I was kind of looking to see where I was at for another big trek this summer and Karl was looking to experiment with a lighter weight higher mileage backpack, so I proposed Picketpost Mountain, or the beginning of section 18 of the Arizona Trail to Pine and the end of section 26 of the Arizona Trail. Karl was down for four days and had a somewhat flexible plan for ending his trip when he needed to. Meanwhile, I was about 50-50 if I could do the entire hike and was content with just seeing how far Karl and I could get and then playing the rest of my trip by ear, or I should say by body.

Day 1: 29.92 miles 6268 aeg

We made it to our planned first night's campsite on day one, Walnut Spring. Section 18 really exceeded my expectations. This is about the best time of year to be walking though that desert right now and Whitford proved to be a real treat with the flowing water and abundance of green. The climb was grueling and relentless but it offered some very solid views of the area and was really made manageable by liberal use of switchbacks. Karl was so confident with our performance at that point in the day that he insisted we bag Montana Mountain while we were up there. I agreed, but only because I was born in Montana and I said it had to count it as our break. Reavis Ranch looked like Daytona Beech and I had not apprehensions about making the short trip past it to my cozy little campsite at Walnut Spring. Got to Walnut just at headlamp time. Blew through camp chores, made a fire, ate and got to bed as soon as we could.

Day 2: 25.67 miles 6392 aeg

We came up a little short on our proposed campsite on this day, but the hiking was great so no worries. No stranger to the Eastern Supes, but Sunday still offered me all new areas after Two Bar Ridge. Cottonwood Canyon was great! No shortage of water in there and some cool little sites in this random little riparian jungle in the far corners of the northwestern Supes. A little bit of road and then it was the traverse from hell along the 188 waiting for that damn bridge to come into sight. From the bridge it was up the stairway to heaven. Where fittingly we had a trail angel waiting for us with tons of snacks and H20. After our sugar, hops, and caffeine binge at Mills Ridge we decided to just push for Buckhorn Creek. However, on that side of Four Peaks, pushing for a few extra miles usually entails a nice chunk of aeg as well, so we earned it. I did find a set of Indian ruins though along the way, so that was cool. We were both excited to learn that after carrying all that fresh water from Mills Ridge, there was water flowing in Buckhorn Creek. Oh well no filtering to do, quicker camp set-up, quick fire and in bed even earlier than previous night.

Day 3: 31.24 miles 5239 aeg

Day three was all new ground for me. Four Peaks makes you work, but alas the beauty of nature is enhanced by the ardor of the journey. I really enjoyed this section, an instant new favorite! I hiked through perhaps one of my nicest sunrises in a long time and marked several rock pile sites along the trail for future exploring. This section just kept getting better for me as we neared Four Peaks and started contouring towards Pigeon Spring. The lingering and previous snow had some of the creeks flowing nicely along this stretch and the trail got very nice as we approached its end. The road felt a little like Mad Max with the amount of Jeeps, trucks and atvs out. However, I must say not one negative experience with any driver and I do not think I have been offered as much water in such a short amount of time as I was along that 11 mile stretch of road. One guy asked, "is there anything else I could give you?" I said I could use some sunscreen and he offered up the whole bottle. The hike down into Sycamore was also very nice, again a great time to be in the lowlands, a little water, some flowers and green. However, it was hard to appreciate at times with the fatigue and anxiety over coordinating a last minute drop off of some additional things I felt I needed, if I was going to have any chance of reaching Pine. The drop and pick went smooth, a small adventure, but relatively smooth. We did not get an ideal spot to camp, but spirits were high after our resupply.

