and my iPhone. I took my trekking poles for this one spot I would need them but carried them most of the time and didn't need to use them on the trail. My heart rate was up to 109 bpm in no time and never went over 112 bpm. That's a nice range on the bicycle to get in shape without a lot of energy used. I am seeing higher heart rates on my recent rides and find it hard to keep it in the 117-120 bpm range.

While walking the trail I could see all kinds of signs for the past weekend traffic. Horse shoes marked the trail in only one direction, mountain bike tires, ATV tire tracks and multiple hiking boots or shoe soles. With all the fresh prints in the dirt and sand I could tell it has been a busy weekend with people out here.

If I were to ride my mountain bike anywhere off the pavement this area would be the place. With the new hip I cannot fall again unless I want to see my surgeon back in the operating room. He reminded me of that during my last followup appointment. There are only a couple of places with loose sand where I might have problems keeping the bike up but 99% of the trail is hard packed dirt, a few rocky areas but very safe for me.

Here I am heading east toward the San Pedro River or that group of trees on the horizon, left side of the picture.

There are many trails out by the San Pedro House, with a few that I have not hiked yet. No hills to climb, very little elevation change and a dry river bed I'd like to follow sometime. Walking miles in that soft sand would be pretty good exercise ... but the quietness is what I like the most in this area and of course the scenery.

It will be a lot different in a few months on this bench. The temps in the late afternoon will be over a 100°, yesterday it was 62° and sunny. That's the Coronado NF on the far left ... then Miller Peak at the highest point with Carr Canyon next to it. I love the mountain views that I can see in any direction.

Other than what you see here in these photos, not much else has been happening. I think this is the first time since I moved here in June where days feel like they are back to normal. Routines are relaxed, the schedule for doing things is wide open. With great weather, less tv time and less house/yard maintenance, I have time to do all kinds of different outdoor activities. Just as I expected.

I am going through a 'down period' for blogging though. I find it really hard lately to come up with the words, entirely opposite from the times I cannot stop talking/writing. I've noticed on sidebar blog list more bloggers are post less frequently. Some of them have moved to Instagram possibly, or making money on YouTube. Some have just stopped. I remember a few years ago I had 53 blogs listed and most of them were blogging on a regular basis.

I knew once I moved out here I'd be blogging less because there is just so much to do compared to where I lived before. Better year-round weather, more time available during the day and new activities. The hounds have settled in too but their routine hasn't changed that much, just more time outside per their choice. Heidi even leads the walk some afternoons and actually gets excited now when she hears the word 'walk' or sees me taking the retractable leashes out of the closet.

That's the latest update from the 'Wild West'.

Hiking The Brown Canyon Area

Most of the time I have a plan for what I want to do the next day, especially since I am feeling better physically. I am still "listening to my body" and that dictates if I ride my bike or if I take a hike or take a day off. With the sun showing up later due to the change in seasons, the hounds are sleeping later and I am sleeping later. Stella usually wakes us up a little after sunrise with that whine she has when she wants to be fed. The only plans I had on Saturday were a bike ride and the rest of the day watching college football ... things changed.

I got home from my :58 minutes of riding and my hour visit at the bike shop halfway in the trip I had a gut feeling my day of having outdoor fun wasn't over. I had ridden where I wanted and felt good pushing my leg and hip a little further down the road. As I was having my lunch snack watching a game on tv ... the desire was to be outside was strong because it was such a nice day. I have noticed this change in lifestyle on Sundays now, where I will do something outside rather than watch the NFL. These mountains and the scenery literally drag me outside at times.

I felt good enough to go hiking. I had no place in particular I wanted to go, so I grabbed this book off the coffee table to see if something really interested me. The author of this book has hiked every one of the trails he writes about. He updates the trail information and publishes a new book to reflect those changes. I knew I didn't want anything steep or breath taking like Carr Canyon but I wanted to explore some new trails I had seen on my way to the Brown Canyon Ranch House last summer.

As you can see there are a ton of choices in this area. You will notice the Montezuma Pass trip in the different cars or truck and with or without the hounds is at the bottom of the page starting on the road F and shows how much gravel road we travel to get to Parker Canyon Lake. It looks like I need to get back on top of that mountain and check out some of those forest roads that branch off of the West Montezuma Canyon Road.

Instead I chose to go back to the Brown Canyon trailhead and park the FJ there. Its a little over a mile to the ranch house but plenty of roads going left and right off the main road.

This time I took my small backpack with the 64oz of water bottle, my Nikon and the 70-300mm lens just in case I needed it. It would give me a good chance to compare photos of the same landscape to the iPhone camera. 

