On Sunday, a friend of a friend picked me up in Sierra Vista and brought me to the Greyhound station in Tucson. There I waited for a good part of the day, had the strangest bus ride ever (a 15-passenger van at max capacity with trunk space for about 3 suitcases...sweet), and was collected from the Greyhound station in Phoenix by Set and Jessica, the same friends who met up with me on Mt. Lemmon! They’ve been ever-gracious hosts, setting me up in their spare bedroom, feeding me, and even letting me use their extra car! I spent the week relaxing, eating, and exploring Scottsdale. On Saturday I drove out to McDowell Regional Park and hung out at the Javelina Jundred, a 100-mile race event put on by Aravaipa Running. Peter and Esther, a couple I met in Flagstaff, were there. Peter and two of his brothers were running the race, and Peter had invited me out to pace him for one of the five 20-mile loops. So after hanging out with Esther and their family, meeting my heroes at Run Steep Get High, drinking lots of La Croix, and watching as Peter and his brothers came in from their 2nd and 3rd loops, I geared up and went out with Peter for his 4th loop. Running twenty miles just doesn’t seem like that big of a deal when 1. You’ve been walking 12 hours a day for 6 weeks and 2. When you’re pacing someone who’s running ONE HUNDRED miles. Crazy! My legs were definitely done after the 20 miles. I’ve got to get into some sort of serious stretching routine.
I still don’t know for sure what’s next, but I currently plan on flying to WA tomorrow, spending some time with family and friends, buying a vehicle, and heading towards Flagstaff for a while. We’ll see!
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Today was... difficult. I knew it was about 25 mikes to the finish, and that there would be 5500' if vertical gain. As s a half-assed attempt to convince myself I DID have the flexibility to finish tomorrow morning, I only started hiking a few minutes before it was light enough to see without a headlamp. I wanted to make it so badly though.i hiked fairly quickly, only took short breaks, and finished the audiobook I started listening to yesterday to distract myself. By 11:30 I had gone about 13 miles.
The ups and downs were horribly frustrating. Up to 8500', down to 8000', back up to 8600', back down, then up to 9000'. Finally, the descent, which my knees and hips still don't enjoy. Fortunately, the air at that elevation is cool, and I was feeling fairly strong, probably due to the anticipation of finishing. I powered up the climbs, had my last cold-soaked ramen of the trip (really wish I had jumped on the ramen train muuuuch earlier in this trip), and began descending. Less than a mile in, I caught up with Ninja Tortoise, an older guy completing his third round of the AZT. We had met briefly when he passed me up on my rest day in Oracle. I hiked with him for a while, conversation making the miles slip by. Eventually we reached the Montezuma Pass Trailhead, where we both figured we'd try to catch a hitch from after reaching the border. Two miles later, I was eating a cherry pie Larabar staring at the silver obelisk behind a barbed wire fence marking the border. I waited a few minutes as Ninja Tortoise made his way down, and we took each other's celebratory finishing pictures. We then started back up the trail, not before a groan of complaint from me. Fortunately, j had mentally prepared myself for the 1.8 miles and 600' feet of climb I'd have to hike back to the trailhead. It was over in a snap, and we found ourselves at a nearly empty trailhead parking lot, so we started walking the gravel road down to the highway. After a few miles, a vehicle passed us and we stuck out our thumbs. They stopped, shuffled some things around, and we got in the car. They were to the near side of Sierra Vista, but they happily and graciously brought us right into town and dropped us off at a Quality Inn. Ninja Tortoise immediately crossed the road for Papa John's, and I eagerly booked a room for myself at the front desk. Walking in to the surprisingly clean and gorgeous room was the moment I felt it was over. For a few moments, I just stood in front of the mirror with my pack on and smiled. Of course then came a shower and an Uber ride to the grocery store, because I wanted real food, snacks, and ice cream in the same trip. By this point, however, it was 7:30, which is usually about when I'm in bed writing these journals. I hadn't had much of a lunch, but didn't feel very stomach hungry, just body hungry. One of those "everything sounds good, but nothing sounds like a good idea" modes. I also realized I wasn't even sure my hotel room had a microwave or a fridge. After a too-long time, I checked out and put a notification out for an Uber. Unfortunately, it seems I had the only Uber driver in town on my way to the store, and he must have been no longer available. Several minutes into waiting, i sucked it up and started walking. What's another 1.2 miles on top of a 27 mile day? Needless to say, I was that kind of disappointed you can only get when you're tired and hungry and just ran a marathon and realize you have to actually get off the couch to take a shower. I was outta that place before 6 this morning, walking down the road in the dark. The Canelo hills proved to be annoying and poorly marked, as I traversed up and down and back again, through unmarked washes and patches of grass so thick it was like wading through oil. Fortunately, for most of the morning, I was listening to Jon Acuff's audiobook, Finish, which I have an hour left of and highly recommend.
Otherwise it was gorgeous today, and I enjoyed the views of the Huachucas, despite something going on with my stomach. I think there was something funky going on in those cheese enchiladas. I made it a few miles past my minimum goal, and set up camp on a ridge in some trees. I'm hoping I can finish tomorrow, but there's a good climb ahead of me, so it could be Sunday morning. Oh, and just a PSA: those "healthy" packets of ramen? They only contain one serving. Not the standard double serving in good old Maruchan's packages. Ugh. I made the climb up to 6500' this morning, and spent the rest of the day descending down, down, down into the small town of Patagonia. For about 7 miles, it was a walk on a well-maintained gravel road, and I had great cell service, so I went ahead browsed social media and called my Dad to pass the time. That's luxury right there.