Day 4: 24.7 miles 6297 aeg

This was the day Karl and I would be saying our goodbyes. Karl decided on a Peely exit and I would push on to Bear Spring from there. More new trail for me to start the day and again I was not disappointed. The canyons on the way up to Saddle Ridge were picturesque, there was a lot of water and signs of some pretty extensive trail work in spots. I will admit things got a little dicey after we left the quaint McFarland Spring area, but we endured. The trails definitely need some work in there. I found myself kind of embracing the ruggedness and challenge the area presented. However, I could see that area becoming another hiker's hell if they were not expecting it. Karl and I parted at Peely. Losing Karl sucked, as he and I had a good thing going the first few days. Karl was keeping our pace in the areas where I tend to day dream and I was doing what I could do to keep us at a respectable place for some of the more stout climbs. But no time to dwell, I was solo now and needed to reach Bear Spring, just another 2000 feet of aeg and a shade under ten miles. There is no sense harping on the point, but the Divide Trail is getting nasty along there and I did make it to Bear Spring before head lamp conditions, but I was obliterated from that last little push from Peely. I replaced Karl with another Carl at Bear Spring. I am going to assume he spells his with a C. Anyways, I ran into Carl, better known as Spiced Rum on HAZ. He was on the final night of a backpack to gather some information for future work in the area. We chatted it up for awhile and I am not ashamed to admit I took some extra snacks from him. He was leaving a day early and I could not believe the amount of food I was going through on these long days, so I had no problem taking the charity. Superb stuff too, some great dried fruit, trail-mix and a Rice Crispy treat. Good guy all around and a source of wealth on some other major trails that I am interested in. And what a nice little spot to camp near Bear Spring, that saddle is great, I see why toughboots is fond of the place.

Day 5: 26.9 miles 4051 aeg

This was my make or break day. I had my city creek trailhead bailout option if needed, or I was pushing for the East Verde via the dreaded Red Hills and making my final push for Pine from there. The divide trail has its ups and downs, both in terrain and condition, but overall it was pretty smooth going. There is a section of Divide Trail that is now immaculate from about the intersection with Brody Seep to the intersection with Barnhardt. Kudos to that trail crew. I stopped for way too long to soak my legs and filter water and then realized I was looking at about ten more miles to include the worst part of the Red Hills and it was nearly three. My rational side said, "set up camp here, hike out LF or Saddle Ridge tomorrow," however, my other side said, "quit making excuses and finish the original plan." I am not sure what it was, but I was really dreading the last half of the Red Hills. Out of paranoia of being too exhausted to complete the entire section and having to dry camp somewhere I carried way too much water. This weighed me down and annoyed me even more as several of the creeks and main valleys I crossed had running water in them. As it turned out, while my worries were warranted, I did just fine and to be honest felt the area did not seem as bad as it had before and I must give props to the horse(s) whose tracks I followed through the entire Red Hills section, a doable stretch, just may require more time and detail. Camped at the Verde where I was serenaded to sleep by cows, frogs, chickens, maybe peacocks, cats and perhaps even a species of monkey. A very lively river at night.

Day 6: 23.08 miles 4329 aeg

This was the one I was waiting for, the "easy" day. A nice early start, I don't think there is a better place to be in the world than a half hour before light in the mountains somewhere, just pure serenity. There were ankle breakers abound on this day of Whiterock and Hard Scrabble. A nice steady pace was all I tried to keep and I followed a liberal break plan, as I crawled into Pine. The final two sections were not my favorite, but they were also the last two sections of a 160 mile trek so they would have had to have been perfect to really capture my imagination. Nevertheless, I got through both of them and endured the lava rock tread and bland road. I did find the last few miles to be more redeeming with the scenic Oak Spring and Bradshaw tank area. It was a reunion at the trailhead with Jackie and the pups, Del Taco and then home.

Final Notes

I need to work on a better nutrition plan for these big ones. I simply did not bring enough caloric energy for the type of days I was doing and the amount of energy I was putting out. I need to go healthier and more efficient, just a good lesson to learn.

Karl played a huge role in getting me through those first four days, very glad to have him through there, he was missed later.

A good song to have stuck in your head while hiking is Passion Pit, "Take a Walk."

I can definitely go lighter on these ones too, I packed light, but by no means did I make any attempts to go ultra-light. In the future, that may be needed to knock out some of these more ambitious multi day treks.

The hardest days by far were Day four with its nearly 7000 feet gained and day five with its 27 legit miles through the Mazzies without as much as a foot of road relief until the very end.

Wildflowers
About normal to not so great, to really good in spots. Most action in the first few sections though.

