Sun-Baked Sabbatical

Today we took a zero in Roosevelt. We are tired after the climb over the Superstitions, and the next leg is 7 days over two mountain ranges of similar size to get to the town of Pine, so we thought it’d be prudent to rest up. It is nice to watch movies and sit on the couch in the AC all day!

Today was a bit brutal. I woke up with about 50 gnat bites on my legs that I got while we were sitting around getting water at a speing yesterday. Then we descended off the north side of the Superstitions and were expecting a breezy 13 miles. Instead, we were faced with a trail alternating between a rough jeep two-track and a rocky creek bed washed out by recent floods. Going was slow and somewhat treacherous, as we’re finding it is easy to skid out going downhill on this trail. In the late afternoon, grumpy and with low morale, we finally got to the marina at Roosevelt Lake where we decompressed with a few beers and picked up one of the food resupplies we’d mailed ourselves in early March. This area is funny, full of fishing vacationers and bikers. Definitely feels like an Americana time capsule.

We had a pretty good day hiking through the Superstitions today, up and down through saddles and across ridges. We decided to do most of the range today but save the big descent to Roosevelt Lake for tomorrow, and ended up finding a scenic campsite on a ridge after the last climb of the day.

Got on the trail early today thanks to another trail angel offering shuttles to the trailhead. Met a seasoned thru-hiker in the car, Lieutenant Dan, who had some good advice on savoring the small happy moments and taking plenty of short breaks throughout the day. Rose and I got to the trail and started the slow ascent up into the Superstition Mountains, a popular spot for Phoenix hikers and a place full of Native American lore. We were feeling great today, and the climb was no big deal. The last couple of miles were steep, but we made quick work of it and found ourselves up on a ridge with great views back south toward Picketpost Mountain and the town of Superior.

This morning we descended from the mountains to the highway west of the town of Superior. We got a ride into town and grabbed some disappointing Mexican food, then got a disappointing room at a disappointing motel. They can’t all be winners, I guess. We walked into town to get groceries and grab a beer before bed. Decided we wouldn’t take a zero here tomorrow, but at least it is nice to sleep in a bed!

This morning we descended from the mountains to the highway west of the town of Superior. We got a ride into town and grabbed some disappointing Mexican food, then got a disappointing room at a disappointing motel. They can’t all be winners, I guess. We walked into town to get groceries and grab a beer before bed. Decided we wouldn’t take a zero here tomorrow, but at least it is nice to sleep in a bed!

We got a ride from James back to the trail this morning. Rose and I decided to walk on the train tracks for the first stretch to save about 5 miles and lots of PUDs (pointless ups and downs). The walking was easy, but I guess the shade from the tracks in the morning is a favorite of the local snakes because we came upon two rattlers. Yeesh! The trail turned north and we forded the Gila River before taking a break in the shade provided by the riparian zone. The river water was full of silt and hard to filter, but we made it work. Then we came upon a family of trepidatious cows and bulls trying to get a drink too. Finally, we headed out of the river bed and into the low mountain range north of the river. Right away, we realized how hot the climb would be at this time of day, and that we should have been patient and carried more water. We hiked over a saddle to some spectacular canyon views, but still had a few miles to go before the next available water. We finally got there, too thirsty for comfort, and luckily there was a good campsite right by the water so we could rehydrate all night.

We got a ride from James back to the trail this morning. Rose and I decided to walk on the train tracks for the first stretch to save about 5 miles and lots of PUDs (pointless ups and downs). The walking was easy, but I guess the shade from the tracks in the morning is a favorite of the local snakes because we came upon two rattlers. Yeesh! The trail turned north and we forded the Gila River before taking a break in the shade provided by the riparian zone. The river water was full of silt and hard to filter, but we made it work. Then we came upon a family of trepidatious cows and bulls trying to get a drink too. Finally, we headed out of the river bed and into the low mountain range north of the river. Right away, we realized how hot the climb would be at this time of day, and that we should have been patient and carried more water. We hiked over a saddle to some spectacular canyon views, but still had a few miles to go before the next available water. We finally got there, too thirsty for comfort, and luckily there was a good campsite right by the water so we could rehydrate all night.

Took another zero day today. We’re at the lowest elevation of the AZT, and have a couple mountain ranges to climb over before getting up into the northern section of the trail, so we wanted to rest up. In the morning two other hikers, Jiyu and Grant, showed up to stay at the house too. We met these guys around Oracle and have been leapfrogging them the past couple days, so it was fun to chat with them most of the day and rest up. We cleaned our dishes and did the laundry and got ready for an early morning back on the trail.

Today we climbed 16 miles up and over the small Tortilla Mountains range and into the town of Kearny. Just outside of town we got in touch with another trail angel named James who came to pick us up at the trailhead. He took us to his favorite restaurant just before town even though he’d already eaten lunch. He dropped us off at another trail angel’s house who hosts hikers. They weren’t even home this weekend, so we had the place to ourselves. Guess they don’t call Kearny the friendliest town on the AZT for nothing!