When I got to the outskirts of town, an older guy in a pickup pulled up and talked to me for a minute. He eventually offered a ride out to the RV park, where I might get a shower. I was planning on scoping it out anyways to spend the night there, so I accepted the ride. It was actually on trail, but I knew I would have to walk back into town to get food, and back out to the RV park again, which would doubly cancel out my "cheating" by getting a hitch. I did end up paying for a night in the park, which I ended up regretting. I so desperately wanted to shower and do laundry (it had been 7 days and 150 miles...), and one of the comments on the AZT app said the RV park would not let you pay for just a shower. Apparently I have the balls to sleep in the woods alone a stone's throw from Mexico, but not to even try to convince someone to let me give them my money. I think there's a life lesson in there somewhere. I showered, started my laundry, paid an exorbitant amount of money for my stay, and walked into town for some grub. The coffee shop cafe was already starting to clean their grill, and didn't offer breakfast all day, which is what I was craving. So I left with a giant homemade brownie and a sparkling grapefruit juice. The Stage Stop Saloon had a menu outside that listed fish and chips, which I had also been craving. The place was completely empty, but I was seated and handed the lunch menu, which did not have fish and chips on it- in fact, all it had on it was different kinds of burgers and sandwiches, which I was just not in the mood for. I should have left that place too, but the waitress had already brought me water and chips and salsa. Again, sleeping in the woods alone is fine, confrontation is not. I ended up getting the special, the only non-sandwich hot food they were serving- cheese enchiladas, despite my stomach juices desperate to rip through some meat and deposit it on my quads. It was awful. The cheese inside wasn't melted, the beans were from a can, the rice from a box, and the sauce from a jar. At this point I was ready to cry, most likely due to hiking 20 miles and not having had lunch yet. But I put my big girl panties on, ate the enchiladas in about four bites, swallowed as much of the rice and beans as I cared for (not much), and blasted outta there. Then came the resupply. Most gas stations were better stocked than the Patagonia market. The food co-op was neat, but still lacking the variety I'd hoped for. I resupplied just fine, but it felt like my last hurrah in town and it just wasn't delivering. I went over to another little ice cream/coffee/gift shop, and their ice cream machine was down, so I checked out the pizza shop to get a slice to go for the evening. The place was also empty, the waiter was painfully professional, and they were out of zucchini. Defeated, I lugged my slice and my backpack full of unsatisfying food back out to the RV park. I finished my laundry (the dryer was $1.50/load instead of the normal $0.25/8 minutes), charged my phone, ate my pizza and giant brownie (which were both fortunately delicious), set up my tent in the gravel/weed patch I paid $26 for, and will now try to sleep as the orange street lights glare and a pack of javelinas grunts around my campsite munching on pecans that have fallen off the trees. Yep. I should have just gotten some pizza and left town. Alright. Complain fest is over, promise. I got a nice early start this morning and was standing at the highway with my thumb out by about 8:15. It was a 0.8 mile forest road walk to the highway, where a small town was located about 8 miles south. I was just about out of food, and definitely not gonna make it to Patagonia, even though I'll be there tomorrow night.
After standing by the highway trying to thumb a ride for about 45 minutes, a border patrol car pulled up and flashed his lights. Unbeknownst to me, there was a border patrol checkpoint set up a couple miles south, between me and the town I was trying to get to. Apparently someone who passed me up and went through the checkpoint had said something about me, worried that I was in distress, but a little leery of picking me up. The agent asked if I was okay, to which I replied I was doing great and just needed a ride to town to get more food, knowing that border patrol isn't supposed to pick up hitchhikers. He asked if he could call someone for me, or if I knew anyone in town, as he hemmed and hawed wondering what to do. Finally, he motioned towards my backpack and said, "Well, I just can't leave you out here. Come on, I can take you at least to the checkpoint, and we'll see what the suits say." We pulled up to the checkpoint, where he was told to make sure and check with the "super". So he parked, saying, "Let's see how much trouble I get in." After a brief exchange with his supervisor, including something about me being "out of food and in distress", the supervisor came over to the car. He was a nice, sort of jolly-looking guy, and just smiled and said, "You make sure you carry plenty of food and water out there now. We'll take you to Sonoita, but that's as much as we can do for ya." I smiled and thanked him, and the agent drove me right to the Dollar General. I thanked him and he told me, "Now you can't say border patrol is all bad and never does anything good, okay?" I visited all three stores in town, resupplied enough to last me to Patagonia with a few leftovers, and ate some yogurt, two apples, and a breakfast burrito from one of the mini-marts that was unfathomably delicious. Straight chorizo and eggs in one of those legit tortillas, with some Cholula on top. My mouth is watering even now. All the people I met in Sonoita were so friendly. One of the stores' clerk even offered multiple times to let me into the bathroom so I could wash the blood and dirt off my legs. I politely declined. You've gotta be all dirty or all clean, getting halfway there only to get dirty again would be a waste of time! Unlike the hitch into town, the hitch out of town was easy peasy. The first car headed out was a local ranch hand who drove quite a ways out of his way to drop me off. I waved at the border patrol agent and supervisor as we went through the checkpoint again. I was back on trail around 11:30, and determined to knock out the 10 miles to Kentucky Camp as quickly as I could. I was there by 3:00! Not bad. Kentucky Camp is a historical site with an old house you can walk through, a B&B you can rent, and best of all, pit toilets, a water spigot, power outlets, and picnic tables in the shade. I stopped for about a half hour, eating snacks, charging my phone, and filling water bottles. Back on the trail, I made another 6 miles before stopping for the night at a nice campsite along a forest road. Tomorrow is Patagonia! I'm so excited to get a shower and do laundry. It'll have been 150 miles by the time I get there since my last shower. Gross, right? But so good. Got going around 6:30 this morning. Made decent time all day! Was pretty hungry today, thankful for a group of day hikers who gave me a bunch of food, including fresh fruit! Still won't make it to Patagonia without a resupply though, so tomorrow morning is the time! I'll hike 7 miles to a highway crossing and hitchhike an easy 8 miles from there.
