Miles 184-265 on the Arizona Trail

Summerhaven/Mt Lemmon to Kearny

I hiked out of Summerhaven after a final meal at Beyond Bread, lunch this time, at 1100. It was an easy road walk for a mile before turning back into trail. The day was going to be a hot one. I saw comments in FarOut about staying on the ridge and there’s no point in following the trail, but for some reason I didn’t listen. I stayed on the redline which dropped me down a steep and sometimes slippery path to a stream. Seeing that I just left town, I didn’t really need water. I started to walk to the crossing, but had to quickly backtrack. I almost didn’t see the Arizona black rattlesnake curled up in the middle of the trail.

I turned back and decided to take a break and drink water while I waited to see what it did. After a few minutes I started out again. It wasn’t there anymore. I walked only a little farther before vigorous rattling warned me to stop. It was still making its way across on the far side of the turn. I gave it a wide berth. Not as wide as either of us would really like, but we both survived. I began the climb back up. It was more gently graded than the way down and went pretty smoothly. It did take a long time though. When I hit a saddle, I took a short break under a tree to cool off. A guy setting up signs for another race that weekend asked me if cars could come up the road right there, but I couldn’t help him. We both went our separate ways and continued the climb up followed by some ridge walking and a very long descent. I could see the desert I’d be walking through this stretch. It looked pretty barren and hot.

Towards the end of the day, I came across another guy setting markers for the race, said hi, and again went our separate ways. I was getting pretty thirsty by this point. There wasn’t much water out there and the next source was a ranch that lets hikers fill up at the hose. I could see it as I dropped down and made my way towards it. I got there around 1830. Chugging water and filling bottles was first on the agenda. I chatted with Chuck Wagon, a section hiker, who was hanging out there readying for camp. I decided I didn’t want to night hike, so I joined him in cowboy camping. Shortly after dark we could smell a skunk. Luckily the animal didn’t come closer. 

I was up around 0520 after a poor night of sleep. I had a bit of a cough so I was trying to be quiet which in turn means I’m more awake and alert because of the noises I’m making. I tried to pack quietly and quickly. I don’t know if I woke the other guy, but he didn’t complain. I filled up on water before leaving. I had 22 miles before the next reliable source. There was a chance for a cache, but I’ve already come across an empty one and didn’t want to rely on it. I had around 5 liters with me. Luckily the trail was smooth and flatish because it was definitely over the weight limit for my pack which was digging into my shoulders. As I often did on the PCT, I passed the 200 mile marker without noticing. I didn’t bother making a new sign and kept walking. Through Oracle state park there were a couple of nice benches I found in the morning and took full advantage of, using the break to rearrange water, moving it from the bladder to the bottles I drank from.

I listened to a book all morning. The day was hot and I made full use of my umbrella. There was also very little shade this day. When it finally came to lunch time, I stopped in a sandy wash to eat with no cover but my umbrella. It was getting very hot by this point. I saw 99 on the thermometer. Lunch was quick because it was almost better to just keep moving in hopes for a better spot than to sit huddled under the tiny bit of shade I could make.

The afternoon didn’t get better. My legs felt like they were on fire. The rash I had been getting was back with a fury. It felt like a sunburn being slapped and just kept getting worse. With no shade and no way to cool my legs, I kept walking. Eventually I came across a tree in the early evening and sat under it for 20 minutes to try to cool down. It helped a little, but I was running low on water. Only a handful of miles to the next cow tank. I came to the road intersection and turned left down it to find the water. I dropped my pack and poles a few steps down and carried on with just the bladder. It was a farther walk than expected, maybe 0.3 mile. There wasn’t any kind of spigot on the big tank, but there was a ladder. I climbed up with my bladder and looked inside. Not the best but it was all I had. I couldn’t reach the water. Luckily there was a milk jug tied to the ladder with a thin line. The top was cut open to make a scoop. I threw it in and tried to scoop water, but it just slapped on top. I needed more force and a better angle. I threw again and got a full scoop. I transferred the very vibrant green water into my bladder and went for another scoop.

