My Trails

3/13/14 – 253 miles.
Today was a crazy day. I had planned on hiking 20 miles today so that I would reach the next water tank by evening. I made it to the Freeman Road water cashe about 8:30 this morning and the next water was 18 miles up the trail. I figured 20 miles over relatively level ground was doable so I filled my bottles and started out. I would have been fine if I hadn’t gotten lost.

Getting lost is unsettling enough but getting lost when you are low on water is frightening. The trail followed a powerline for a few miles and I made good time to a side road that was only marked with a stick. I finally figured out that I was supposed to go that way and I followed cairns for a mile or so. Then I came to an area where ATVs had cut through and made a mess of the trail. Somehow I got on one of the ATVs tracks and followed it out to the powerline again. Even though it didn’t seem right my GPS said I was on the trail. I must have gone three miles down the powerline before I was sure something was wrong and turned around. Once I got back to the end of the ATV tracks I found where I should have turned off.

I hiked until almost 6 trying to find the water tank but I had to stop and make camp before dark. I have no idea how far I am. I hope the tank is near and I will find it early.

3/12/14 – 233 miles.
Thank goodness for ranchers that have cow tanks along the trail. This section is so dry that without the occasional tank, you would have to cashe all water along this part of the trail. I found three gallons by the trail this morning with a message saying they were for backpackers on 2/22, which was two weeks ago. I didn’t need any water as I had filled up earlier at Mountain View Tank.

I haven’t seen anyone since I left Oracle. There were a lot of ants on the trail and I found myself stopping to watch them work. They didn’t seem interested in foraging away from the nest, just all carrying a piece of sand from their hole and then scurrying back down again. Maybe they are home builders. Maybe it says something about me because I would stand there and watch ants.

With all the cactus through this area, sometimes the only place to set up my tent is in a wash. The only problem with that is getting my stakes to hold in the sand. As I write this, sitting above my camp on a rock, a jackrabbit has come out and is nibbling grass. He is getting awfully close to my tent so I think I will make a noise.

3/10/14 – 219 miles.
I really miscalculated Sunday when I came down from Oracle Ridge. I thought Oracle State Park and Rt. 77 were close together, but in reality they are 8 miles apart. Richard and Dianna ended up waiting two hours for me to arrive. Richard even hiked a way south to meet me.

I really needed a zero day to rest my legs after 200 miles and it was good to see my support crew and spend a couple days with them. They had some shopping to do so it worked out well for my resupply too. We had enough time on Monday to drive through Saguaro NP and learn more about the Sonoran Desert.

Probably the funniest and most bazaar thing happened last night. We all felt like ice cream so after dinner Richard and I drove down to a nearby, new Walmart we passed coming home that afternoon. We thought it was strange that few cars were in the parking lot and even fewer in the store shopping. The shelves were all neatly stocked and everything was clean and bright. We found some ice cream and went to the checkout to pay and noticed a young lady at a table by the front door. We started questioning her about the lack of people in the store and she informed us that the store wasn’t open yet. What an odd situation that was. You would think they would have put a sign on the door, or had someone to stop customers, or even locked the door. Oh well, we found a better variety at the Fry’s down the road.

Dianna feeds me so well that I think I gained back whatever I lost since the
last time they rescued me from the trail. I have one more place I may need resupply but it might be difficult for them to meet me there. They have done so much I can’t ask for better Trail Angels!

I hit the trail about 10 am today and hiked about 10 miles. The terrain is mostly rolling hills with a deep wash to dip into every mile or so. The high desert is not as spectacular as the mountains I just came through but my body likes it better, especially since I’m carrying full food and water for this stretch.

I’m camped near a wash and a broken windmill. I think there is water a few miles up the trail so I will get up early and head there tomorrow. The temperature was perfect today and I’m hoping tonight will be as well.

3/8/14 – 193 miles.
When you’re hiking you have a lot of time to think. Usually I just daydream, which gets me into trouble when I come to an obscure trail junction, but sometimes I get a song in my head that I just can’t get out. For a while it was a song from the old movie Ghost, that I watched with Richard and Dianna last week, called I’m Henry the 8th. Its one of those songs you can’t quit because it ends with, “second verse, same as the first”. Then, embarrassing as it may be, those wild, college frat kids were singing some baudy, pirate song that starts out, “I put my hand upon her knee, yo ho! yo ho!”, and it gets more bawdy with each verse. I can’t get the stupid thing out of my head!

It was cold when I woke this morning. One of the things I wish I had remembered to pack is a pair of light gloves. Every morning these last days in the mountains I have taken down my tent with socks on my hands. Its not easy to do but better than numb fingers. The hike up to Summerhaven was through an awesome canyon. Giant boulders made for a mase of passages, tall trees shaded a gentle stream, and the best thing, it was nearly level walking. The trail finally entered a parking lot and from there it was an uphill walk for about a mile to reach town.

I entered the first restaurant and changed clothes in the restroom. I would have eaten there but they had things like cookies and pizza and I was really hungry for a hamburger. So I slipped out the back door and walked to the Sawmill
restaurant up town. It cost $20 for a bacon cheeseburger and Coke but I guess it was worth it. It tasted good.

I stopped at the country store and bought a couple supplies, and then went over to the Community Center and used their Wifi to upload to my blog and read my emails. Then I went in their restroom, changed back into my stinky hiker clothes, filled my water bottles, and hiked out of town.

It was an awful trail down the Oracle Ridge. This is the place where Kristen “Pockets” in her trail journal tells of spraining her ankle, and I can surly tell why. The path was covered solid with fist-sized rocks that left no place solid to put your foot. Imagine walking accross a truck full of potatoes. The views were spectacular but every seconds attention had to be on your feet.

It was so rocky and steep that it took me a long time to find someplace to put up my tent. I finally found a fairly level spot, moved some stones and cow pies, and bedded down for the night. Tomorrow I will meet R&D and take a zero in Oracle.

3/7/24 – 180 miles.
Today reminded me of the White Mountains in New Hampshire. The trail dropped me way down into Sabino Canyon on many switchbacks and then turned up the West Branch Canyon on a 4000′ climb. For a while the trail followed the river but then the last few miles were almost straight up. In some places you had to use your hands to climb up through the rocks. For the life of me I don’t know how they could get pack animals through there.

I’m camped a few miles from Summerhaven. I’m looking forward to a hamburger tomorrow. It will be another cold night as I am high up in the Catalinas.