Some nice cloud cover this afternoon, hoping that doesn't mean rain tonight, although I'm sure they could use it here. Sleep was a little fitful last night. It was warm, and the wind was wreaking havoc on my tent. I plopped a 15+ lb boulder on top of my rainfly vestibule, as there was no place to stake it out too, and the wind even ripped it out from underneath the rock several times. Eventually I put earbuds in and slept decently for a while. Fortunately, this fiasco meant I was awake early, so I started hiking around 6, just as it got light enough to see without a headlamp. I finished the climb up the mountain- about another 2000'- and descended down the other side. It seemed endless. Halfway down the descent, it got really hot again, and I started to feel like I did yesterday- foggy, lightheaded, weird appetite, muscles couldn't get sugar... but i kept on trucking, stopping frequently for water, and my stomach seemed to settle a bit.
I also made the decision to NOT try and ration food to make it to Patagonia. Why spend the next four days anxious, starving, and trying to rush it? That's so miserable for me. I don't have any strict time constraints, so taking part of a day to hitch to Sonoita, the junction being only 33 miles from tonight's camp spot, isn't going to hurt anything. In the meantime, I'll have plenty of food. Water, on the other hand, has been scarce these days. I might end up carrying almost 2 gallons tomorrow, and hoping that lasts until my trip to town. After finally going to sleep last night, I woke up at midnight oddly cold. It wasn't a nippy cold, it was a shiver-y cold. Reluctantly I set up my tent (I had been cowboy camping on the picnic table) and soon fell back asleep, much warmer. Around 2:30, I woke up to the sound of an animal walking around my campsite. I scared it off the first time just by shuffling my feet around on my noisy air mattress, but it soon figured out that wasn't going to hurt it. I was too scared to open up my tent to see what it was, but it sounded big, and definitely got my heart pumping.
It's amazing the conditions you can sleep under when you're tired. I finally woke up again around 6:30am, when someone walked past my tent site. It was already fully light out, but I was dragging already after all the excitement of last night. I packed up, ate some breakfast, and left camp a bit after 7. The minute I got into the sun on the first ridge of the day, it was blazing hot. I think I even experienced some heat exhaustion today. I felt tired, foggy, stiff, dehydrated, light-headed, shaky, nauseated, hungry, and like I couldn't get sugar to my muscles. I reached a water cache I was anxious to find, and fortunately there was about a gallon left. I downed a bunch and took just enough to get me to the next water source. I sat in the shade, ate, drank, and laid down all totaling an hour. Even then, I felt awful- almost worse, in fact- but I kept on walking, again reminding myself that one mile an hour was better than zero. I stopped .2 miles before my destination for the night, because I found a great camp spot. If I peer over a rock towards the other side of the mountain, I can see the lights of Tucson below me. Pretty cool. I woke up feeling pretty refreshed this morning. Jessica made banana pancakes and bacon while I fixed all our sandwiches for the day. After a nice breakfast, we packed things up, and Seth dropped Jessica and me off at the general store, where they picked me up yesterday. We walked the mile down to the trailhead where Seth had parked, and then continued on the trail all together. Around noon we stopped for lunch on a rock overlooking a piece of Tucson. After lunch, Seth and Jessica started the trek back to their car, and I continued on, heart and stomach quite fulfilled.
At 4:30, I stopped at the day's water source and filled up what I thought I'd probably need. Water is so heavy! Around 6:30, just after taking the picture of the sunset on the rocks, I heard two people yelling for help in the canyon across from me. I couldn't see them, but they saw me, yelling "Here, across the canyon! Waving!" I also tried yelling back, but they didn't seem to hear. I called 911, ad over the next several hours, talked on the phone with a deputy on and off while I made my way to the Gordon Hirabiyashi campground. Eventually around 8:15, they called and said the couple seemed to be on trail now, so there was no reason for rescue, but to call if I heard anything strange when I got to camp. Everything seemed fine at the campground when I got there. There was a small group of people camped with trailers talking and laughing around a campfire. The campground was still technically closed, though, so it was just us (I later learned they had permits to camp there to set up and do trail maintenance for an upcoming bike race). Just as I was drifting off to sleep around 9, I heard a familiar voice call "Hello?" It was a girl named Lauren, one of the voices I'd heard in the canyon. The other group of people started talking with her, and I made my way over to check things out. Her brother was still in the canyon, dehydrated enough to not be walking well, and getting cold now as the temperature dropped. Three of the guys in the group, familiar with the area and Wilderness first responder trained, headed out with water and a jacket while Lauren warmed up by the campfire. I resumed my conversation with the police, who arrived with Search and Rescue just as the guys came back with Lauren's brother. They left safely, the sheriff thanked everyone and took some of my info down, and off to bed it is again. That's enough excitement for one night! The climb today was insane! Got almost 5000' in, in just the 16 miles from Oracle to Summerhaven. Marney and Jim, the owners of the motel, dropped me off at American Flag trailhead around 7:15, and I made better time than expected! My friends Seth and Jessica drove up from Phoenix and met me at the general store, where I'd stopped for a few supplies and a cold drink after all the day's climbing.
