Arizona is all Cactus, Dirt, and Critters that can hurt you. I guess we were not in Arizona today.

The worst part of this hike was the beginning, where we were only afforded views of Roosevelt Lake and the Dam, Apache Lake and Apache Trail, and views of the Four Peaks.

The weather again was perfect for the hike. Temps started in the low 30's, but within the hour we were all in short sleeves. This hike starts with a relatively steep climb away from the lake. There was a lot of up on this hike. It was my first 7,000 AEG plus day!

We were slowed considerably by the aprox 6 miles of snow on the north facing parts of the trail. There was one 100' section that took about 20 minutes to get through. The snow was hard packed crusty ice. One slip would take you to places you really did not want to be. .

The upper 1/3 of the hike took you past and over small running streams, waterfalls, and even on 30' tall frozen waterfall. Pretty sweet!

Thanks to the funky bunch for another great day on the AZ Trail. I left the house at 4am and got back at 10 pm, so it was a FULL day!

We finished the day with some of the best Chicago style pizza I've had in Arizona. Big Daddy's Pizza in the Tonto Basin between the North end of the lake and Punkin Center. 33?50'12.30"N, 111?18'6.77"W. Thanks Denny.

We've now completed 17 passages, 316 miles, and 57,361 of AEG on the AZ Trail!