San Pedro House & Trails Closed

Walter is quite the talker. He will not always do a full bark at me but a mix of a growl and the start of a bark. Here there is NO food involved. Stella is sound to sleep just to the right of me on the floor. Nothing on tv he likes watching and he does watch tv sometimes. No ... he just wanted some attention. His next move after this with no results ... he tries "divebombing" up on my lap but can't quite make it that high. He knows he is a "bulldozer".

Stella doesn't run anymore and didn't the last couple of years in Indiana after she and Stella would chase deer at full speed. Some days she does not want to go on the .62 mile walk. She lays in the sun a lot and sleeps. And sleeps a lot inside. It's good that Walter will give her the time she needs to rest. Just normal activity for an aging bloodhound.

After taking some photos Friday morning at the entrance to the San Pedro House, I got this announcement from a news feed on my Facebook account this morning. Access to the San Pedro House and all their hiking trails are closed until further notice. Here is the announcement: CLOSED DUE TO FIRE

There's times that Walter does my work for me by cleaning not only Heidi's ears but Stella's.

It stayed like this most of the day. Like I said the other day, my activities go with the flow. Spur of the moment decisions on what to do, so today laundry was done and I hand washed the dishes instead of using the dishwasher. I could feel the humidity when I woke up at sunrise. It was windier than normal and a few drops of rain as I stood outside taking this photo. BTW, I've never seen water in the backyard high enough to flow out that one brick they put at the bottom of the fence for drainage many years ago.

Walter decided early this morning that if none of us were going to play with him, then he would drag what bones he could find into the computer room and play alone. Out of that stack, only the small red bone is new ... all the rest were pulled out of the hound locker since Heidi nor Stella were not interested in them ... that is until Walter wanted them.

He is sleeping and snoring loudly after his solo play session ... Stella never moved.

Heidi's dog bed was part of that laundry project. These next three photos are a typical daily afternoon rain or shine.

I was on a plant based diet again from February until just recently. I spent almost every night feeling hungry at 7pm no matter how much food I had eaten that day. I went back to eating fish, like this Pacific wild caught salmon. That amount makes 4-5 meals. I see nothing wrong having fresh salmon in my diet. I also don't see anything wrong with an occasional veggie pizza with cheese. I was cold turkey on the dairy products for months until I had the first container of Ben and Jerry's ice cream then I fell off the plant based diet wagon really hard. My annual bloodwork is scheduled for this December and YES ... I do have a spreadsheet with all of last years numbers to compare with those in 2020.

With all the daily news on this virus and all the examples of people getting sick and some cases dying after they attend a small family dinner or birthday party ... it totally confuses me when I see photos of a family birthday party on the lake and inside a house back in Indiana. No masks were worn in the 17 photos they posted, age range was from 5 years old to over 60 years old. Social distancing was just a rumor to them. They were packed next to each other as close as possible for the group birthday photo .... what am I missing here??? I'd like to know later if anyone of them feels sick and tests positive.

I don't have pictures but I received some handles for my 1964 Panel camping windows. Three were missing and the ones I bought from a member off the Samba forum were made to perfection. I can now open and close those louvered windows with ease. Forum members are 100% in favor of me getting the wheels and bumpers painted instead of the rusty crusty look. Since the body of the bus was already painted, it would only look right to finish the wheels and bumpers.

I'll try to get out this week for some off grid photography. It looks like rain is in the forecast Thursday, Friday and Saturday but that will put our highs in the 80's instead of near 100. I am going to find somewhere to do some hiking with the camera. Most places I've gone in the past locally to hike are closed and gated.

It was a productive day here in the 'wild west', although quiet and calm.

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.

Hiking The San Pedro River

The plan on Monday afternoon was a quick run to the bank and then turn the opposite direction and head to Papa's Diner for lunch. I first saw a photo of this diner during my research last winter in Indiana. I like to click the 'images' link when doing an internet search.

I had missed the hours for lunch so I thought the diner might be a little less crowded in the early afternoon. I was happy to see a cars in the parking lot, a good sign there is good food, and I was happy that it wasn't that busy as I stepped inside. I was thinking just the basics, a cheeseburger, fries and a milk shake.

