The Weather Couldn't Make Up It's Mind

The day started with a lot of plans and just as I hoped, at 5am instead of 3am. It's always nice to look at the Mule Mountains to the left as I step out on the patio. The hounds are stepping into their yard to relieve themselves and hope I have their breakfast kibble poured by the time they are finished. But sometimes I have to grab my camera first because the sky can change quickly, even that early in the morning. The weather nor I could make up our minds today, so I might have to ramble a little in this post.

The only decision that was made and kept, I had decided today I would take all of my photos, no matter where I went or where I was, with the older dusty Nikon D3200 and the Tamron 18-200mm lens. they both look as if they've been through the desert and back. Yet, any dust seen on either piece is dust from 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana and not SE Arizona.

My first shots of the day are always the same three, moving from left to right as I stand on my small patio. Just like I did when standing outside on the step overlooking the highway and taking a picture the corn or soybean field 365 days per year back in Indiana. I always thought it was a nice way to see the change of seasons, the changes in weather and crops planted.

I expect to see the same changes within these three photos each day. It's hard to believe that sometime here, I will not be living in shorts and t-shirts every day ... I did bring a pair of jeans with me and the lined Wranglers just in case ... or was it more paranoia?

Another decision I made was before I did any walk I was going to have a cup of coffee, the school bus could be damned. So what if it was parked as we finished our walk? Stella likes kids yet some adults we have met in the early morning walks are afraid of a dog her size ... but they eventually come around when they see that Stella is harmless.

She starts every morning after she eats doing this ... taking a few steps in the yard to sniff the air, working her nostrils as he turns her head from one corner of the yard to the other. Is it the scents she has picked up or has her ears found something far away that she can't quite figure out what the sound is? At that time of day the sound of different birds are everywhere.

It seemed like my day was planned before I finished that first cup of coffee with the huge urge I had to go hiking locally instead of riding my bike. The feeling between the two choices were not close and I knew exactly which trail I was wanting to see. I see it every bike ride, south of Ramsey Canyon Rd and the dirt path looks like it goes straight up the side of the smaller mountain. As I make the right turn riding I thought I saw a small parking area at the trailhead ... but the satellite map told a whole different story.

My first clue that the day was out of whack and not my braincells was just about the time Stella and I were crossing the street on her walk on the way back into the the neighborhood I was hearing, then feeling some really big rain drops!!! How could that be?? No chance of rain, sunny skies with scattered clouds and two different joggers had just crossed in front of us.

Rain ???

As soon as I walked inside I grabbed the camera and headed back to the front yard to capture the sky I was talking about ... but there were signs in the backyard that yes ... it was raining. The smell of rain was strong but it was a light rain.

This threw doubt into the plans for the day. I guess I could take a light rain jacket and still enjoy the morning. I needed another cup of coffee before I could make a clear decision.

This was toward the trail I wanted to hike and as you can see it was raining. So with that in mind I sat down to take another look at that area on Google satellite map and hit the wall. Not seen by where I was on the road just ahead of where I would have parked the car, was a huge gate spreading across not only the small dirt lane but across private property. I'll have to take a drive out that way and see if they have no trespassing signs as many of the other property owners do in that area. Hiking that trail may not be an option.

It was still very early in the day and plenty of time to change my mind and for the weather to change. I thought about going back to the San Pedro House and take their longest trail and I was ready to go right then ... problem was that is a gated property and they did not open until 9:30am. It was barely past 6:30am when I had this idea.

What about a road trip?

The hounds could ride in the back and sleep as I drive over to check out McNeal, Elfrida or even as far as Pearce if I were to continue north. I could circle back to I-10 to Benson and refresh those memories of the day I arrived. I drove that part of I-10 an hour after sunrise driving from Truth or Consequences, NM in the early morning hours. I had stopped there for a short 1-2 hour nap to carry me through the rest of the way.