I knew that Heidi would not be able to finish a hike like I planned but I thought Stella would find it interesting. It wasn't that hot outside but she had her tongue hanging out and was panting after her sun bathing on the patio ... so I decided to leave her home. I had the crate door open, she was about to walk in on her own when I thought "it's such a nice day outside, I can just shut the living room window and leave the patio door open for her." That had worked the other day when I drove to Patagonia for a 3.5 hour trip. So she had the house to herself along with Heidi.

Just past that sign showing a trail to the right, I could see if I made that right hand turn it would be mostly flat and would circle all the way out to where they park the Aerostat and back behind the ranch house. By the time I had walked this far I wasn't interested in flat land, I wanted to see how high I could get on the hills to the left of me.

The  trail was not an "official" trail. I started by following a one track atv/car path that led into the field where a path was barely visible. As you can see I had climbed some elevation and could barely see a path under those tree limbs. It was quite a workout for the new hip and I was using the two trekking poles I had brought this time. I was going to take this as far as it would take me.

Someone had walked this way before. I wasn't making my own path but at times it was hard to see which way I needed to go. There were a lot of rocks on the way too. Sometimes those rocks were the only surface and too large of a space to step over. I cautiously walked on them on my way upward.

I thought this finding was a little strange. Obvious someone or something is buried there that people loved. Was it their pet? What was it?

You can barely see some sort of path snaking it's way to the left under more tree limbs. By this time my watch was telling my my heart rate was only 120bpm, about the same that an easy bike ride would be before my accident. It was nice and quiet, a cool feel to the air and temps only in the low 70's. I wasn't at the panting stage nor did I feel tired, and I didn't feel any negative responses from my new hip. I continued climbing.

The area I wanted to get to was higher than what this picture shows but this small path was leading me away from the highest point left of me. I would still have a good vantage point for taking photos back towards town.

At this point in time, the path disappeared. Past this slab of rocks I didn't see anyway to go further. I had climbed fairly high but not as high as i thought I could get. I knew when I started going down would be the adventure, not the climbing part. You can see the road I was following before veering left. That road is used by hikers, cars, trucks, ATVs, and mountain bikes. There are plenty of trails behind the ranch house that everyone likes to use.

It was a nice place to take a break, drink some water and just observe. I tried to figure out where I was in relation to my house "down there."

That gives you some idea of the incline I climbed, not as high as I wanted but not bad for a first time, stepping up continuously on the new hip. At no time did I feel any pain or soreness making this hike, even after my 58 minute bike ride earlier.

I looked at this going down and knew I was going to have to be extra careful. The trekking poles I brought were an important factor in getting down these rocky slopes without falling on my ass. "Falling" is no longer in my dictionary for permissible acts as the doctor told me weeks ago. Not in those words of course but "don't fall" was.

From the time I left the FJ in the parking lot out by Ramsey Canyon Road I kept my eye out for rattle snakes and scorpions. Why ?? Well on two different occasions friends had posted photos Facebook of a rattle snake crossing the main road and once in the parking lot of the ranch house the same day I was there in the morning. So I was alert so to speak.

As I walked down the hill I had finally come back to the small one track road I had used to turn off the main road. I could see any of my vehicles making this trip. Some of those rocks were not going to move so it would be a good test for my off-road tires that each use. I took my time walking over the rocky surface.

That rocky ledge in the center of the photo is as high as I went. I stood on those rocks taking the photos you saw of the valley back to the Huachuca Mountains.

It was good to see the ranch house come into view as I walked over the small hill that is steep riding a bike the other direction. I was going to use that bench on the front porch for my break of sitting down and having more water. I might even switch out the Nikon lens to the 70-300mm for the trip back to the FJ.

Like anything else, things change quickly. As I approached the house walking to the left of that porch for the entry way ... I hear a bike rider, taking a break in back under the shade trees, ask me something. I couldn't hear him clearly so I walked back and we ended up talking the time used for my break. All of those cars parked in the parking lot did not mean there were a lot of people taking the ranch house tour ... no one was around ... they were all out hiking the small trails behind the house.

I can't remember if I took a picture of this on my last trip so I made sure I did this time. Looking at the activity app on my watch, which automatically downloads to my phone, I saw I had close to a 1.2 mile walk back to the FJ. I didn't feel that tired at the ranch house but I knew I'd be tired after that 1.2 miles added to the activity of the day. It was a great hike and I'll be back in this area to explore the other trails. There are so many that I have not tried yet.