The plan had evolved over some months. I’d wanted to revisit Reavis Ranch, but come in from the south. My only trip to Reavis’ apple orchard had been 2 years ago entering from the north (http://hikearizona.com.... Mary Jo (MJ) had never backpacked but wanted to try. She found the thought of a camp with less than a thousand pounds of gear extremely intimidating, but slightly intriguing. And the idea of bragging to her friends about backpacking to Reavis Ranch sealed the deal.

The south Reavis trail offered options to visit other sites on my wish list – Rogers Canyon Ruins, Elisha’s grave, Circlestone, perhaps even Mound Mountain. The scope of the trip expanded, becoming both more difficult and yet more appealing. It was definitely going to be a demanding first backpacking trip for a woman north of 60. But MJ seldom backs down from a challenge.

At Angela’s recent birthday bash, I mentioned the evolving plan to Kelly. Reavis was on her sort-o- bucket list (only high places are on her real bucket list). After revealing the other possible destinations (Mound Mountain being a real draw for her) she was definitely in. We happily welcomed the Trekkin Gecko to join our adventure. Larry overheard the conversation and mentioned he was interested as well, never having explored that portion of the Supes. Visions of obscure and almost never visited ruins were obviously dancing through his head. Our foursome was formed.

We rendezvoused at the Rogers Trough trailhead, empty of vehicles on this Monday morning. We’d day hike to Rogers Canyon Ruins and return to camp at the trailhead and then head to Reavis the next morning. Just as we shouldered our day packs, a lone figure with a massive backpack came up the trail. This young man had been out for almost a week and his plan had been for nearly a week more. Events had not gone as he had planned apparently. He ask with some eagerness in his voice if we might happen to be driving out since his planned ride home wouldn’t be there before Saturday. Larry was preparing to drive him at least as far as it took to get a message out when Kelly realized she had just enough cell reception to send a text message. Once the young man had established contact with his support, Kelly left him her phone and we set out for the ruins. The triplog for that hike is here:http://hikearizona.com...

The night at the trailhead passed uneventfully except my finicky inflatable sleeping mat deflated during the wee hours. It would be impossible to reflate the mat inside the confines of our 2-person Big Agnes tent and to do so outside would wake everyone. I’d placed a microscopically thin closed cell foam pad below the inflatable pad to protect from punctures. While offering no cushion, the closed cell pad did keep me insulated from the cold and very hard ground of the trailhead parking lot. At least it was a full moon. The huge moon in the clear sky combined with the classically orange Big Agnes tent creating the effect of trying to sleep inside a brightly lit jack-o-lantern. Meanwhile, my newbie backpacker wife snored contentedly through the whole thing. We were off to a great start.

After a seeming eternity, morning finally broke. Kelly popped out of her tent. Larry opened the hatch on his FJ. MJ crawled from our tent, stretched and asked if I had coffee made. All appeared so disgustingly rested. After breakfast and coffee and repacking our packs and securing the vehicles, we were off like a herd of turtles.
We visited Elisha Marcus Reavis’ grave fulfilling one of my primary desires for the trip. The arduous slog up to the saddle was slow, but rewarding as we topped out on to the pretty portion of the hike. MJ handled her 30+ pound pack well. We snapped the obligatory photos at the huge alligator juniper with Kelly climbing into its branches as she is prone to do with anything large and vertical. Good water began flowing shortly before the Fireline Trail intersection. We dropped our heavy packs at the southern end of the Valley and scouted for a good camp spot near water settling on a well-used site near the old cattle chute. The orchard was disappointingly bare, not a single apple to be found. After a snack for four trail-worn hikers, camp went up quick. Larry and I fussed with our gravity water filters down at the nice clear pool near camp. Dinner was a variety of Mountain House’s finest recipes. By 7 p.m., the other three were ensconced in their tents. I elected to sleep under the stars beside our tent. That way I could add air if need be to my expensive unreliable mat. Besides, sleeping out provides a deeper connection to a place, at least for me. The mat held through the night and I snored enough to exact some portion of revenge for the previous night.

With only a day hike planned, we slept in until 5 minutes after sunrise. The morning was cool and bright. Oatmeal and coffee seemed to be the breakfast du jour amongst the group. Finished with her oats, MJ mentioned we had neglected to have dessert the evening before. She seductively dangled the unopened Backpacker Pantry dehydrated Coconut Key Lime Pie. I won’t say Kelly actually drooled, but …. If you’ve never had Key Lime Pie for breakfast, gotta say you have missed out.