This was a day I couldn't make up my mind what to do either, so basically I ended up doing nothing ... no hiking ... no road trip. Stella as you see couldn't decide whether to stay outside or comeback inside. Heidi had not woke up since her breakfast at 5am ... oh she did one time ... to flip one ends in the deep corner of the computer room.

So with them sleeping so well ... did I really want to wake them up, load them in the car just to take a road trip?

Stella decided if I was going anywhere I was going to have to leave through the garage because she wasn't moving no matter what.

We spent the rest of the morning waiting for 9:30am so the gates would open at the San Pedro House. Of course in my life an hour of waiting is like a lifetime and I can come up with a 100 more ideas by that time. And ... I did. By 9am I had the urge to take a ride around the town on the mountain bike. I stepped outside to check the weather to smell rain and hear big rain drops that I cannot see ... riding cancelled.

When 9:30am came around I didn't feel like heading that way. Just after lunch while Heidi and I stayed inside enjoying the AC, Stella went to the door to be let out ... this was as far as she got. It was 94° by this time and that warm patio must have felt good to her. It wasn't long before she was standing at the door. She NEVER barks to come back inside ... she just stands quietly, knowing I will show up eventually.

Since I had basically cancelled the day ... there is always time for a mid-day siesta. After all by noon I've already been up for 7 hours so why not. Maybe a short siesta would give me some ideas on where to go when I got up and the energy to finally do something.

It did ... Big5 Sporting Goods just a few miles away to check out some backpacking stuff ... but I'd rather to go REI in Tucson for that ... but not a surprise ... I don't feel like driving to Tucson today.  LOL When will the insanity end???

I was deep into my latest read, Going Back to Bisbee by Richard Shelton, when a loud roll of thunder woke up both hounds and made me flinch on the couch. As always I grabbed the camera and headed for the patio.

Rain to the SE ...

Rain to the South ...

And you can barely see if you squint ... where it is raining in my backyard. A very strange rain pattern showing most of it dry ... can you see it? To the left only half of the yard was wet but the boundary was so light that the camera could not show the difference.

Even with the sound of rain drops, thunder and a strong scent of rain ... the sunshine was going to fight hard to break on through.

Looking to the left ... rain was only a rumor.

Stella was curious enough to come outside to see what was going on. She must have been really curious because when I left her she was under my computer desk sleeping and snoring lightly.

Actually over that ridge there are a lot of houses and a few businesses that I cannot see nor can I see any of their lights at night.

Stella working those nostrils again to collect data ...

The old pug next door doesn't like storms. It's rare when I hear him bark but he was today with no one home yet. Stella is always concerned when she hears a dog nearby barking. That is quite a switch from living where we did but it's a very nice trade-off. Like I said recently, I did not realize how much noise that highway made until I was no longer living a 100' from it.

So a few barks from the neighborhood dogs is fine with me. Overall this place is extremely quiet and not as busy as I thought it would be.

My old friend that lives in Phoenix and is pretty knowledgeable about weather told me yesterday that this year's monsoon is the strangest of his 29 years living in Phoenix. He asked me what the dew point was where I was and it was at 51° He said normally it would have been above 65° during the monsoons. (He does NOT call it a season). He mentioned that I might be seeing the new norm of the driest monsoon of the year.

Others on a Facebook group that post photos of the local area are wondering the same thing ... where are the monsoons ??

Even with a lot of indecision it was a great day here in the Wild West.

Heidi Attacks The Walk At Sunrise

It might look like a normal sunrise but there were a couple of things happen in the background that made this day so much different. It started in the middle of the night, the bedroom lit up by the full moon and a whining bloodhound ... Stella. It was hard to tell what time of night it was because everything was so bright ... but it didn't look and didn't feel anything like it was time for sunrise.

It was 3:00am ... THREE O'CLOCK AM ... 3am !!!!