We drove to a nearby campground where they had already staked a claim on a site, and had an evening full of good food, campfire, and laughter. It was such a great evening. There's 7 miles in between two trailheads here around Oracle, and I dot want tomorrow to be a 22 mile day with a big climb, since I've got friends meeting me in Summerhaven. So Marney offered to drop me off at the trailhead where she picked me up yesterday, and pick me up a while later at the trailhead on the opposite end of town. I didn't even take water, just my cell phone, and I ran it. My body wasn't very happy with me, but I was glad to get those miles out of the way, and it was so fun moving quickly without a backpack! It was also fascinating how quickly an hour and a half of running went by, being used to walking for 12+ hours straight. Like, that was a normal person's workout! I hit up the cafe in town for a coffee after my run, as I've been craving a cappuccino. Unfortunately, my waitress came out with my "cappuccino" in about 30 seconds, and whatever it was from a machine did not hit the spot. The cafe was cute though! Resupplied at the dollar store and gas station, and Mexican food again for dinner- one tamale, one enchilada. Yum. I was dragging so hard this morning. I had hoped to make it to the trailhead on the other side of town, and have Marney, the owner of the motel I'm staying at, pick me up there, but as I sat at the first trailhead after only 11 miles, my body was begging not to go any further. Just then, I got a text from Marney asking if i had an ETA, as she needed to go into Tucson. Perfect! I walked the 1.6 miles down to the highway, and she picked me up there, much to the satisfaction of my legs, stomach, and head, which all ached. When I got to the motel, I ate some snacks, showered, ate some more snacks, did laundry, and laid down on the fabulous bed for a while. Around 4:30, I went out to the Mexican restaurant in town, and had a tamale, a chile relleno, and a side of fries. Cravings, man. After dinner, I hit up the gas station for a pint of Reese's ice cream, went back to the motel, and downed the whole thing. Life is good. I definitely scared something away from my tent last night, and it sounded like javelinas. After that, and laying awake with the breeze crinkling my tent, I dragged my tent about 10 feet further down the wash to see if I could get a little more wind protection.
I think it worked, because I only woke up once more during the night, and then slept in until 6. I made the 8+ miles to the Freeman Rd. Trailhead in pretty good time, and filled my water bottles from the public water cache. It's another looong water carry, so I filled up all 6 liters of my capacity. Which is pretty freaking heavy. Today dragged on a bit. My hiker hunger reached full force I think, and all I could think about all day was food. Finally around 3, I sat down for a break in the shade, and just went to town on my snack bag, wondering what the consequences might be. I regretted it for only about an hour, and only because it was just the wrong food, not too much. My body is begging for a day off and several real-food meals in a row, not just a partial day off and one good dinner. We'll see if I can remedy that in Oracle. Th sunset tonight was beautiful, and I'm cowboy camped on a ridge that seems to be slightly less windy than any other spot I've come across today. The stars are bright above me, and lights from several towns are twinkling in the valley below. Hopefully no snakes or spiders decide they want to share my sleeping bag tonight. Last night was I believe the second time in my life I've ever had a midnight snack. I woke up at 1:15, and after lying there awake for an hour, I finally got up, ate a Clif bar, and zonked out again immediately. I guess it was just what the doctor ordered.
This morning after wolfing down some breakfast (including leftover pizza), Liz, Josh (her grandson) and Mark (her partner), drove me out to the trailhead. They even took me out to see the huge open pit copper mine before dropping me off. It was unbelievably enormous. There even used to be two small towns sitting where they've now dug out. On the trail again, I couldn't get my mojo. All I could think about today was food, and when the next time I could stop and eat would be. I swear, every time I get real food, my metabolism says, "Oh good, we're getting food now, we can rip right through this." And I just end up even hungrier the next day. Despite my sluggishness and late start, I made a little over 20 miles today, which was my goal. I'm camped in a wash in a cow field, hope nothing decides to take a shit on me tonight. It got so cool tonight I put my long johns on! Hip hip hooray! Two days until Oracle, another shower, and another real bed. I woke up at 3 with a steady breeze pushing the wall of my tent into my back. At around 4:30, I decided it was time to pack up and go. I wanted to get to Kearny anyhow. Particularly, I wanted to get to the pizza shop. I also wanted to be able to hitch to town, eat pizza, resupply, and hitch back out before dark. Those plans changed, though.