We set off for Circlestone and perhaps an attempt at Mound Mountain. Triplog for that day hike is here.http://hikearizona.com...

Back at camp, we lounged for a bit. Kelly wanted to see the intersection of the Reavis Gap trail. We found another well-used campsite just up the Gap Trail. Someone had abandoned a fairly heavy tarp. MJ laid claim to the property and Larry drug it back to camp with us, everyone else bringing along some firewood. Dinner was a variety of dehydrated Italian concoctions. Backpacker Pantry makes a decent dehydrated Crème Brulee so we shared our second dessert of the day. I got a fire started. Some packets of apple cider were prepared. A flask of Fireball appeared miraculously from the recesses of someone’s pack. We recounted a very good day, discussed the impending weather, and changed channels on our backpacker TV (i.e. added firewood to the fire). We lasted to nearly 8 pm.

Just after 3, a rain drop interrupted my slumbering dreams of peaks and trails and camps. Low heavy clouds were moving quickly from the South. I tapped the side of the tent. “Make a hole. I’m coming in.” Rolled up my sougan and dove into the tent. Rain pittered on the camp off and on. About daybreak there was a slight pause in the precipitation. Kelly’s voice, a tent away, mentioned that tarp MJ acquired would make a nice shelter. I was already scrounging in my strewn about gear for some ridgeline cordage. Larry was already about in full rain gear. Together we strung a half decent shelter. Breakfast was quick. Gear got organized and packed inside the tents for the three of us hiking out. Larry, who planned to stay on a few more days, helped filter water for our hike out. Everyone was glancing skyward trying to read the weather. We donated a couple of packs of food and a partial flask of Fireball to Larry. He might have to spend some hours in his tent or under our new shelter over the next couple of days, but at least he’d be happy and full.

At 9ish, MJ, Kelly and I shouldered our packs under a sky with some hopeful areas of blue sky between some unhappy gray clouds. At least it wasn’t raining on us now. MJ led out with a pace that amazed both Kelly and I. We spotted a whitetail doe within the first mile. She seemed more curious than scared, unusual since it is hunting season. A brief shower hit us about an hour into the hike, but it was light. We took one of our quick breaks at the Saddle overjoyed to see mostly blue sky in front of us. We were flagging a bit on the climb up to the trailhead. Kelly suggested a 30-second break. She praised MJ’s pace and mentioned since we were doing so well there might be time to take a side trip to Guayo’s El Rey for some Mexican, her treat. MJ fairly levitated the remaining distance. We hit the trailhead still dry only 3 hours and 38 minutes after bidding farewell to Larry back at Reavis.

Having spent the previous three days in the same clothes, we took the opportunity to clean up quickly and change. The drive out was just as bumpy as it was driving in, but the views are impressive. Significant wind and rain hit us before we reached pavement. Our quick hike out was obviously a good decision. We hoped Larry stayed dry and safe.
Guayo’s is the perfect post hike stop. MJ marveled at the whole concept of running water and a real bathroom. Her new appreciation for chairs and tables was clearly evident. We inhaled a cheese crisp and individual plates of tasty cheesy foods with names that ended in “o” or “a”.

This was a good adventure with a great mix of people. MJ had successfully completed her first backpacking trip, picking up an appreciation of the challenges and rewards. We’d definitely cemented a friendship with Kelly and have no doubt there will be plenty more adventures we will share. Getting to know Larry was a treat. Our differing experiences and common passions are a good mix. In the end, we all got what we came for. Doesn’t get better than that.

and so begins the grand enchantment project

15 degrees at rogers trough...yikes. wasn't too bad once we got going and really it was a decent day. fantastic views along this segment. it was a good beginning to what promises to be another memorable journey.

