2/21/14 – 31 miles
I started earlier this morning but it was really cold. There was ice in the hose on my water bladder, and every task froze my fingers. I kept wishing the sun would hurry up and warm me up, a complete opposite of what I would wish for in the afternoon. When the sky is clear in Arizona, the nights are cold and the days are hot.
I finished Passage 1 at 9am and descended into Parker Canyon. There was a nice stream that flows from Parker Lake and I rested and filled my water bottles. Then the trail starts into the Canelo Hills on a seemingly never-ending ups and downs. The steep downhill hurt my toes and knees, and the uphill hurt everything else.
After a few miles into the Canelo Hills, I came to a road the AZT guide book said to follow. After a few miles I became worried that I had missed the turn off the road and began to doubt the route. The guide book gives descriptions and turns but not distances. I wasn’t sure if the turn was in 100′ or three miles. Luckily, my GPS said I was on the trail and eventually found the turn.
Tonight I am camped in a nice shady area a couple miles from Canelo Pass. I’m hoping there is water at the road crossing – I will be pretty low when I get there. I took a liter from a cow pond half a mile back, but it was so gross that I’m using it only for cooking.
While I was eating my supper I looked up and saw a cow staring at me through the trees. She continued to stare for about 20 minutes until finally moving on. I guess she doesn’t see many hikers in her woods.
She was probably wondering why you were taking her water! (That does, indeed, sound gross.)
Watch out for the cows! They can be dangerous.
It was good to read a post on the day after the lion encounter.