unexpected trail maintenance

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Posted by Zonie on November 21, 2025 at 03:41:59

We've been having some intermittent storms in central Arizona. More rain is expected Saturday night. I went hiking at the west segment of Reach 11 Tuesday afternoon and this afternoon. Both days the road to the equestrian center was left open but nothing was going on there. The proposed 2019 expansion has certainly been a flop. I hardly ever see anyone using it these days.

Tuesday afternoon there were only a few cars at the trailhead, probably because thunderstorms were moving into the area. This afternoon it was merely mostly cloudy, but I was surprised that the parking lot was as crowded as on a weekend though it was 1:45 on a Thursday afternoon. You'd think there were a bunch of other unemployed people with nothing better to do than enjoy muddy trails. I only saw a few of them on my hike, so I'm not sure where all the other people went.

Tuesday afternoon I overdid it, and my knees paid for it on the return journey. I was headed towards a wall cloud to the west, but I never saw it rotate, so I don't think a tornado came out of it. I heard a lot of thunder, but where I was the rain was disappointingly light and intermittent. There were some good mud holes west of the HWY 101 overpass from a previous rain.

I'd have done better to have stayed near the equestrian center, as that was clearly the area that got more rain from the thunderstorm. As I went back there were many more mud puddles in which to stomp than there had been on the way out. I was still there after dark, but I was surprised by what I didn't hear. I didn't hear any mosquitoes, and I didn't hear any coyotes. It had been about a month since the last major storm. That seems normal in this climate, but maybe it was enough drying to break the life cycle. As to the coyotes, I can only speculate that they left the neighborhood so as not to be around lower-class humans.

There had been more rain last night and this morning, so there were more mud puddles this afternoon. I decided to head to a trail northwest of the equestrian center that I don't use very often. I soon found I had some trail maintenance to do. A large palo verde limb had cracked in the storms but not severed and was blocking the trail.

Despite my various ailments, my strength has largely remained with me. I pulled the limb and managed to sever it completely from the tree. Having freed it, the next task was to drag it off the trail. There my body reminded me that my stamina was not what it once was, and I had to pause several times, but I got it off the trail.

Still, enough serious trail maintenance, it was time for more exploration and puddle stomping. I found plenty of good mud and no further blocked trails. I saw a broken cactus, but it wasn't blocking any trail, and it was a bit too sticky a situation to deal with using only my bare hands. This time I got back before sunset, and my knees weren't giving me much trouble.

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