Finally got to meet Nick if only for a short while. JJ3 (John) and I hike from the Picketpost TH while Nick and Dave started from the Roger's Trough TH, saving us all 3 hours of shuttling. Cold to start but it didn't take too long to get warmed up. More water and deciduous trees along the way than I anticipated seeing. Saw a nice group of deer escaping hunters in the area. There was a fair amount of snow in the higher reaches of the hike. Outstanding views as well. Good luck to John, Dave, and Nick on their quest of completing the Grand Enchantment Trail (GET).

I started the AZT along the Highline Trail in a monsoon storm, and officially started the GET today in 15-degree temps at Rogers Trough in the snow. Brrr. Once we had gone about 45 minutes in, however, our body temps warmed up to the point that we were shedding layers soon, even going downhill. We were in snow for the first hour or so, and as a result saw all kinds of tracks everywhere...deer, and I believe coyote and fox (although I'm not the best in figuring out some of those). Saw a nice sized whitetail deer, with the bushiest tail I've ever seen. Lots of birds also, including a raptor of some kind and a cardinal for starters.

JJ & Johnlp got an earlier start as we had to do the drive all the way to Rogers Trough, but JJ & Johnlp were smoking it, meeting us after we had done 7 miles and they had done 11. A half-hour before getting to Picketpost, Nick was already getting texts from JJ of Slurpies...


Beautiful day. Absolutely beautiful. It may have been in the 20s and 30s most all day, but it felt like it was in the 60s. Weather really wasn't all that bad, and the views (especially from atop Montana Mountain) were INCREDIBLE. It was such a clear day, we could not only see South Mountain, the Catalinas and Picachos, but we could even clearly see way off in the distance the Santa Ritas and we believe Kitt Peak.

Wrote this up once. lost it, short version.

The Four Stooges were once again at the AZT.

First 1/2 hour of the hike, Joe talks about snakemarks cookies like they were almost alive. Can they really be that good? I'm guessing yessss.

Hike start slow, some nice riparian areas starting at mile 6 in a narrow canyon.
Great views start w/ the climb at the 12 mike mark, and get better all the way to the top.
Once you crest great 360 views. Joe and Dave couldn't agree on what mountain was which at the top.

A huge thanks to Denny's sister for picking us up and letting me get and additional 2 hours of sleep.

Dennys' sister says he's an excellent whistler.
Next time any of you see him, ask him to perform for you.
He takes requests!

Yes, Four Loko was back on the Arizona Trail, together again today, full of energy to knock out segment 18. Kept a good pace all day, with a moving average of about 3 mph for the trip.

Started out trying to get a AZT picture for Denny's scrapbook, but his camera wasn't awake yet and just wasn't interested. We griped and moaned until Denny cried uncle and we left, vowing to get another shot at the next big AZT sign we came to. Not everyone enjoyed this trip, but I did quite a bit. Nice variety of cactus, we saw a crested saguaro and there were several places where I could see 5-6 different varieties of cactus all in one spot (ocotillo, saguaro, prickly pear, hedgehog, chain, barrel and teddy bear). One spot was literally a cholla forest. Then as we went along, views of the Supes got better and better. After we crested Montana Mountain, W-O-W. Nice. Could see Four Peaks to the north, Flatiron/Peak 5057/Weavers to the west, and Picacho & Lemmon to the south!

Deer were definitely around, at one spot we saw 6 at once. Further down the trail some guy was walking around in his boxers with a beer in his hand, having just bagged a deer. Needless to say we didn't stick around too long there. Nice little deer, and he was happy, first deer he bagged in 6 years he said. Other hunters and ATVers were out all along the road to Rogers Trough, we noticed on the way back.

At one point about 1/3 of the way in, Joe wanted to stop to have a snack. We stopped at a point where there was a cool looking peak to the right that wasn't too far off, so I took the opportunity to jog up to the top. Nice views, with very interesting rock layers. A significant layer of the rock were small smooth stones that looked like they were cemented together, my guess is it was an ancient seabed. After I made the peak and turned around to come back down, I saw a plaque on the backside of the mountain. Turns out it was a couple whose ashes were scattered on this little peak and a marker was there to signify it. An old plastic tupperware container (my guess was what the family carried the ashes up in) was left there, but the elements had broken the tupperware down to the point it was just plastic bits in a pile. Photos with their names and dates are in this photoset, if you want to stop by and pay your respects, the marker's coordinates are N33.32316 W111.15125.