The next time I go back to Brown Canyon or any canyon for that matter, or the next time I take a ride on my bike ... no questions asked ... Stella will be put in her large indoor crate with the four small padlocks at key locations to prevent her from hurting herself since she has tried to force her way out of that. As I drove in front of the house before making the turn into the driveway, I glanced to the living room window to see if my blinds were to the left like I left them.

I saw instantly "Houston we have a problem" (Apollo 13 movie) ... I saw a bloodhound standing with it's front feet on the window sill and the last of the hanging blinds ALL in her mouth for one final jerk, pulling them down from their holders. I honked my horn with hopes of stopping her final jerk.

Stella is a great dog with some huge mental problems. Yet she is consistent and has been since I drove down to Kentucky on a four hour trip to pick her up in August 2015. Guess why they were giving her away? You guessed it. Same stuff different location. I was her 4th owner in her first 6 years of life.

So for those readers that have emailed me over the years telling me that crating a bloodhound is not right ... here is living proof on why I have to. This is NOT the first time I've taken pictures like this, I just haven't blogged about most of the damage I have witnessed over the 4+ years. Drywall attempted escape anyone ????

Luckily in this case, the blinds installer told me when he was finished installing new blinds on three different windows back in August "these come with a lifetime guarantee AND IF YOUR BLOODHOUND TEARS THEM DOWN AGAIN ... you get free blinds and installation JUST ONE TIME"

Well I will believe that when I see it. I'll find out if that is true when I call first thing Monday morning after they open their business. If not I will be using the old debit card again for a new set of blinds. Last time it took 4-6 weeks before the blinds to come in for installation. I assume for just one window that wait will be the same.

Since I didn't want an open view into my house at night I rehung all the blinds she had pulled out to the floor. Luckily every one of them would connect and if I used my fingers to turn the mechanism because she tore down the long arm to use to rotate, they rotated to closed. They don't look good and straight but good enough not to let the whole wide world see my living room at night.

Over the time I have had her, she does this exact same thing in Indiana and Arizona. I give her a little more leeway as she is showing me she can be trusted with no damages. I start with short trips and gradually extend the time I am away from home. When living in Indians she actually passed a 7 hour period where I was gone from the house. A few days later when I ran to town and was gone only 12 minutes ... total destruction.

Just like the past few weeks I had this same situation set up and was gone for over 3 hour each time with no damage. Then just like the past ... destruction.

I've tried meds, downers whatever the first month I lived here. See those photos? That was the same photos I took after she finished the month and a bottle of doggie downers while I was gone. For those readers that think leaving her in the backyard since the temps are cooler now ... well I have tried that numerous time. I even took a 29 minute video just last month ... let's see ... has tired digging under the gate, has tried digging though the concrete patio floor, tried to grab the door knob of the steel screen door to open it, tried to pull the steel screen out with her paws, howls non stop at times ... need more info?

When I looked at this house before I decided to buy it, I though the fenced yard would be perfect to Stella to stay in 10 months out of the year when I was gone.

So as I have said before ... for her safety and my sanity ... anytime I am going somewhere she will be left in a large indoor crate where she can turn around, plenty of room to sleep and in a cool environment. I have even walked back inside the house when I return to find her sound to sleep in the crate. 95% of the time if I hold the door open she walks in on her own.

I'll wait to see how my hip feels today before deciding if I go for another hike or bike ride. So far this morning it feels normal so I doubt that I can sit inside as we have another beautiful day.

Note:  As I was about to click the publish button I hear Heidi doing something I had not heard in the 8+ years I've had her. She was barking nonstop in the backyard. Did we have our first rattlesnake in the yard or any other kind of snake? As I turned the corner of the patio to see what it was ... there were no snakes but she had smelled my neighbor's brand new black lab puppy!!!

There is never a dull moment in the 'Wild West' especially when you own a bloodhound!!

Lots Of Ideas Not Much Action Today

You know something is wrong when you wake up and the room is filled with more sunshine than usual. Both hounds still sleeping, they have not had breakfast yet as far as I can remember. I don't recall ever waking up during the night nor do I remember a bloodhound nose nudging my arm if it's near the edge of the bed. It's 10 minutes until 7am and we haven't slept this late since we moved here. Not even the hounds.

All three of us jump into the normal routine. The hounds seemed confused since it's me waking them up instead of them waking me up. Once they head down the hallway they begin to realize we are starting our day and breakfast kibble is only a few minutes away. They both trot for the back door to be let outside. As I set the two dishes up to pour out the kibble, Stella lets out a loud bloodhound howl telling me she is happy breakfast is being served. Heidi trots around in excitement trying to get the best position once I set the dog dishes down full of kibble.

