Hike #22 - Sonoran Preserve - Desert Vista Trailhead - Western Vista Trail Summit Phoenix AZ

Hike #22

Date: March 14, 2014 

Location: Phoenix AZ

Hikers: Me & Stroodel

Directions:  
I17 North to Happy Valley Road or 7th Street North to Happy Valley Road. North on 19th Ave. Stay Straight onto N North Valley Pkwy. Take 3rd right onto W Copperhead Trail. Take 1st left onto N Melvern Trail and first right onto W Desert Vista Trail.  This trailhead is behind the Fireside Development. No Water/No Restrooms

Sonoran Preserve - Desert Vista Trailhead 

http://phoenix.gov/parks/trails/locations/sonoran/index.html
or    http://phoenix.gov/webcms/groups/internet/@inter/@dept/@parks/documents/web_content/095100.pdf

Back at the Sonoran Preserve to try another new hike. Going to the Western Vista Trail Summit

The trail I am taking is Hawk's Nest to Dixie Mountain. Then Dixie Mountain West to Western Vista Trail. This is an after work hike for me on a beautiful Friday afternoon.  Trying to make up for missed Cardio this week.

I decided to take Stroodel since it is cool and she is just coming off her teeth cleaning surgery on Tuesday. She needs to get her energy out.

This hike will be approximately 4 miles.  We headed up Hawks Nest to Dixie Mountain junction.  At the top of the hill we headed to the left.  Two bikers passed up on the way up.  Two people passed us on Dixie Mountain. Other than that we did not see anyone.

It was very peaceful today. We could hear the wind whipping.  A couple bunnies and squirrels went by us.  Even a couple birds were hiding and took off and of course I screamed.  We clipped along at a good pace of a 17 minute miles. That was pretty good since there were some hills. That's all Stroodsy taking the lead.

We passed the old car (probably new stolen car) that we saw on our hike #15. But we were coming from the other direction.  The wild flowers and cactus blooms still are not happening as much as they should.  Where is the RAIN? It took longer than I expected to get to the marker for Western Vista.

The path up to Western Vista looks gradual although I can see some switchbacks ahead.
I love sweeping switchbacks.

We stopped for a couple minutes for a drink. The summit trail is .35 miles. It was a nice steep up hill. A good butt buster.

At the top there is a pile of rock as a memorial.  There was a Pat Tillman rock and a rock for the Fire Fighters from last summers Yarnell Fire.

We paused for a while and then headed back down. Stroodel seemed fine and we could see our trail home below us to the South.  We were ready to hit it!


We picked up our pace down because that is more fun.  Then all of a sudden Stroodel stopped.  She did her typical I am tired or hot stop and lay down.  She did this a couple times until we made it back to the Dixie Mountain trail.  I checked her collar to see if it was bugging her and then checked her feet for cactus.  It was then I noticed her right paw had a cut in her pad.  I cleaned it and we started back up.  I knew I did not have a choice, we had to get back. We were just under 2 miles out.  WELL....this continued and I discovered her pads on the left paw were cut too.  OMG! It was horrible.  She would stop and go for the next 1.5 miles.  I felt so bad. I took off my socks and put them on her feet. She did not like that.

 

We were 4 minutes from the top of Hawks Nest and Stroodel came to a complete stop.  Going no further.  When she was laying there I saw that ALL of her paws had slit pads.  

Some were hanging.  I knew she was done!!

I tried to call Julio but I knew he was heading to work and was too far away.

Phone a friend panic kicked in.  I called Rick to see if he was home.  He is the only person I knew who would understand what trail I was on, could hike it and help me carry Stroodel down.
Thank God he just picked up Easton and was close. I called Julio freaking out and he calmed me down.  I waited and shut my GPS off at this point.
As you can see Stroodel and I scrambled trying to get moving again.

Rick appeared at the top of the trail and lifted Stroodel (70 pounds) down the hill.  He carried her over 1/4 mile. He stopped several times. Stroodel walked a couple times with the help of Easton calling her.  Rick was a trouper. He had blood on his shorts.  He picked Stroodel up as dead weight.  It was quite the ordeal!  I told him he was going to make great news for my blog!

Funny thing - While coming down two ladies were hiking down with a huge dog.  All of a sudden I hear "Ricky's Mom"?  It was Nick's Mom. We had not seen each other since the boys graduated High School.  Funny....not really...Here we are chatting and Rick is carrying the dog.  We hugged and said good bye and to say hi to the boys.

We made it to the car.  Once Stroodel hit the pavement she walked on her own.

I said Thank You and Good Bye to my Helpers, Rick and Easton.  I don't know what I would have done if they did not show up. (I really did not want to be on the news)

I called the Vet and they could fit us in as long as we would be patient. Ah Yeah!
So we went straight there.  Stroodel had a pedicure soak bath....ha ha.  They cut the skin, iodized the sores and bandaged her up.  Who knew hike #22 would be so exciting??

My 4 legged companion will be sitting out the hikes for a while.  :(

She is definitely a STROODEL! 

This hike stopped short but would have been about 4.5 miles and probably a little over 1 hour. Lots of lessons learned. If your dog will hike with booties buy them. Mine never would wear them. Keep phone charged.  Have a phone a friend.  Don't panic, think the situation through. There was no reason for this situation per the Vet. Stroodel is a hiking dog, sometimes it just happens.

Hike #22 Goes Down in the History Books!