surprising agility
Posted by Zonie on March 25, 2024 at 18:38:09
Phoenix has had a very peculiar weather pattern of late. There was a cutoff depression that lingered over the area for several days, delivering showers that gave repeated small doses of rain to some of the metro area, with the rain and snow far more copious in the high country. Then we had a few warm and dry days. Our first 30°C day of the year was Friday. Then we had a cold front with more rain Saturday night. I wasn't optimistic about the mud situation, but things were better than I had expected.
I had a wet adventure I hadn't expected Sunday morning. The rain had stopped, and the radar screen showed nothing to the west. Dr. Ceranski was willing to go on our usual climb. As we ascended the alternate summit trail, it began to rain again, but he didn't ask to turn around, but he expressed his regret that he had a jacket rather than an overcoat.
The strange part came on our way down the main summit trail after we got to the junction. At one point he slipped on a wet rock, then stepped in a puddle with the other foot then slipped on another wet rock and bounced around for a bit with both feet, righted himself, and continued down the trail as if nothing had happened, not falling. I said, "I haven't seen you do the Polish jig in years." 86 years old, and he's still agile as a cat! When I told his wife, she was also impressed, but she insisted he change into dry clothes.
The rain soon stopped, and I contemplated what to do with the rest of the day. It occurred to me that with the blustery and unsettled weather, there might be a vacancy at the Cave Creek rodeo. I visited the website, but they were sold out, so I decided to go hiking at the west segment of Reach 11.
Apart from their being only periodic light sprinkles, it was ideal hiking weather. It was overcast and about 15°C, quite unusual for early spring. I took the south trail and encountered some very nice sloppy mud. I was disappointed that some park officials had poured gravel over the best mud holes, but I still found some good places.
At one point a young lady walking a dog overtook me. She told me that a coyote had been stalking her until a mountain bicyclist had frightened it away. I'm no expert on dog breeds, but the dog she was walking looked large enough to be a match for any coyote. Well I didn't see any coyotes, so if one was stalking me, it was being subtle.
The mud under the HWY 51 overpass was quite impressive, and I spent some time slogging back and forth through that. I then continued westward past the HWY 101 overpass, having found plenty of good mud between them. I then had the morbid curiosity to re-visit the site of my toilet trapping two weeks earlier. The path northwards towards that trailhead had some good mud, as did the area around the off-the-leash dog park. I spent some time stomping, splashing and enjoying and finally went to see the lavatory complex. The out-of-order sign and the caution tape were still there. Park workers have strange priorities. They'll waste time using gravel to ruin good mud holes, but they can't fix a toilet door in two weeks.
I did some further wandering to the west and turned back, enjoying the same mud holes a second time. After HWY 51, I took the northern route and found some good mud there. I was about to enter an arroyo when a mountain bicyclist said to me, "Be careful, there are crazy people with guns around here."
I said, "There are always crazy people with guns. This is Phoenix." It doesn't make a whole lot of sense how many people want to be sure the mentally ill are disarmed. I spent 3½ months in a psychiatric hospital, and I never met anybody there whom I feared. They weren't a bunch of aspiring mass-murderers. They were just ordinary people who were having trouble looking after themselves. I wouldn't have any problem with them having firearms when they're well enough to be released.
I'll have to face the arrival of spring eventually, but we're expecting another winter-like storm next weekend.