A mile and a half into my morning, I walked through Ethan's campsite! He was just snoozing his alarm clock before starting his early hike to get pizza also. I kept hiking as the sun rose, and he soon caught up with me and passed me. The trail dropped down and touched the banks of the Gila River off and on for a little while before climbing up the hills alongside it, and weaving its way up and down and up and down and up... No doubt it would have been half as long to just take the river or the train tracks across the river. Ethan and I were both low on water, and avoiding filtering the muddy Gila, for the sake of our filters and time. After an 8:30 candy break, I got so frustrated thinking about how far I had to go before I could eat pizza, i turned on some music, cinched my shoulder straps tight, and just started running as much as I could. I soon caught up with Ethan, who had just taken a break in the shade, and I managed to keep up with him almost all the way to the trailhead. I met him at a water faucet just up the road from the trailhead, where the pizza joint in town would deliver. Ethan ordered a pile of food, and we sat in the shade and washed our socks while we waited. Ethan's pizza, sandwich, fries, and sodas arrived, and I rode back with Lorraine, the owner of the pizza shop. She and her partner Gary are such great folks! I got a pizza, horchata, and ginger ale at the shop, and ate all except two slices. Probably the best pizza I've ever had. Several people approached me in the shop, one of whom (an older lady named Liz) invited me to her house for the night! I thanked her and took down her phone number before she left. She even came back after a few minutes with her 12-year-old grandson, who she wanted me to meet. So nice. I chatted with Gary for a while, signed their AZT banner, and they allowed me to leave my pack in the restaurant while I hit up some stores. After resupplying, it was still scorching hot, and I was tired, so I decided to take Liz up on her offer. She picked me up right away, and whisked me away to luxury, where I showered, was fed homemade Mexican food and ice cream, and have been relaxing. I can't wait for bedtime. Phew, what a day.
Starting out this morning, I was immediately thankful I went with my instinct to camp on the ridge. The trail was pretty steep and gravelly, plummeting down into a gully and climbing steeply up the other side. That would have made for a frustrating evening. I was doubly thankful I went with that feeling when I found a guy cowboy camping in the spot I was planning on utilizing. He poked his head out of his sleeping bag as I walked past and we talked for a minute about water sources. I got a little water from the spring 100 yards down the trail, and kept on going. Not more than a couple miles later, I shuffled past another campsite with a tent set up. I went by quietly, trying not to disturb a second person in the same morning. About a 1/4 mile later, I began to wonder if it had been Ethan camped. I wouldn't recognize his tent, because he always cowboy camped when we camped together. I thought surely he would have been much farther ahead of me than that, especially if the reason he hadn't broken camp yet (at this point it was 8am) was because he had walked into the nighttime hours. Of course, my imagination went to town as I mulled it over while walking. What if he got sick from bad water? Or bit by something? Was he okay? Should I turn around and check on him? If I text him and he doesn't reply for a day, what could I do? I was glad when, at Reavis Ranch, the next water source, I heard a "Hey!" Behind me. Sure enough, it had been Ethan camped. He started in immediately, recounting a bit of a harrowing night. He had started out cowboy camping just barely past the spot I camped, tired from the heat by 6:30. He had a hard time sleeping, and was woken up around 11 by something walking towards him on the trail. He thought maybe it was a person at first, and when he realized it wasn't, he figured it was a javelina (a type of wild pig, not really dangerous, pretty shy of humans). But as it got closer and bigger, he saw it was a good sized bear! It stopped on the trail next his campsite, not looking at him, just sniffing the air. When it finally did look his direction, Ethan, sitting up in his sleeping bag, stuck his arms out and let out a good yell, sending the bear running. Figuring he wouldn't get a good night of sleep worrying about the bear coming back, he packed up and hiked out of there. Tired, delirious, and adrenaline drained, he stumbled upon the man I met this morning cowboy camping, stared at his sleeping bag for a minute before realizing it was a person, and kept moving on until he found the spot I walked through this morning. I can't imagine if that had been me! Make that triply thankful for not hiking any further! We both filled our water capacities at a stream crossing within Reavis Ranch, talking about the events of yesterday, and started walking yet again. He was fairly far ahead me quite quickly. There were a lot of day hikers today making their way to Reavis Ranch. I guess it's a pretty popular overnighter, especially when there are apples on the trees. The trail climbed gently out of the ranch, dropped easily into the gully below, and climbed again up to the trailhead where all the day hikers were parked. I signed the trail register, sat down in a shady spot, and had some lunch. Ants infested my Doritos last night, the only salty snack I had. I had to dump them, so it's gonna be a few days heavy on the bagels and tuna to get decent salt in while I sweat everything out. After making a final push up and over a ridge, the trail switch backed down, down, down into a canyon, which was exhausting on the feet and hips. I was ready to camp around 7:30, but the only flat, soft ground in existence around here is occupied by fire ant colonies. After 8, I began to get desperate, and finally camped where I am now, which o believe is a wash. I know that's against common desert wisdom, but... it's shallow, sandy, one of many similar washes, and there hasn't been a monsoon in months, so I think I'm safe. Ethan and I both were a bit slow getting started this morning. We left the hotel around 9, walked back to the highway, and started sticking our thumbs out, already sweating in the heat. Two hitches later, we were still about 8 miles from the trailhead. After another 20 minutes of standing in the blazing heat, Ethan declared he was going to the store just up the road for ice cream if the next car didn't stop. The next car definitely didn't stop, so we trudged up to the convenience store, got ice creams, and sat in the shade for a few minutes. Shortly after getting back to business, a nice couple headed to the lake picked us up and kindly drove us to the trailhead, even though it was a few miles out of their way.
