Sun-Baked Sabbatical

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.

Got back on the trail early this morning and met Erik from the Netherlands, whom we leapfrogged much of the day. We were feeling strong after our time in town, and between the flat terrain and slow descent most of the day, we hiked around 21 miles. Made it through Las Cienegas (“the swamps”), an unusually wet marshland specific to the Sonoran Desert. We ended up at Colossal Cave where we’d shipped some food, and hung out in the shade of the visitor’s center eating soft serve and drinking lemonade before heading down to the campground for the night.

Spent the last two days at the closest hotel to the trail to let our feet recover, patch our air pad, and catch up on caloric intake. It turned out to be in a retirement RV resort. We were out of place, but it was a nice spot and had pools, hot tubs, a restaurant, and a little market all within walking distance from our room. We did still go to Tucson for gear at REI and to mix it up with the food, including getting some of the best tacos I’ve ever tasted at a local Sonoran-style Mexican joint. Carne asada! I will be dreaming about those tacos in the weeks to come.

The Sonoran Desert has its own species of fly, and we have become a bit too well acquainted with it over the last couple of days. When you’re hiking, they’re following you around. When you’re resting in the shade, they won’t leave you alone. Basically, there is no respite until the sun goes down. And then hopefully there aren’t mosquitoes…

The heat wave is in full effect today. We hiked early through Las Colinas (Passage 5), some low-lying hills with progressively less and less shade, until we felt like things were getting a little dangerous. The siesta schedule is awkward on the trail, and we didn’t want to overdo it with the next few days of literal record-breaking heat, so we decided to get a ride into town and wait it out. Our feet are killing us anyway. A Lyft picked us up in the middle of nowhere at the nearest trailhead, funny enough.

Got up at 4 today to get some miles in before the heat. Hiked into the foothills of the Santa Ritas and the sunrise was beautiful. There’s a lot of trail redirection going on in this area and somehow we got off the track as described in our navigation app, but were definitely on the new established AZT route. Still, it added a couple of miles and we were grumpy about it. After waiting out the midday heat, we did a few too many more miles at dusk and ended up scrounging together a campsite in the brush in the dark. It was pokey. Our air pad popped. Ugh.

Today we got a late start and it was hot. A heat wave starts tomorrow and you can tell. We struggled with the first 5 miles before resting in a shaded wash for a few hours. I was already feeling jaded, and only a week in. At 4 we got back on trail and went another 4 miles to the next creek, feeling much better with the cooler temps.

We woke up feeling strong and pushed out a bunch of miles. We left the Canelo Hills West, crossed the highway, and headed up into the Santa Rita Mountains, the next sky island on the trail. We found a wonderful spot to camp by a creek as it was getting dark.

Decided to head back out today. Rose has been fighting a cold for most of the trip so far, but is thankfully feeling pretty good and rested now. We bought food for the next leg, including a pack of two dozen freshly made flour tortillas. Yum! Grabbed burritos from a food truck and headed back up to the trail in the afternoon. Found a decent place to camp after a few tries. It felt weird being back after a decadent town stop, but that’s how it goes.

Slept 12 hours last night. Our legs are sore as hell, but we got some chores done and planned out the next leg. Went to dinner at the Velvet Elvis, a cool pizza place with a great bartender who served us Bacanora, a liquor somewhere between tequila and mezcal that was outlawed in Sonora for decades.

Today we entered Canelo Hills West, Passage 3 of 43. We dropped in elevation and into a much different place. Short grass, gnarled mesquite trees, and blooming wildflowers defined the landscape. Met two cowboys on horseback out hunting. Their pack of 20 similar-looking dogs found us first. A little uncanny but they were friendly and cute. The two men couldn’t believe we are walking to Utah. “We drive to Utah pretty often and that sucks!”

Meant to do a short day, but got to smelling the barn and long-hauled into Patagonia, the first town stop. Hitched a ride with a young woman and her dad out dirt biking for the day. They dropped us off at the Stage Stop Inn, a nice historic spot with a restaurant attached. We gorged on burgers and beers.

Hiked to the creek coming out of the lake. Very idyllic in the morning. Then we ascended into the Canelo Hills, Passage 2 of our hike. The hills were like an African savanna, tall golden grass sparsely punctuated with scrubby oak trees. Made it to a scenic campsite near the end of the passage. Finally, a good one.