Once I had enough, I climbed back down the very widely spaced rungs and back up the road 0.3 mile to my pack. I grabbed my pack and trekking poles. One pole had landed in a pile of cholla bombs (what I call the pieces that fall off the jumping cholla). I spent a minute carefully pulling all the bombs and spines out of my pole handle before continuing up the trail for a camp. There was a nice spot only 100 meters or so along. Perfect. I was pretty tired and my legs still hurt. As it was only 1800, I hunched in the shade of a prickly pear until I mustered the strength to a really set up camp. I pulled out my ground sheet and emptied my pack. I was going to cowboy camp, mostly out of sheer laziness. I heated a backpacker meal and then cuddled up in my quilt to read before bed. 

My legs felt better in the morning. Still not great. The night was cool and comfortable with a light breeze and I slept better. I got up earlier to get more miles before the heat, but it didn’t end up helping because filtering the algae water took forever. I had to backflush my filter multiple times to get a liter. Luckily there was more water in 4.5 miles. The trail was covered in blooming staghorn cholla ranging in colors: yellow, orange, red, and pink. The skies were cloudy helping keep the heat at bay.

At the junction for the next water, I headed down the road, again about 0.3 mile. I found a very dystopian looking paddock made from sticks, junk, and barbed wire. I walked until I found the big tank. No spigot but the reviews said something about pipes and smaller tanks. I found a way to get inside the paddock to investigate. There was a lot of water on the ground which meant I was headed the right way. While looking at the stream, I almost missed the western diamondback curled and nestled in the ground so it was flush with the surface. It didn’t mind me walking by so I didn’t worry too much as I gave it a wide berth.

I found the pipe letting water out and filled up my bladder. I backflushed my filter again and watched as a glob of algae came out. This new water was a lot better. I headed back to trail avoiding the snake and continued my day. The morning started to get warm, but not anywhere like the day before. I came across a second rattlesnake who also didn’t care I was nearby. It was sprawled across the path, so I hopped off trail and went around it. Lots of pretty trail and rolling hills through this desert section. I saw the first other hiker I’d seen in a while and only one I’d said anything to in a day and a half. I didn’t stop to say more than a passing hello. I wanted to get to the rain catch for lunch. The rain catch was all I hoped it would be. Full of cool clear water, huge shady area behind it. I filled up my bladder to filter water and sat down for lunch. 

Halfway through, the guy I passed joined me. He was having a rough time. It was his first long trail, lots of experience bike packing long trails though, and went out too hard. He thought he may have a stress fracture. We chatted off and on until my break was over and I packed up to get 12 more miles to another water tank then camp after. The afternoon wasn’t too hot and mostly flat. Halfway through the distance I intended to do I took a nice break under a tree. Shortly after I went through a gate. It had a very noisy counterbalance to keep it closed which startled a 3rd rattlesnake. It was not happy. It slithered backwards while keeping an eye on me and shaking its tail. I had plenty of space to pass so I did so quickly. Not even 10 minutes later, I came across my 4th western diamondback of the day. It was also not pleased and shook aggressively to get me to back off. I did and went around it off trail. That was the last snake I saw that day. Around 1800 I came to the road junction for water and went up it to find two other people there gathering water. They had flipped with the heat wave and were headed south now. I grabbed a liter and a half and headed back to where I dropped my pack. I grabbed it and found a good camp spot immediately after getting back to trail. I set up to cowboy again and ate a delicious backpacker meal of street corn grits while watching the sunset. I will get that meal again. It was the best.

Town day! I had about 16 miles to go and thought I could be in around noonish. The morning was pretty typical. I saw an excessive number of cottontail rabbits. Sadly they were too quick to get a photo of. I also saw a good bit of cows. These had horns and babies which add an additional layer of uncertainty with them. Cows are a lot more dangerous than people often think. They kill way more people than sharks (and snakes depending on which study you read), but still less than dogs. Luckily no cows charged me and I passed on unmollested.

I said hi to an older couple shortly before climbing another small mountain. The rest of the trail was downhill to town. I arrived when I expected and a mile from the trailhead, messaged the trail angels I’d be staying with. They sent a car out to get me and bring me back. I found the car and was on my way to Kearny. At the house I got the tour. I picked out some clothes for later, dropped my pack, and walked into town for pizza. I got a big pizza just for me and a large Dr Pepper. I ate half the pizza and drank all the soda plus a refill of Starry.

I took my leftovers shopping at the Family Dollar for a few items to add to my food bag to last me the next day and a half. I stopped at the actual grocery store as well and grabbed grapes for snacking and yogurt for breakfast. Back at the house I finally showered and relaxed.