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| AZT: Sunflower to Roosevelt, AZ | |
| | AZT: Sunflower to Roosevelt, AZ | | | |
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AZT: Sunflower to Roosevelt, AZ
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Backpack | 54.00 Miles |
10,154 AEG |
| Backpack | 54.00 Miles | 2 Days 5 Hrs | | |
10,154 ft AEG | | | | |
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Partners |
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none
[ show ]
| no partners | | I joined my friend Andrew on a stretch of the AZT for a few days. I had originally planned to join him from Sunflower to Superior, but ended up calling it quits on day 3 just after Roosevelt because I was feeling sick.
We left PHX Tuesday night and got dropped off on the closed road to Bushnell Tanks by my cousin. We walked backed about 200 yards, plopped down our stuff, and made camp on the side of the road.
Day 1
We woke up around 6:30, quickly packed our things and hit the trail by 6:45. After following the road for a little while, we dipped into the wash and followed it until we joined up with the Arizona Trail. The climb up Boulder Canyon seemed very nice in contrast to the climb up the other side on Passage 20. Ample shade in the morning, possible flowing water if hit at the right time, and easier climbing. The trail is starting to bite back a little in this area and could use a little clipping here and there.
After the climb, we strolled along the road towards Pidgeon Springs and arrived at Pidgeon Springs around 1:30PM. 20 miles before 2PM, nice. We took an hour lunch break by the spring, filled our bottles, and continued on. After another 7.5 miles we decided to start looking for camping. We found a nice spot to camp about 50 yards off the trail on a saddle that has great views of the lake and 4 peaks. This part of the AZT is a real treat!
Day 2
I woke up feeling pretty drained, but that's not too unusual after a big first day, and I've bounced back plenty of times before. We get rolling out of camp around 6:45. I tried forcing down some poptarts thinking that was probably the reason I was so fatigued, but could only eat half a pack. My food bag was pretty much untouched except for a few tortillas and some cheese I ate the night before.
As we made our way down hill, I kept feeling more and more sick to my stomach. With no water between our us and Roosevelt, the sun starting to beat down on us, we both didn't want to stop and pressed on to Roosevelt. When we reached the Marina I was feeling terrible and getting ready to call it a trip. After relaxing for a couple of hours and finally eating some calories, I felt good enough to keep going. My rally was short lived. About 3 miles outside Roosevelt I was starting to feel nauseous again and told Andrew I wanted to stop at the water tank in 0.7 miles, about 3 miles short of our target for the day.
Day 3
I woke up still feeling crappy but ready to give it another shot. We rolled out of camp around 6:30. After another 3 miles I decided I still wasn't feeling good enough to hike, so I told Andrew I was turning around. I sat down for about 10 mins and we chatted about meeting up in Superior the next day so I could get him some shoes he ordered to my place, or where I could forward them to if we didn't meet up.
We said our goodbyes, then parted ways. I slowly made my way back to Roosevelt, passing a road hunter and several campsites which were set up but with no people in them (more hunters). Once I hit the paved road I then hitched back to PHX. |
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Autumn Foliage Observation Isolated Here and there in the washes and canyons. |
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Pigeon Spring |
Quart per minute |
Quart per minute |
| | Clear, some algae, pretty funky tasting atm. | | _____________________
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