A surprise was inside this menu. This wasn't just a burger and fries diner, this had multiple pages for breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner. I still steered my way to the page full of different burger combinations and with the help of the waitress I was able to find a 'normal' cheeseburger, but hold the mayo. Something caught my eye in the lower right corner of the next page ... chili.

Yes it's near 90°, it's summer time but in my book there is always time for chili ... especially when one is labeled "the hottest". I ordered a small cup of chili not knowing just how big the burger was going to be nor the portion size of french fries. Near the end I could barely finished the burger and fries. The chili was just as hot as I wanted, the kind that takes your breath away and you can feel sweat below your eyes. Perfect flavor.

Either I didn't read the small print or did not notice but a piece great tasting garlic bread was included with the cup of chili. I forgot to tell them to hold the lettuce, so as I peeled that off the top finding a large plain beef burger with a lot of cracked black pepper (just the way I like it) ... I lifted it up to see an amazing amount of melted cheese. Not sliced America cheese but shredded Cheddar cheese. Perfect.

I never like taking photos inside a restaurant where people are sitting. So the corner seat across from me and behind me was the only inside photo I took. The food was FANTASTIC and as I was at the cash register paying my bill I joking mentioned with that 3-meal menu I might have to start going there for all my meals and stop buying groceries. She didn't even laugh, didn't think it was a bad idea as she replied "see that guy over there? he does that ... doesn't buy groceries and eats here for all his meals."

I will be eat at Papa's Diner a LOT !!!

There was nothing planned after that trip to Papa's Diner. I figured that would be my blog post of the day, my first or a few food reviews. I guess I have done some in the past on this blog. Every time I drive east on Hwy 90 heading to Bisbee or Tombstone I always tell myself I need to stop and check out the San Pedro River House. Finally yesterday as I headed back to town thinking I was going to buy some things at the store, I made a right turn instead and headed out of town.

It's easy access off and onto the highway. It is not that far from the highway, not nearly as far as the photo makes it to be. Even at this point of the drive I had no intentions of taking a hike. I thought I'd look around the house, check out what was near the house and take a few photos. But at times things with me can change within an instant. Just like heading out this way instead of going to the store for some things I needed to buy.

As soon as I parked the car I saw one of the biggest tree trunks that I can remember. I stepped back as far as I could so I could fit the tree in the photo but this was the best I could do and still get a close up photo of the trunk size, my main reason for getting a photo. Off to the left was an old stone structure.

I could see on the different displays there were a lot of hiking trails branching off from the house area. It was hot, I was not wearing my ballcap nor did I bring any water with me ... so taking a hike on those trails seemed out of the question.

As I opened the door to the house I could see it had almost everything a tourist would need or even someone like me that came unprepared to take any kind of hikes. It had all kinds of maps and one page cards with information. Besides protein bars, water, t-shirts, ball caps, and sun hiking hats for sale, there was a vault of information sitting behind the counter, the house host. Although I saw they had guided hikes listed out front along with bird watching times ... she asked me if I was interested in taking a hike down by the river.

I told her I stopped by on kind of a impulse trip, didn't have a hat and didn't bring any water with me to take a hike. She replied that she could fix that. Instead of trying to sell me a brand new Sun Tripper Cap, she said if I did not mind the stain I could use the 'defective cap' she had in back. The stain she spoke of was about the size of a ball point pen. Hardly noticeable. She also had a fridge full of free water if I wanted some.

She handed me the cap, and a one page trail guide. As she was in back getting the sun tripper cap this t-shirt caught my eye. With concerns from out of state friends almost certain the hounds and I are not safe from all the rattlesnakes that MUST BE living here ... I saw something I would buy on the way back. A nice addition to my t-shirt collection. I live in t-shirts.

I had a short walk towards the river and once I made a right hand turn to head south, those large tall cottonwood trees would supply me with enough shade, the rest of the 1-2 mile walk was out of the sunshine. I wasn't more than 50' into my walk when I knew I really liked this area and the loaned cap I was wearing ... a good idea to come out here.

Someone will have to tell me what this is called. I have read about them but as usual I cannot remember it's name. I WAS going to keep a keen eye out for snakes or spiders. That seems to be the norm anymore, while still enjoying the scenery around me and above me.

Last week when I thought of coming out to the San Pedro River, I was just wanting to see how much water it had running from the south toward the Gila River up north. Surely the monsoons had added some water to the dry river bed I saw weeks ago as I crossed the San Pedro River on Hwy 90.

