Two of us girls ...

... went up the Cochise Trail this morning. After the recent rain, the air was clean and pure, and the desert smelled wonderful. Dan opted to stay home to work on photography stuff.

Emma and I set a good pace, but at the big rock outcropping Em came to a halt and I knew something was up. I had already seen the cow plops on the trail, so I was not too surprised to see a small herd of cows in a small pool of water. Emma had not seen cows before, so she was intimidated, especially since her mighty "woof" had no effect, but as a former cowgirl, I know how to move a cow. (Raise your arms and just tell them to move, no yelling required).

You do wonder what the Forest Service is thinking by having cows graze in a popular hiking area. Scare off the city people? Emma was once screamed at by a woman who thought she was a coyote (hello! she is a yellow lab!). Perhaps they think the cows will do some trail maintenance: after all, they are great at trampling the vegetation.