Meeting Connie, 79 Years Young

We encountered Connie on the trails, but also back in the parking lot.

Lately, it’s been strange on the trails. After a flurry of reunions with people we’d met here before during our first week, we stopped running into people. It paired perfectly with how the coyotes howled at or for us that first week and not since. It’s been eerily quiet at the cathedral of the saguaros. 

However, the coyotes howled for us again this morning. There appeared to be many of them among the brush we circled. Soon after, we came upon a group of 25 senior citizens on a hike as we were winding our way down and within half a mile of finishing. They were in good spirits, and they all laughed when I asked sternly, “Why aren’t you kids in school?”

In the distance, we saw a lone hiker walking toward the parking lot. We gained on her, and she pulled over to let us pass. But because she had such a kind face, we stayed and chatted. 

“I take it you’ve been to Olympic National Park?” she asked, pointing to my beleaguered but comfortable cap. “I used to live there before I moved here six years ago.”

“How do you like it compared to the Pacific Northwest?”

” I like it a lot. I don’t even leave in the summer months like everyone else does. I really enjoy the monsoon season and the power of the rain, how the skies change rapidly, and that incredible fresh scent of rain watering the desert!”

Samwise and Emily perked up when the coyote chorus began.

She motioned behind us. “Did you see that group of twenty or thirty hikers?”