It was going to be either hiking or a roadtrip today but I needed coffee first, at least a cup before Stella and I took our two hour late walk. What would it be like, walking at 7:30am instead of 5:30am ... more people out walking their dogs or more bicyclist passing the house? I was almost shocked that we saw no one, no dogs, and only one car leaving the area.

That included a walk to the mailbox that is around the corner and down the block. I thought that was a pain to go that far for mail but it's nothing compared to those people that live outside of town and have the same set up. A cabinet of mailboxes on the side of the road for those that live locally. I get the idea that some of them drive a long ways to their mailboxes.

Instead of just grabbing some water, my cap, camera and heading out to the nearest trail, I was in a state of paralysis. Hiking or a roadtrip? I wanted to do both. Take the hounds or leave them home? Well that is pretty easy to answer. With the temps in the 90's by 10am most every day, if I plan to stop to eat somewhere or go see someplace interesting the dogs can't stay in the car due to the heat. Not all small restaurants allow dogs. So If I even think I might stop somewhere they stay home. The hardest part was trying to decide where to drive to.

Then I started thinking of all the stuff I'd like to buy for hiking in general, things suggested by a couple of readers. Like a First Aid Kit, some trekking poles, some t-shirts ... you know, just things on my mind that do nothing but distract me from doing what I planned on doing. Each time I glanced at the time, 30 minutes had past. The day was passing me by.

Around here if you don't get your outdoor activities finished by 10am, it is going to be too hot, possibly too dangerous to do much outside. I like hot, have no problems with temps 90° and higher but there are days I'd prefer to stay inside and just hang out. That's basically what the hounds and I did, not counting the short trips to the library, post office and the sporting goods store for those hiking items.

After that it was ok ... were do I go? I looked through my book of trails, looked at maps and even thought of going  back to the San Pedro River area. That's it ... I could go late in the afternoon. Yet by 5:30pm, even the hounds stood on the small patio and they did not want to move either. Zero motivation. It was still 90°.

Before I could decide what to do, I was deep into that book I have mentioned a few times Going Back to Bisbee. I couldn't stop reading it. It was not only describing the San Pedro River area, he was giving me a history lesson about the area I walked in just a few days ago. He was going back to 1830 in his paragraphs. I was totally unaware what I was walking through and taking photos of the other day, until I read this book today.

Stella decides even at 5:30pm it's too hot and she wants back inside. Since our move she basically doesn't let me out of her sight, following me from room to room. When I let her back inside she laid down by the door right inside with the AC while I sat outside reading my book. Although as I type this I am in my computer room and she is sleeping in the living room, so I guess it's not as bad as I think it is at times.

As I kept looking at the sky today I realized that some days I do not need to go anywhere ... I can enjoy the mountain views, the cloud changes and wide open skies right from my patio. Each day is still pretty amazing here as well as the night skies. I might have to start a little research on basic telescopes to use at night.

I went back to that book on local hiking trails, each having a detailed description and all hiked by the book author. Between the book I'm reading and the book describing local trails there is one thing in common I keep seeing. Each says the best time to see these specific areas are in September and October. Those are options with cooler temps, less people around but if I can go hiking on the mornings I don't ride a bike ... I can take some of those hikes now instead of waiting.

I wasn't going to do anything when I saw their news but this morning I clicked that link provided by Equifax to see if my information was in their 2017 breach. Within a minute they told me I was. Since I was also involved in the Government OPM breach many years ago, I have lifetime ID protection provided for free. Since I could prove to Equifax that I would have ID protection for the next six months I could chose the option for them to send me a check "up to" $125 ... whatever that means. How will they determine the amount of payment? Information is the same for everyone .. with financial risk different.

By 9:00pm the skies were calling it a day. Heidi had not moved for hours sleeping deep in the dark bedroom on her dog bed. When it comes time to sleep for the night she is still on Eastern time and does not hesitate to get up in the living room and walk back to the bedroom to go to her bed. Thats 5:30pm local time for her calling it a day.

A short note ... the book about this area had a great description on the history of a small town NE of me called St. David, as he was following the development along the San Pedro River. This book was written in 1992 but many things he wrote then are still obvious today. The book is so good that I took the one I was reading back to the library and bought my own copy on Amazon.

Everybody talks about water here in the Wild West ... it's like gold and I don't take my water for granted.