When we got back on trail, I started to fade quickly. Despite a full pizza, a pint of ice cream, and a good night of sleep in a real bed, my hunger and exhaustion hadn't been satiated. In addition, it was 90 degrees with no breeze, and the trail was climbing. I was dripping sweat like I never have before. I started to feel discouraged, my body was rebelling and telling me to stop, and I just wanted to be done with this stupid hike. The first bit of real shade, I took a break, drank some water, ate some food, and squeezed a little caffeinated Mio into my water bottle. I felt a little better after that, but stayed at a slow grind, reminding myself that one mile an hour was faster than zero. The trail continued to climb, sometimes up gravel roads barely a few degrees from being categorized as rock slides. Thankfully, a breeze picked up, and as I went up in elevation, the temperature dropped a few degrees. I reached the Superstition Wilderness this evening, and it has already taken my breath away. The sun set over the Four Peaks I just crossed, and the full moon rose over the Superstition Mountains. It was unbelievable, and renewed my sense of thankfulness for this adventure, especially after the way I was feeling this afternoon. Despite my hunger, thirst, and tiredness, I am excited to get up and hike in the morning. Will definitely get an earlier start tomorrow, though. I am 2.7 miles from where my goal was today, but I found a camp spot on top of this ridge, and something is telling me not to go any further. Maybe it's just because I don't like plunging down into canyons in the dark. It was so hard getting out of bed this morning. I was the perfect temperature and my hips were miraculously not hurting. But alas, 4:30 was upon me, and there was no time to waste. Within the first two hours of hiking, I had consumed what was basically the rest of my food, except for a hunk of cheese that made me want to puke, and a spoonful of peanut butter. I put one headphone in, bumped some music, and slowly churned out the 12 miles to Lake Roosevelt. The final ups and downs had me cursing at their ridiculous steepness, and their pointlessness. Why couldn't the trail wind down the valley nicely, instead of summiting these final piles of scree just for kicks, and then plunging down the side of a mountain on slippery gravel? It had also warmed up already, and my remaining water tasted and smelled like cow shit. Needless to say, I may have been dehydrated. Miraculously, on the road walk into town, I scored an unopened bottle of water that had been tossed on the side of the highway.
I reached the Lake Roosevelt visitor's center around 10, just in time to see Ethan walking up from the parking lot with his package. It was great to see a familiar face, and he immediately handed me a cold Dr. Pepper, which probably saved my life then and there. We stood on the side of the quiet highway swapping stories about yesterday's hike, and sticking our thumbs out whenever a car passed. Considering the lack of traffic, we got a ride fairly quickly from a neat lady named Susan. She even pulled of to show us the cave dwellings at Tonto National Monument, and then dropped us off right at our hotel in Globe, about 30 miles from the lake. We were able to check into our room no problem, even though it was only 11, thank goodness! After showers and trips to the gas station across the parking lot (I got a gallon of water, determined to drink it until I started peeing again), we hit up the pizza place next door. Ethan got a 16", I got a 14", and we both put in some work on them right there in the shop. Of course we had leftovers, which we boxed up and took back to the hotel for later. Over the course of the afternoon and evening, we did laundry, I resupplied at Wal Mart, including pints of ice cream for the evening, we washed out water bottles and other containers, and took advantage of the wifi, mostly by vegging out on social media... I also finished my entire pizza, a bag of corn puffs, and my entire pint of cashew milk snickerdoodle ice cream (sooo yum, no regrets). I also took a second shower, because I can. And now... sleep. In a real bed. I decided today to make the push to Lake Roosevelt without hitching to Payson at the highway crossing. I have food enough for one more day, and I figure I can ration it to last. Of course, around mile 12 today, I started to regret that decision. I was starving, and my hunger combined with the heat was causing me to move at a snail's pace. I thought I'd never make it to Lake Roosevelt feeling the way I did. Once I emerged out of a section overgrown with prickly bushes, and onto a forest road section of trail, I stopped for a break in the shade, ate my lunch allotment, and gave myself a little pep talk. Usually my pep talks go something like, "You're not gonna die. It's gonna be uncomfortable, but you're not gonna die." Honestly, combined with some carbs, it usually does the trick.
Eleven or so miles later, fueled by a concoction of chia seeds and caffeinated Nuun in my water (it made me want to vomit), I reached Pigeon Spring, the only water source of the day. Ethan had left a note there saying he was going to put a few more miles in, and if I didn't see him he'd be at the marina in the morning to pick up a package he'd mailed to himself. I took the smallest amount of water I thought I might need, already gagging and feeling sick at the smell of everything coming out of my filter. I still don't know if I accidentally let it freeze last week, or if it just needs a good back flush. Dusk turned into dark quickly, and I hiked on through the Four Peaks Wilderness. It was probably one of the worst sections to hike in the dark. The trail was thickly overgrown with bushes and trees, the drop off the side was unforgivingly steep, and the trail was rocky, even traversing scree piles at some points. Besides all that, it would have been beautiful in the daytime. Although the almost-full moon did light up the white rock faces of the Four Peaks beautifully. Regardless, I made it another ten or so miles with only a few close calls and one run in with a skunk (or other small black mammal?) that appeared to be stuck in a bush. When I came across a decent looking campsite, I turned my phone off airplane mode and found a text from Ethan saying he was camped only 3 miles ahead. So I camped right there, where I am now, and told him I'd get an early start and see him in the morning. We're planning on hitching to the town of Globe together tomorrow morning from Lake Roosevelt, after Ethan picks up his package. We've got a hotel room reserved to split, and there's apparently a pizza place next door... Broke camp around the usual 6:15 this morning, a little groggy again due to the elk calling at each other during the night, sometimes only yards from my tent. I have to keep reminding myself they're beautiful creatures and I should be thankful for the experience of seeing and hearing them in prime rut season. But dang. At the time, I just wished they would shut up.