Interesting noise got louder as we approached what we are guessing was a well deeping operation in a cattle pin area off the FR650. Also at one point walked through what was and old cattle or horse pin that was done entirely by piling up rock (Denny thought it was another Circlestone )

One of the best ways to get through a nice elevation gain is to get distracted in interesting conversation, and Joe and I jumped from one topic to another and before we knew it we realized that we were about 3/4 of the way up Montana Mtn.

Now that I'm using a SPOT, I programmed the custom message to send a text message to Denny's sister picking us up when were were at the 90 minutes to ETA, more or less. As a backup we had already guessed that we would make it there at 2:30pm, and we were there at 2:15pm, pretty good guess! She showed up at 2:27, so we didn't have to wonder long if she could handle that road before we heard the diesel engine of her Ford coming around the corner! She made it a point to tell us that she taught Denny how to drive, and I believe it. She handled those bumps, hills and hairpin turns like a pro.

On

50 days since the HAZ AZT rat pack last met we were finally all back together... on the Arizona Trail

Each of the twelve segments/passages prior to this hike have proved to be more enjoyable than anticipated. The AZT had not let down. In the past half year I've seen parts of Arizona I've only read about or speculated. Looking at the profile of #18 it's pretty easy to see what you are getting into. Relatively flat for ten miles. Then a 2,700 ft ascent that catches your eye, one eyebrow rises while the other sinks, you pause... then finally you breath out about eight seconds later.

At 6:40am our new adventure began to unfold. After a mere twenty minutes to a half hour, sunlight greeted the horizon. More importantly Picket Post (the mammoth beast we needed to ultimately be looking down on as a grain of salt on the horizon) was fading nicely into the background. Another 15 minutes passes. Look up. WTF. Picket Post is getting closer and we are heading towards it. Whew that fear was quickly resolved with a sharp left.

While Bruce? commented something about how this hike was better than anticipated I wasn't feeling it. We were basically walking through cholla chocked pastures with heavy grazing rights. Denny mentioned six peaks we would conquer along the way with of Weaver's Needle on the sixth or something. Weaver's was visible soon after crossing the highway and multiple points along the way. So that was interesting seeing the angles. Next up we followed a large group ahead of us for a good half mile. They were pretty quiet yet apparently had gone months without a shower judging by the breezy drifts. Leading away from the final of the six peaks(50-100 ft moguls at best) we passed the group of domesticated ungulates.

Paralleling Whitford Canyon we could hear a distant noise echoing through the canyon. Bruce surmised it to drilling a well. What sounded like impact thrashing of large rocks was indeed an old truck with a huge hinged pulley likely hammering away quarter turns of a bit deep into the bedrock. Had it been dark and late October we probably wouldn't have been so keen to investigate the slightly eerie situation. This was actually the highlight of the trip for myself, intriguing from a birds eye view.

10:20am we stopped just before dropping down to FR650 and the Reavis Canyon Trailhead at 9.7mi. I wanted to eat before the big climb so this seemed perfect with a little down hike to spare before the beastly climb took place. After a 25 minute rest and eat we were on our way heading down. Dave and I got to talking about gpsjoe and before I knew it we were basically two thirds out of the climb. The ol' guys were nowhere in sight. We appeared to have a little over 3 miles to finish so Dave sent out a SPOT message to Denny's sister to pick us up.

The climb seemed to be about 100 feet over the horizon. It was too. Only it played out seven times to the tune of 700 feet. Luckily I was hitting my stride so it was all good. This hike ended as planned. We made it to Rogers Trailhead on time and our ride arrived shortly after. Thanks guys for another good day on the Arizona Trail. A super duper thanks to Denny's sister for picking us up and saving us a good two hours of shuttle setup!

As for being more enjoyable than anticipated... hmmm
It was okay. I wouldn't recommend it as a hike to others nor likely do it again unless doing the AZT. Yet, I love being out on the trail and the weather was exactly as the chamber of commerce advertises to the snow birds. One more leg down on the AZT so it's all good. Besides this is a two for one special... Grand Enchantment Trail #2 finished too! The added bonus, I'm now at 1,500 miles even for the year =)