easing into it

My ankle is improving but since it's a high ankle sprain (I did finally go see the doctor), it will take longer to fully heal than a more common low ankle sprain.  I really miss hiking though - Milton does too! - and when we were last down in Moab, I wanted to see what I could do.  I was looking for something not too long, with a combination of surface types.  I wanted water too, since it is July and the desert and you can't take a dog hiking without water in these temperatures.  Millcreek seemed perfect and since it's close to the house, we didn't have to get up too too early to get to the trailhead by 6:30 a.m.

Low sun, long shadows

We did it twice, on Saturday and again on Monday, giving my ankle some rest in between.  Each time, there was just a single car in the lot when we got there; on Saturday, there were about fifteen or so cars when we finished but on Monday, there were fewer than ten.  Each morning it was an extremely pleasant low 60s temperature when we started, with the sun just barely clearing the La Sal mountains as we headed out along the rim.

Sun's out, tongue's out

My plan had been to go out along the rim where there is no shade when the sun was lowest, then drop into the canyon, head upstream to the beaver flood section and cross there, then come down on the far side since it stays shadier longer.  On Saturday, the creek was really cranking and we weren't able to cross where I wanted to: the bank was steep, the current was fast and the water was deep, and between my wonky ankle and Milton's beginner-level swimming, I didn't feel comfortable with it.  So we retraced our steps and walked out on the sunny side.

Pretty native grasses

By Monday, the creek seemed to have come down a little - not much, but enough that I felt comfortable crossing.  All things being equal, however, we probably should have just stayed on the sunny side again because when we got down to the cowboy jacuzzis, we couldn't cross back over (see above re: deep and fast).  We had to backtrack to find a shallow enough place to cross the creek.  Since the creek crossings were difficult for me (stupid ankle), adding those two for no real good reason wasn't the best idea.

Enough water still to cover

the cowboy jacuzzis

Still, while difficult, all the creek crossing went fine (if slow) and the cold water felt really good.  Milton seemed a little nervous about the strong current but he stuck close and didn't get carried even a little bit.  I also found the sections of trail with deep sand to be challenging too: harder to walk in and more of a strain on the still-sore ligaments.

Love a blue sky

It was good to test things out and I think that was a good trail to attempt different conditions.  Milton thought I was still a little slow (I was) but as always, he loved getting back out on the trail.  So did I.