This was my first check point to see what if anything was flowing from the south. The host reminded me after my hike that this area is at higher elevation than Tucson and the river starts about 150 miles inside Mexico in the mountains.

That's a nice wide path but it would change later. Signs near the parking lot said that mountain bikes and Bloodhounds or Basset Hounds were allowed as long as they were on a leash and 'under control'. I saw signs up ahead though that told me it was probably not best to bring Stella out for a walk later on. She stood there staring back at me as I walked as slow as I could to get a better photo of her. She bolted off into the brush the closer I got.

There must have been a 20° drop in temperature in the shade. With a gentle breeze it was perfect weather to be taking a hike at 2:30pm.

Nice shade along the way.

Although the trail was well marked, there were other trails that branched off that could put you on a much longer hike than planned. It will be another hike on another day for that. I'll bring water and a small pack with me.

I noticed the water was really muddy but I didn't think anything of it until after the hike when the host asked me if the water was muddy. Obviously from her question, dirty water is not the normal scene.

Looking through the tall brush and seeing the mountains ... how many people in the USA would think this is in Arizona?

Surveying the ground around the trail as I walked, glancing to my left I thought this mud had some interesting designs in it. Remember that I am a complete novice in hiking. I have camped before but not a lot of hiking. Mostly riding bicycles are main past activity. Any guesses what caused that interesting design in the mud?

As I walked I noticed the skies were getting cloudy with those dark rain clouds. WeatherBug said there was a 0% chance of rain yesterday. What I have learned in the short time I have lived in this area, those forecast don't mean squat during the monsoons. A bright sunny day can change quickly as the afternoon progresses. I kept on going and wasn't concerned about rain.

The host was not sure about the trail but warned me that parts of it might be muddy or even washed out enough that I could not get through. I had seen parts of the trail pretty muddy on my way out but was always able to take the higher ground to get around them. I saw a lot of fresh dog prints and a few tire prints from mountain bikes ... so I continued on.

Since I was not intending on hiking yesterday, not only did not I not bring any water with me, I did not bring the only hiking stick I own. I may need two of them like greg mentioned on Sunday nights post. The small bank full of grass was the only way to get past this section on the trail. I did not see where anyone else had attempted to pass this section because there were no signs of grass that had been mashed down by people walking. I thought I had found a away to pass by this section of mud.

Within a split second my feet came out from under me, sliding in the mud and I was down but was able to catch myself before falling completely in the mud. The sole on those shoes are the exact same as any hiking boot. It is the same material but obviously not as thick. I bought those shoes before I moved to use as my every day shoes. They can be submerged in water like they were on Saturday's bike ride in the rain or walking through a flowing river bed.

After not finding any way to get around that section of muddy land I had no choice but to turn around and head back. I was about a mile away from the San Pedro House, where I started.

Here are some of the muddy sections I and others had a way to walk around on higher ground.

Some walked through the mud earlier.

When I heard some thunder, I thought "you have to be kidding me" ... rain today ??? To the north it was looking like rain, toward the SW at the mountains it was bright and sunny. I maintained my same pace, no hurry ... just enjoying the trail and the skies above me.

It is so nice to be living so close to hiking areas where you do not hear any kind of sound except all the different birds.

This gave me hope that I would say dry, as if it made any difference with mud on my leg, the back of my forearm and other knee.

Yet when I turned to look to my right it's raining to the north and across the highway. I had plenty of time to get back to the car. The closer I got to the house I began thinking I would go ahead and buy this hat I was loaned. While I walked under the cottonwood trees in the shade I still had a lot of sweat building up on the inside of the bill of the cap. It was really 'defective' now and could not be sold.

While I left the hat at the counter with the host, I went in the back room and pulled that rattlesnake t-shirt off the rack. I was in luck, they were on sale for $15. The Sun Tripper Cap ??? She gave me a 50% discount so I walked out the house with a $12 cap that is adjustable, comfortable, a longer bill to keep the sunshine out of your eyes and built to be worn on hikes or for those that bird watch.

I will say for those readers that want to visit the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area or hike/bike their trails ... all you need is water ... they have all the maps you need for free right.

It was a great 2 mile hike and I will definitely be going back to hike the other trails they have ... I'll come prepared next time.

Another great day on Monday here in the Wild West.