Hiked 20 miles today, still through mostly easy terrain. The trail between Oracle and Kearny is pretty boring here, with pretty much the same rolling hills and Sonoran vegetation the whole time, but it is still nice to catch up on miles with the weather finally cooling down from the heat wave. We did see a rattlesnake on the trail though. It was angry, shaking its rattler and bobbing its head side to side. Luckily we were way out of striking distance and we were able to hike around the snake giving it a wide berth. Around sunset we climbed up over a saddle, admiring the beautiful skies, before reaching a wildlife water tank and pitching our tent for the night.

Had a good day today after our nearo in Oracle. We went 18 miles on easy terrain, and for the first time on the trail it rain a little during the day. The cool, wet weather was actually refreshing. And we got in our second night of use with the tent: it has felt much cozier than cowboy camping, and I am finally getting good sleep on the trail!

Woke up feeling revitalized after our luck at the ranch, but still tired from the climb up and over the Santa Catalinas, so we only went a couple miles to a trailhead where we got a ride into Oracle. We got breakfast at a cool spot in town and then went over to the market to restock on food. Then we went to pick up our tent at the post office before spending some time at the town library staying cool and charging up our devices before getting another ride out to the trail.

In the morning we made a quick trip to the market before heading out. It was a tough day… we dropped over a thousand feet in elevation over four miles to the first water source, before climbing a thousand feet back up. Then we descended along a rough jeep road and down into the valley near Oracle. We carried water for most of the day because of the lack of sources along the way, and thunderstorms were breaking off in the distance on both sides of us.

Luckily the day ended with a bit of trail magic. The historic High Jinks Ranch was bought a few years ago by a friend of the trail whole occasionally leaves the basement of the house open to hikers, and when we arrived the place was unlocked. The ranch was built by Buffalo Bill’s right-hand man, and is now a national historic site. The new owner has outfitted the basement with a full bathroom, kitchen, and cots. We even watched Cowboys and Aliens before hitting the hay. All free of charge! It even rained all night to boot.

We got up early and made the hearty climb up Mt. Lemmon, the third biggest climb on the trail. From one of the false peaks, we descended into the Wilderness of Rocks, a wonderland of pine trees and big, round granite formations reminiscent of the area of Bailey, where we used to live. Finally, we climbed up into the resort town of Summerhaven, where we stopped at the famous Cookie Cabin before walking over to the hotel for the night.

Despite how hard they were, the last two days were our favorite of the trail so far. The scenery ranged from saguaros to craggy low-desert mountains to a straight up oasis with jungles and pools to pine forest to the Wonderland of Rocks to strange scrubby hills to aspen forests. All in 22 miles and 4000 feet of gain.

Packed things up in the hotel and took a Lyft back to Molino Basin, and spent the afternoon climbing over hills to Hutch’s Pool, a true oasis in the desert fitted with huge swimming pools. We rested our feet and filtered some water, but it was buggy and packed with people, so we climbed another mile or two up to a higher and drier place to sleep for the night. Also saw a couple gopher snakes on the trail. They aren’t venomous, but still… creepy!

We took a zero day in Tucson, mostly chilling out in the hotel and catching up on some much-needed sleep. Our place was near the Mexican restaurant we went to last visit with the awesome carne asada tacos, so we went and got those again.

Rose and I have been carrying a lightweight tarp for our shelter in case it rains, but have been cowboy camping the whole trail so far – just laying our air pad and quilt on a groundsheet but with no tent or tarp around us while we sleep. This setup is nice for its simplicity and for looking at the stars, but the trail has been surprisingly buggy and we have been craving the creature comforts of a tent, so we shipped ourselves one to Oracle, a couple of town stops down the list. Hoping this will help me sleep better on the trail.

Dropped in elevation back down to the low hills, past granite outcroppings on Mica’s north face that would make for great rock climbing. I haven’t been sleeping well on trail this stretch or last, and it was 17 miles to Molino Basin where we could get a ride down to Tucson, so we booked it most of the day to get there. We’re nearly through Passage 10 of 43. Got a ride with a fellow thru-hiker picking up her friend who’s also doing the trail this year. In town, we grabbed burgers for dinner and conked out early once back at the hotel.

Woke up late in the Grass Shack campground. Erik and the other guy camping here had left already, and we took our time getting going. It was nice to be up high and out of the heat of the low desert. Climbed a few thousand more feet up to Manning Camp, an old cabin turned Park Service weather station in the piney woods at the top of Mica Mountain. We walked through something like six different biomes in the 15 miles between the floor of the Sonoran Desert and the top of the mountain, and the views were awesome from the top. We worked our way down the other side to the park boundary where we camped in the oak forest. Met Levi, a friendly Albertan, as we were setting up camp.

Woke up in the Colossal Cave campground, in a shady wash surrounded by saguaro cacti. Took off around the hills and down into the low desert Rincon Valley. The saguaros were becoming ever more frequent, and after a few miles, we found a peaceful little flowing stream where we met back up with Erik and met three middle-aged Tucsonan women doing a section of the trail. We chatted and filtered water for a while, and eventually decided to head up further. Huge mistake. It was 10 miles and a couple thousand feet of elevation gain to the first allowed camping in the national park, and we overestimated our energy. At least the sunset and the lights of Tucson below were pretty. Still, we arrived at around 9pm truly exhausted and grumpy.