Got up and headed along the ridge of the Huachucas for a few miles, finally out of the wind. Eventually started descending from pine forest through oak brush. Met Trapdoor at a water source and leapfrogged him a couple of times during the day. He got his name from when his hammock tent gave out from under him one night and he went through it like a trapdoor. Got down to a big natural lake and soaked our tired feet. Camped nearby. Another mistake… tons of mosquitoes. Didn’t think they had those in Arizona!

Woke up in Sierra Vista and had motel waffles. A trail angel named Clyde drove us to Montezuma Pass, pointing out facts about the sky islands along the way. Once we were dropped off, we hiked a couple of miles south to the Mexican border, the official start of the trail. Lots of loud construction. Then we hiked a couple thousand feet up into the Huachuca Mountains and eventually stopped at Bathtub Spring. Met Lone Wolf, a thru-hiking veteran with tons of trails under her belt, and Ariana, on her first (many thru-hikers have “trail names” they’ve earned from friends on the trail, usually with some funny story or personality quirk behind them). Rose wasn’t feeling super well so we camped up on a ridge near the spring. It was a terrible choice… turns out we picked the mouth of a wind funnel and it was blowing hard all night.

Tomorrow Rosalea and I start our next big adventure, hiking the Arizona National Scenic Trail from the border with Mexico all the way to Utah. The trail spans over 800 miles and traverses through a huge variety of Arizona’s natural wonders, from the sky island mountain ranges and saguaro cacti in the south, to the great pine forests and Grand Canyon in the north. It will definitely test our physical and mental fortitude, but will hopefully present us with lots of wonder and excitement too.

Today we picked up a rental car in Colorado Springs and drove southwest to Sierra Vista, AZ, a small town near the border that acts as a gateway to the trail’s southern terminus. The drive was 800 miles… and it really put into perspective how long it will take to hike this same distance we drove in a single day. Buckle up!

Salt Lake City: Mashed Potatoes and Mole

Return to the Wasatch

We crossed the border back into Utah, feeling that familiar relief that comes with being in our favorite state. We beat Josh and Monika to Salt Lake City and made a beeline for Ken Sanders Rare Books. For any book lover, this place is legendary – the collection of Western Americana and desert history is unmatched. After dinner at an Indian and a frustrating search for van-friendly camping (SLC is another city notoriously tough on overnight parking), we admitted defeat and booked an Airbnb in Sandy.

Skiing in Snowbird

In the morning, we made the quick dash up Little Cottonwood Canyon to Snowbird. Compared to the trek from Denver to the mountains, the proximity of Salt Lake to the resorts feels like a cheat code… at least on a Wednesday. Snowbird has been getting hammered with snow lately, but the most recent storm came in warm. We spent the day navigating what felt like mashed potatoes, but it was still fun compared to lots of the conditions we faced this month!

By early afternoon, the fog rolled in and the wind picked up. Between the conditions and a month of non-stop movement, my legs were officially done. Rose and I headed back to town for some “cat therapy” at a thrift store with resident felines, much needed after being away from our own kitty all month.

Mexican Food? In Salt Lake?!

We met Josh and Monika for a final celebratory dinner at Red Iguana, a favorite of her family’s. If you’re in Salt Lake, the mole there is non-negotiable. Really good stuff! We left fat and happy, retreating to the Airbnb to do absolutely nothing but watch episodes of Fear Factor all night. It was the perfect, low-stakes end to a high-adrenaline month.

Desert Solace and the Road Ahead

This morning, we said our goodbyes. Josh and Monika are booking it back to Denver, but Rose and I are taking the leisurely way home. We spent the day hitting a few more SLC spots before driving out to Green River. We kept our driving-through-Utah tradition alive with burgers at Ray’s Tavern before heading out into the BLM land near town.

There is nothing quite like the silence of the desert to help you decompress, and we’re, glad to be back in the land of “camp wherever you want.” Tomorrow, we make the final push to Denver to grab Rose’s truck, then it’s back to Crestone for some serious recovery before our next big adventure: hiking the Arizona Trail.