Today was a day of cussing. Mostly at rocks. Throughout the whole day, except for some small sections on forest roads, I fought stepping over and on top of the fist- to head- sized rocks heaped over the trail, almost always loose from the ground. Some of the miles today took twice as long as usual because of it. It was sometimes hard to follow the trail, especially when I was so focused on not breaking my ankles, but rock cairns and the gps on the AZT app saved me multiple times. Shout out to my guardian angels today, because my stumble vs. actually fall ratio was some sort of miracle. I can't even count the number of times I thought for sure I was about to eat it, but I only fell twice. One of those times made my legs shaky and the blood drain out of my face, but I won't go into too much detail in case my mom is reading. I will just say that the steep trail down to the East Verde River was a little harrowing. I saw several hunters and 4-wheelers out today, two of whom stopped to talk. One of them, who stopped to chat shortly before I crossed the Matzatal Wilderness boundary, said with a chuckle, "Well, about 3/10ths of a mile and then you'll be in the real wilderness." I'm definitely in a bit of a different climate now, at only 3500'. As I descended this afternoon, the heat changed, and the sun felt stronger. The flora and fauna have changed slightly as well. Prickly pear cactus are now much more abundant, and joined by several other varieties of prickly cacti and bushes. One particular variety of those prickly bushes had barbs like hooks and liked to reach its branches out into the trail. Needless to say, my legs and hands paid the price for simply blasting through it. I reached LF Ranch today, a working Ranch that provides drinking water to AZT hikers, as well as a bunkhouse, camp spots, meals, and package drops if arrangements are made in advance. Unfortunately, when I reached the gate there was a sign that said "closed", the opposite side reading, "welcome hikers". They were probably in town, as there was/is currently no one shutting up the barking dogs. I totally get it, it's a working Ranch and the folks are busy. I was just so disappointed to not have some potable water and nice people to talk with after a hard day. My low blood sugar really magnified the whole circumstance, so after hiking the half mile back to the river to get water, I sat down for some dinner and things started to look up. Unfortunately, things also started to get dark. So I filled up the rest of my water containers to filter later, and hiked probably less than a mile, just to get a tiny bit more ground past me. First thing tomorrow will be a good climb, and I'm really kind of looking forward to it. This mountain has been looming in front of me all day, and it's gorgeous. Until then, goodnight. Today was what they call a "near-o". Not quite a "zero".
I broke camp around 6:15 and hiked down to the town of Pine. Seeing the town from up above was so exciting! Just as I reached the trailhead near the highway crossing, Ethan (the only other southbounder on the trail right now) texted me and asked how I was doing. He was in town at a small cabin for AZT hikers behind a brewery. He let me use the shower there (THANK YOU!) before he hitched to Payson to pick up some shoes. After my shower (No quarters? No timer? I have time to wash my feet?), I walked further into town, and stopped at the laundromat. There was coffee, fresh popcorn with cinnamon sugar sprinkle, wifi, and a friendly attendant who talked with me for a few minutes about the trail. Such a nice place! When my laundry was done, I started back down the highway to the grocery store, and a guy in a storefront waved me over. He and his wife operate a little farmer's market of sorts, with a small selection of local, organic produce and a local artisan's crafts. They gave me some apples and pears and sent me on my way with well-wishes. Just next door was a grocery store, where I resupplied as best as I could. Clif bars, sesame sticks, whole wheat tortillas, bananas for tomorrow morning, and peanut butter made it in the shopping basket, followed by some Mounds bars, an apple fritter, pop tarts, and peach-o's. Don't shop when you're hungry... My next mission was Mexican food, a short walk away at Mi Familia's. It was nothing special, but a tamale, an enchilada, rice, beans, and a salsa bar fulfilled my hankering for Mexican. I waddled my way up the street to the Texaco, having read they stocked a few things that the market did not, bought a couple more protein bars, and walked back into the main part of town, where, despite my bulging stomach, I had to get ice cream. The single scoop cone I got was the size of your standard triple scooper, and I had to sit for a while charging my phone to rest off a food coma. At this point it was about 2:30, so I made my way back to the edge of town, where "THAT Brewery", a well-known stop for AZT hikers, was located. I left a few things in the hiker box, got a beer even though I was sure I couldn't drink it, sat down, promptly drank the beer, and called my mom. I spent a good couple hours there, enjoying the evening breeze, and left for the trailhead after filling up my water bottles. I'm camped at the trailhead now, after a dinner of fruit and peanut butter, followed up by part of the apple fritter and a pop tart. Ah, the hiker diet. It's so satisfying to stuff your face and be hungry again in a few hours. I suppose my body will tell me in the morning how it feels about my food choices... I started out this morning around 6:45, a little later than I had intended, shortly after some hunters on an ATV buzzed down the road next to me. Indeed, I purposely try to camp near other people, and at this time of year, the forest roads are crawling with hunters and their RV's and other toys. Anyways, I guess I was a little groggy due to the elk screaming at each other all night, and a bit of rain urging me out of my tent to pull my backpack under the vestibule at 2:20 this morning. Oh, the joys.