She wasn't going to give up on her request either. Time meant nothing to her and of course once Heidi woke up to Stella's tail wagging against the chest of drawers (on purpose) she was sure it was time to get up and of course have breakfast. After 15 minutes of telling them to go back to sleep I was the one that gave up. I flipped the light on and the three of us marched down the hallway, around the corner and into the kitchen.

Of course they always go outside first thing in the morning so out they went. I must admit the sky was awesome with the full moon making it feel like daytime. I poured the kibble out quick, shut the back door as they walked in, flipped off the light and headed back to bed by 3:30am while they ate their kibble.

What did they do when they were finished?

They came back to the bedroom, Heidi to her dog bed and Stella over against the opposite wall ... AND WENT BACK TO SLEEP !!!!  LOL

That did not mean all three of us would sleep late. We were still up by 5:30am witnessing another beautiful sky to start the day. Before coffee was even made I was putting on shoes to take the daily morning walk. Only things were different this time.

Instead of being back in one of her many sleeping spots in the house, Heidi was wide awake and standing next to Stella waiting for me to get the retractable leashes right after I pull a new poop bag off the roll and stick it in my pocket. I could not believe Heidi was wanting to take the walk with Stella and I.

By the time we got back and I had finished my cup of coffee I could tell by this view it was going to be another beautiful day, all depending on when I wanted to get started.

With both hounds on their respectable leashes inside the house, a safety feature in case other kids or other dogs are taking their walks in front of the house, we headed outside with Heidi leading the way. Stella always like to stop a few steps outside to sniff the air to see whats up ... but not Heidi. She was practically sprinting for the sidewalk.

With only two hands, two leashes and a possible used poop bag, there just isn't enough room to take the camera. Heidi was in a 'trot' mode and wouldn't slow down for a walk. At first I thought she was trying to keep up with Stella who was leisurely strolling out in the street along with me ... it's a neighborhood and few if any cars are out at that time of day. I prefer to walk out away from people's yards as we head to the vacant land down the street.

Then I thought Heidi was rushing to a spot to pee but that wasn't it either ... she was in a fast walking trot ... as fast as those short basset legs would take her. After about a 1/4 mile and no let up on her fast pace ... it occurred to me ... before I picked her up from GABR 8 years ago she was known as a 'runner' ... breaking away from the house and running the streets and sidewalks until the local animal shelter would catch her.

I had to wonder if the surface under her paws brought back those distant memories of running away or away from someone chasing her and that is why she would not slow down to a leisurely walk like she use to do in the field. She did stop a few times after we got to the vacant land to sniff things and she eventually slowed her pace down to a walk, then to a very very slow walk. The watch said .6 of a mile by the time we finished.

Stella thought the best thing to do when she got back was to take a quick nap outside while I got ready to do my morning bike ride. It was actually cool this time of day so those cold stones also felt good to her.

Heidi on the other hand got no further than the love seat after she walked inside the house and found the best place to sleep. She was still sleeping in that same spot when I returned an hour and a half later after my bike ride. It will be a few days or weeks before she has the motivation for another morning walk.

I didn't do any hiking today ... just a normal day around the house with a short visit to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned. After that it was to Fry's Market for some fruit, sour cream for the burritos tonight and a stop by their gas station to fill the gas tank up. Based on my awards for shopping at Fry's Market they were giving me 20 cents off per gallon of gas. Not a bad deal.

Like I said it is full moon time as all of you know. I did nothing for this photo last night except switch to a night time automatic setting and held the D3200 still in my hand. I'm surprised it came out as good as it did.

I changed the setting to full automatic, no flash and held the camera steady in my hand. That moon is about as full as you can get. I expect tonight to be much of the same and I can only hope the hounds try to sleep through the 3am hour and start bothering me around 4:30am or 5am.

That is the thing though ... IF I don't hear or respond to Stella's whining on any morning, then her next option to wake me up is to start wagging her tail of steel against the chest of drawers knowing that will be loud enough to wake me up and hopefully not the neighbors.

Awake too early but still another fine day here in the Wild West.

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.