First long solo hike in a while and it was a beautiful day for it. Both my partners for Battleship bailed on me so I decided on something last minute. I was first gonna do the Dripping Springs Super Loop but had a xmas party in the evening so on the way I decided to cut it down a little shorter and do something with a little less route finding difficulties. So... I opted for the Marsh Valley Loop and to cut through Bull Pass and hit the top of Black Top Mesa. It'd been a while since I'd been up there.

Water was everywhere and the whole hike was pretty enjoyable. I ran into fewer hikers than expected which was nice. Then on the Cavalry Trail, I heard a voice call out "I think it's Kyle" and looked up to find Wally followed by Tortoise Hiker and AZDesertFather. I continued my hike and had lunch on top of Black Top Mesa. On the way down I saw a long dark tail floating above a group of prickly pear and couldn't figure out what the pumpkin it could be. I finally got close enough to see that it was a coatimundi. I was definitely not expecting that. I was glad, though, since I'd never seen one before and my only other idea of what might have a tail that long in the Supes would have meant some type on cat encounter-- I was stoked that I hadn't in the end been dumb enough to creep up on one of those.

I made it back to the trailhead after a great day. Also, there is tons of water out there right now-- pretty much everywhere.