I got a good clip going, even walking while eating some breakfast (soaked chia seeds with protein powder and cereal crumbs... mmmm...), and the miles went fairly quickly. I knew I needed water, having only about a liter left, but I think I might have let my Sawyer water filter freeze a few nights ago (oops...), which has a chance of rendering it somewhat ineffective, so I was a little wary of pulling water from any one of the stock tanks I passed this morning. Fortunately, a guy in a Jeep meandering the rocky road I was on around 11 stopped to chat for a minute and graciously gave me a liter and a half of water (thank you, Lord...). At 11:20, I reached the stock tank I had tentatively planned on pulling water from (it wasn't all that bad!), and instead sat contentedly against a log for some lunch. After a half hour rest, I dragged myself to my feet and shuffled back down the trail, aiming for my next goal- crossing Highway 87 about 7 miles away, where I would either hold my water bottle out for passing cars to see, walk the 0.8 mile to the ranger station faucet, or fill up from the cache box at the trailhead there, if there was any water. Seven and a half miles later, after almost stepping on two tarantulas (they could have been "trampulas" hardy har), being rattled at by my first rattlesnake (so freaky!), missing a turn due to being focused on not rolling any ankles (see picture of trail...), bush whacking my way back to trail instead of backtracking, and being passed by two mountain bikers who later stopped for a quick chat, I made it to the highway crossing. There was fortunately some water in the cache box, so I filled up almost to capacity (which is currently 4.5 liters), and packed out the empty jug. A snack of crackers, banana chips, peanut butter, and a Mounds bar fueled me for the next few miles. I made a quick stop at Blue Ridge Campground to use the outhouse (such luxury!), throw away my trash, and wash out my soaking container. A steep climb and difficult post-and-wire gate shortly after the campground dampened my spirits, so I had to eat a cheese stick to get over it. The rest of the evening, there were glimpses here and there of the whole Mogollon Rim and beyond. There are so many pine trees in Arizona! I stopped for dinner around 5- a bagel with cream cheese and tuna, with peanut m&m's for dessert. The AZT app I'm using noted another campground about 2 miles away, so I aimed for that, as the sun was starting to go down. When I reached it, it turned out to be just a junction for the campground, which had to be at least 1/2 a mile away, and I wasn't about to go that far off trail for something I wasn't sure of. Not today. However, now the sun was really starting to set, I was in a creepy forest, and I HATE camping in the middle of nowhere by myself. There. I said it. Even if I can't find any hunters to camp by, I usually try to set up camp near a forest road crossing. I could see on the map a steep decline going down to a creek bed, followed by a steep incline back up the next rise, and a dirt road a half a mile after that. Not wanting to camp anywhere near that creepy creek bed, or on the side of the hill I was on, I turned my headlamp on and went for it. My map reading was confirmed: it was freaking steep. And dark. But I made it to flat ground, where I'm camped by a previous someone's fire pit, in a less creepy forest (although what do I know, it's dark...). And praise the Lord I don't have to bomb down and back up that canyon first thing in the morning. I'm excited to hike down off the rim (ish, I think?) tomorrow, and to reach Pine on Friday morning. I need a beer. Oh yeah, and a shower. I'm glad I busted out 27 miles yesterday, and that I got a decent start this morning, because today was just too good to rush. I was a little slow this morning, and hungry to boot. Three miles after first breakfast and breaking camp at 6:10, I had to stop for second breakfast. I guess that unexpected climb and extra miles last night caught up with me!
Once that second breakfast and an Aleve kicked in, the rest of the morning was spent meandering through General Springs Canyon, which was gorgeous. When I reached the trailhead, I stopped for first lunch, and chatted with two hunters who pulled up in a Jeep as I was sitting down. They were impressed with my adventure, despite one of them being in the Army! It was nice to talk with them. They were also the only people I saw all day! From that trailhead, the AZT crosses a forest road, and rapidly drops about 1000 feet down a steep power line clearing. A commenter on the AZT app rightfully noted it was basically a giant rock slide. I narrowly avoided twisting an ankle multiple times. The trail then followed the East Verde River, which was an absolute joy. I accidentally found myself off trail at one point, but took the opportunity to strip my shoes and socks off, and all the clothes I appropriately could, and take a dip in the creek. It's my trail goal and general life motto to get in natural bodies of water whenever possible. When do you ever regret a good dip in cold water? Today I didn't feel like walking around damp for the next five hours, so I refrained from dunking under, but my feet and hair got a good rinse, and my face got a good scrubbing. It was more than a little chilly. After following the creek for a good bit, the trail joined the Highline Trail, and that's where the real fun began. At first, I cursed the pointless up and downs of the trail, which dropped into creek beds every mile or two. But I eventually began to enjoy it, especially after second lunch. For my eyes, the scenery definitely rivaled the Grand Canyon. It was the strangest terrain - halfway pine forest and flowing creeks, halfway red rock desert and prickly plants, as if it couldn't decide. Also, there were finally (finally!!!!!!!) panoramic views of the land to be googly-eyed over. I admit, I am done with this whole forest thing. I get it, Arizona, you've got pines. I'm ready for some desert and unobstructed views. The highlight of my day was seeing four ringtail cats on the Highline trail. So neat! At Weber Creek trailhead, I sat down for some dinner, which included cream cheese on a raspberry fig bar. People... So. Good. Checking the AZT app told me I had almost nine miles to the highway crossing where I'd walk into Pine, and I wanted just a little less distance to go in the morning, so I set my sights on a spring about halfway there which had been reported to have good campsites. I appreciate the comments on the app, as it's hard to judge what exactly the terrain will be like. All the way to the spring, there were almost no suitable spots to pitch a tent, or even good patches to lay down and cowboy camp. But sure enough, I'm here now, camped in a great spot, I can hear the highway below, the crickets and other night bugs are singing, and the moon is shining above me. Pine tomorrow. A shower tomorrow. Mexican food tomorrow? |