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The weather was gorgeous this weekend, so I headed outdoors again, this time to La Milagrosa Canyon. I brought a date here to show her that yes, there is water in the desert! The water flow was much higher than the last time I went. We brought our dogs along–Sonora, being the water-loving, rock-hopping lab she is, was in doggie heaven. Her dog did well, but being smaller, she needed some help getting over some of the big boulders.

Because of the high water and the dogs, it was much slower going than my last time, so we didn’t quite make it to the falls and pools. We stopped at a nice big flat boulder and relaxed in the sun for a while, watching some climbers on the cliffs above us. I think we could have stayed there even longer, but we were losing daylight & had to head back. By the time we got back to the car, we were both incredibly hungry, so we picked up some Quizno’s on the way back to my place and each snarfed a big sub & chips.

A great day, complete with great pictures!

After all the rain Tucson had gotten (which translated to snow on the Catalinas), I wanted to get out this weekend for a hike. My friend Lina joined me for a hike up Pima Canyon to the dam. This hike is one of the best in the Tucson area, and I hadn’t done it in my 7 years living here!

We waited for it to warm up a bit so didn’t get started until about 11am. We followed the trail up the canyon and chased the clouds and fog, which slowly retreated as we gained elevation. The creek was flowing quite a bit thanks to all the snowmelt. We arrived at the “dam” (which was only about 4-6 feet high) around 1pm and had lunch shortly afterwards. We continued on to catch some snow (and throw a few snowballs), but once we hit this elevation the trail became muddy & slippery and we decided to turn back at about 2pm. The sun came out for the hike out, and we were back to the car by 5, which made for perfect timing to grab a tasty (and well-earned) sandwich at AJ’s. Definitely a great hike, and I snapped some pretty good pictures, so check them out!

UPDATE: Pima Canyon Trail is now listed at Earthgoers.

I wasn’t doing anything this weekend so at the last minute I decided to camp out and do a hike.

Late on Saturday afternoon, I threw my inflatable bed, sleeping bag, some food, my guitar, and Sonora in the XTerra and drove up Reddington Pass. After I crested the ridge into the next valley and was out of sight of Tucson, I took a random right on one of the roughest, rockiest roads I’ve ever been on. The XTerra’s 4-Lo gears got a workout on this road as I climbed over boulders and tried not to test my skid plates. After a while it dead-ended at a ridge looking out over the valley. Perfect! I got a fire going, cooked some dinner, and played some guitar & harmonica.

That night dropped a little below freezing, but I was nice & toasty in my sleeping bag. Unfortunately, poor Sonora kept tossing & turning out from under the covers that I threw over her to keep her warm. Occasionally through the night I’d wake up to her shivering against me, and once she even nudged me awake. The next morning I couldn’t cook my eggs & oatmeal because I forgot my mess kit, so I went home & did the cooking there.

After breakfast at home, I headed back out, leaving Sonora at home. I decided to do a loop hike, going up La Milagrosa Canyon, up & over the ridge on the La Milagrosa Ridge Trail, and coming back down Agua Caliente Canyon. These canyons get technical in places, making it difficult with dogs.

The hike is well-described over at HikeArizona.com, so I won’t go into those details. I will say that it’s days like these that I love living in Arizona. It’s the middle of winter, and I’m out hiking on a beautiful sunny day in shorts. There was water flowing in both canyons (likely snowmelt from the higher elevations) and I only ran into one other group while in the canyons. It was a perfect day full of hiking, scrambling, and even a little bouldering. I can’t wait to come back in the late spring/early summer & go for a swim–I saw a few potential cliff-jumping opportunities!

Check out all the pictures!

Since Sonora was injured, I decided to go trail running in Saguaro National Park. The Eastern District is only a few miles from my house, and yet I had never been there because they don’t allow dogs. Well, this was the perfect opportunity to go check it out.

I got a late start on the first outing, but checked the sunset and twilight times and figured I’d be fine. I decided to run a loop which started at the Broadway Trailhead and included Shantz, Pink Hill, Loma Verde, Cholla, and Cactus Forest Trails. The total mileage, according to the map, is 3.3 miles. I figured I could easily finish under 45 minutes and be done before dark. Well, the trail winds around trees and cactus, goes up & down washes, and is very sandy due to the horses that have come before me (and apparently horses are okay and dogs aren’t). I also kept stopping to take pictures of the mountains, cactus, sunset, and giant jackrabbits. So my progress was a little slower than I thought and by the time I got to the Loma Verde Mine it was twilight.

Fortunately, this Eagle Scout is always prepared, and I had brought my headlamp (as well as a map, compass, matches, and plenty of water). I ended up doubling back along the Pink Hill Trail since completing the loop would have been a longer distance. Of course, hiking out in the dark slowed me down even more, and I heard a pack of coyotes howling like crazy between me and the car. Note to self: if I’m not eaten, get an earlier start next time.

Obviously I made it back safely, so the next time out I followed my own advice and started 45 minutes earlier. This time I ran a complete loop heading south from the Broadway Trailhead on the Cactus Forest Trail and returning north on the Mica View Trail. This loop was a little shorter than the last one at only 2.1 miles. Once again, I was snapping pictures of all the beautiful flora & fauna of the Sonoran desert. I came across another jackrabbit who is probably used to all the hikers and didn’t mind me getting within 10 feet of him.

There’s a really nice trail system through the park with a lot of interconnecting trails, all well-worn and properly signed, i.e. slim chance of getting lost. I think I’ll be occasionally heading back even after Sonora heals… just don’t tell her.

Enjoy the pictures!

Late Sunday afternoon I was out in the backyard giving Sonora, my black lab, some always-needed exercise. We were playing her favorite game (fetch) with her favorite toy (the frisbee). On one of my tosses, she tripped a bit and gave a little yelp. She caught the frisbee, but didn’t come back and was holding a paw in the air. Usually this means there’s a thorn and she’s waiting for me and my opposable thumbs to take it out. However, I don’t have any thorny plants in my backyard, and when I went over to check on her she brushed it off and ran back to my throwing spot, ready to retrieve some more.

I tossed the frisbee a few more times and we went inside. A few minutes later I noticed the blood spots every couple feet on the floor. I took a look and she had torn her nail pretty badly. It was broken in half yet still attached, and her quick was very exposed. Ouch!

I immediately consulted the finest minds of veterinary care (a.k.a. Google) and found all kinds of crazy remedies involving cornstarch, teabags, a bar of soap, and superglue. Deciding that perhaps Google wasn’t the D.V.M. I thought it was, I decided to simply sterilize it and bandage the wound.

Yesterday I took Sonora to the real vet since she was due for her Bordatella booster anyway. He recommended sedation, removal of the broken nail, and cauterization, which supposedly would have had her back to normal in 24 hours. He termed this the “Cadillac treatment” — perhaps because he wanted a shiny new Cadillac and was hoping I’d spend hundreds of dollars fixing a broken nail. Being on a limited budged, I asked for the “Yugo treatment” instead. This involved taking Sonora in the back “so she wouldn’t blame me,” pinning her down, cutting/yanking the nail off, and wrapping the entire paw in a sterile, antibiotic-filled wrap. They sent me on my way with some more antibiotics.

So now Sonora has about a week-long recovery with a dressing that I’m not supposed to take off until Friday. They said she could walk on it, but it’s obvious it still hurts–the poor girl has been limping around the house. I can tell she has energy and really wants to play fetch, but definitely doesn’t like chasing the ball around on three legs.

The token sympathy pictures: