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| Backpack | 9.30 Miles |
2,824 AEG |
| | Backpack | 9.30 Miles | 5 Hrs | | 1.86 mph |
| 2,824 ft AEG | | 17 LBS Pack | | |
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[ show ]
| partners | | It's that time of year again, dodging the rain and snow storms, trying to finish off a small section of AZT 19. Wanted to start at Reavis TH to get to the AZT as I hadn't been to the ranch on this trail in over 40 years. I was white knuckling it in the passenger seat along Apache Trail... mountain curves, no guardrails, and cement trucks, but with Mark as my driver, I knew we'd make it safely.
Hit the trail running at 8:45, Mark turned around about 4 miles into the trip, headed back to pursue other interests. I continued on to Plow Saddle, it was breezy and once off the saddle the wind died down. Took a lunch break just before hitting the Frog Tank intersection, then on to the intersection of the AZT.
I never ran into anyone else on the trail, saw only bear and cat scat and rusted tools left in a pile on the side of the trail. My plan was to camp at Pine Creek but I arrived there at 2:45 and couldn't imagine what I'd do til the sun went down so filtered 5 liters of water (plenty of water there right now) and headed out towards Walnut Spring. Thru hikers commenting on the AZT app mentioned "epic campsites/campground" there. A small trail headed up onto a hill, and yes they were epic sites. However, it didn't take me long to realize it was a hill-top ruins. About 8 rooms, pottery shards and a broken grinding stone. I found another area close by that was a good camp spot, set up camp, fired up my pocket rocket, had some mushroom risotto for dinner and crawled into my tent to settle in for the night.
As the sun set, the clouds cleared and stars appeared, the birds and owls were finally silent. I never heard a sound all night. Ahh...the world before we were in it.
To be continued...if not eaten by a mountain lion.. |
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