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| Hiking | 9.20 Miles |
1,887 AEG |
| | Hiking | 9.20 Miles | 2 Hrs 46 Mns | | 3.33 mph |
| 1,887 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Well, it was time to visit my old buddy Wasson. You couldn't have asked for better weather and conditions out on the trail. I haven't been out to this trail since I was one of those punk Tucson high school kids who used to go out there to party. One Friday afternoon (Well, night, really) a friend and I decided to lay siege to Wasson in the dark while everyone else hung out in their cars getting loaded. When we returned, the whole bunch had been busted by PCSD and a note written on the back of a criminal complaint was left on my windshield stating: "You better not be drunk, too, when you drive this thing home." 
Anyway, the trail has been improved greatly by the NPS since those days and I hope they know how much we appreciate their work. It's a popular trail, (Hence why I haven't been back in so long) but today proved to be an *almost* civilized day out there. I'll get around to what "almost" means in a second. In the morning the trail was dead (Save for the subjects of the "almost" statement). On my way back down, however, I was greeted by lots of folks out in little groups enjoying the day and wishing you well as you passed by.
What follows is an open letter to the four baloney bandits with the unrestrained, aggressive dog that were my misfortune to encounter at about 0845 near the first major wash crossing:
Dear Snuffy and Friends,
I understand that you four are a lot of post-fraternity-turned-corporate-raider, overcompensating, pressed-ham-on-the-glass devotees who watch a lot of UFC...I do; I get it. I even understand the machismo drive that made you wear shorts and tank tops back in that canyon leading to the near state of hypothermia that you found yourselves in when I encountered you; or, should I say, when I encountered your dog. I even get that you think you own the entire Tucson Mountain range, since you clearly emerged from some of those multi-bazillion-dollar homes near the trailhead judging by the complete lack of identifiable gear or cars at the parking lot. What I don't get is why; why would you give up a perfectly good golf morning to walk maybe two miles up a canyon with negligible elevation gain?
Maybe you didn't realize that female hikers are probably out shopping today and were not around to admire your..."physiques". Perhaps the country club won't allow your poor dog in with you. Maybe you have seen one too many episodes of the "Amazing Race"...I dunno. What I would like to do is finish our conversation. You ran away before I could respond to your final statement, and I feel slighted as a result. You remember how it went...I ran into your dog, who immediately postured and barked at me. I told it to get the heck away and demanded that you come and get it; even though you were down in the canyon almost 200m away from it while it went free on its voyage of destruction and menace. You called it back and I said: "You do know that this dog is supposed to be leashed, right?" You replied: "Yea, sorry" (Eloquent, BTW). To which I replied: "Yes, you seem really 'sorry'; perhaps I should report you to the Park Service and see if they can make you 'sorry'."
I think your final response, as you fled the scene, was something to the effect of: "They won't do anything." Indeed, you're probably right. In fact, they probably won't do anything about the fact that you were in the park without a permit, the fact that people used the trailhead parking rubbish bin as a dump site, or the guy carrying a .22 caliber varmint rifle in there this morning, either. What I propose s this: I suspect your dog has learned a lot of his manners from you, and you didn't seem to want to keep control of him, so...maybe next time I'll just take him home with me. Removed from your environs, I'm sure his whole disposition would change, radically. This is a far better alternative to smashing his cranium with the most readily-accessible large stone, as was my original instinct.
Regards,
MacE |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
