Miles 52-119 on the Arizona Trail
Patagonia, AZ to Colossal Caves
Continuing where the last post left off, at 1300 we took the shuttle from TerraSol back to trail. The minute we got out of the car, there was a peal of thunder. A large storm was approaching. It looked like it would mostly be moving perpendicular towards us, but we were still on the outskirts and the edge of danger. We’d also be climbing for the next few miles and walking along a ridge. Typical. Thunderstorms don’t seem to happen unless there’s a ridge walk involved. Shortly after we started hiking, it began to rain. Then it began to hail. I wrapped Charm’s pack in her ground sheet and used my new cape/pack cover combo and umbrella. Other than the lightning, the rain was welcome. It had been so hot the last few days. We hiked on making good time staying ahead of the storm. I pulled ahead a bit and eventually the storm subsided. As usual, the landscape was beautiful. Rolling hills with lots of reentrants and spurs that we walked around.
It stayed cloudy the rest of the afternoon into the evening when we stopped for camp on a spur. We got our tents pitched. Charm is still new to the Zpacks tents, but we got it sorted out enough to make it through the night. We retired to our tents to eat while it drizzled. I ate the avocado, cheese, and crackers I packed out. It was delicious. We also began “stalking” the Monster 300 racers. They’d be running a 300 mile race largely on the AZT heading south, so we should soon be seeing a lot of them over the next two days, but first, sleep.
The next morning, I packed up as usual and was on trail just after 6. The morning, like most desert mornings, was pleasant and easy walking. Early into the day I hit the first water. Another cow tank like feature but really pretty. It was in a reentrant that had a cliff drop off; the water went up to that cliff, but was largely stopped from becoming a waterfall by a large rock. I filled my Cnoc bladder and went back up to the trail where I left my pack. Charm came up when I was finishing filtering and I gave her some of the extra water I brought up and I hiked on. I passed signs about hydraulic mining in the area, stopping to read them as I passed. A little after 9 I came to the water cache at a road crossing that would also be the location for the last aid station of the race. We sat in the shade of the Porta potties. One of the aid station volunteers offered us seats in their racer area. They weren’t expecting racers for another hour or two so we sat with them listening to their stories about racing while we relaxed.
We hung out with them for over an hour before we mustered the strength to walk the 3 miles to our lunch spot at Kentucky Camp. As we left, we met the first racer who looked fresh and was moving well. He was about 280 miles into this race. Impressive. Charm and I hiked together until lunch. We met a woman, Shiho I believe (maybe spelled wrong), who was doing a section hike and we eventually reached lunch. Kentucky Camp was part of the mining operation I’d been reading signs about. We sat on the porch in the shade having a long casual lunch. Back on trail, the clouds started rolling in. Looked like more possible storms. At least it would be cooler. I still had the rash on my calves and both of our feet were pretty swollen. We hiked together following the AZT signs and gates. I soon realized we were off the FarOut redline and finally understood what all the comments people were leaving meant. The trail was rerouted off the road and was about 3 miles longer than the app said. We went with it even though the trail wasn’t on any of our navigation apps. As we walked, we ran into Shiho again going the opposite way. We explained what we thought was going on and she turned around to walk with us, happy for the info we had. Eventually we rejoined the redline just as the storm came over us. We put on our rain gear and hiked on. We lost Shiho as we went through the hail and rain with a backdrop of thunder. At least there was a nice rainbow.
Charm and I hiked on to where we thought camp would be, occasionally passing racers and cheering them on. There wasn’t a good tent site where we expected, but the FarOut comments said there’d be another in a mile. We kept hiking through the storm. The lightning became more visible as night fell. It was starting to get too dark and we wanted to be done so we found a flattish rocky spot next to a gate. It was difficult to pitch our tents. The ground was hard. We managed and just in time. As soon as we were in our tents, it started hailing very hard. The wind was whipping across the hill tops. Luckily, the lightning was staying a bit farther away, maybe a mile off, but still too close for comfort. The storm passed after 15-20 minutes and I could finally relax for the evening.
Sleep was intermittently disturbed by runners going through the gate, but no more storms. I was out of camp near my normal time. We hiked within eyesight or talking distance all morning through cow fields. We saw a cute baby cow with its mom. The morning was getting hot fast. By 8 it was already 80 degrees out. We saw a bunch more runners today, most struggling in the heat and chatted with some as we sat in the shade of a lone mesquite tree/bush to cool off. The landscape was changing into more fields of cactus. They were everywhere and many were blooming. We hit our first big milestone right before our lunch break. 100 miles on the AZT!! At lunch time we stopped at a muddy cow tank and sat in the shade of a larger tree for two hours. We had our feet up most of the break to relieve the swelling.
Like the last two days, the skies got darker after lunch. Storms didn’t seem imminent though. There was occasional thunder in the distance. The landscape continued to become more desert cactus and more runners passed by on their way to the next aid station. We took a break at the last water cache before camp; inside the box was fresh oranges and bananas! Our first trail magic. Before we could get water or fruit, we heard someone call out asking if we’re hiking the AZT and would like a Gatorade. Double trail magic! It was one of the True North shuttle drivers bringing section hikers to trail. She gave us both cold drinks and a bag of chips. Back at the cache we filled up on water. I took an orange and Charm took a banana. We reached camp nice and early. Perfect spot to fit both of our tents protected behind some large bushes. We got set up and had dinner. Soon the rain came. Not as intense as the last two nights at least. Charm arranged a shuttle into Vail, AZ the next morning to resupply and I was headed to Colossal Caves for the box of food I mailed. This was likely to be out last night together.
Charm was nearly packed up by the time I woke up. I got out just after 6 and made my way to the caves. I should be there between 10 and 11. My feet looked horrible the night before. I had blood blisters from my feet being too swollen in my size 10 shoes. My feet are typically closer to a 9. They were doing a little better after being elevated all night, but still not great. I planned to stay at Colossal Caves until closing to give them the best chance for recovery. Charm planned to be back on trail by 1400. Shortly after going through the famous snake painted underpass, I hit the next cache which also had an aid station. They offered me food, but I was confused about what I could take so I ended up taking nothing. Apparently they would have given me pancakes. Oh well. I had a nice chat with them anyway.
As I passed a sign about animals in riparian terrain, I looked to my right to see a giant rattlesnake. It was off trail and did not care in the least that I was nearby. I got a picture of it and tried to count its rattles. It had a lot so it must be doing well. When I was coming out of the riparian area, I got my first sight of the saguaro cacti. They are massive. The trail was easy going and pretty, but my feet were sore. I was looking forward to a break. The saguaros became more and more prevalent and larger the closer I got. They are amazing. Soon I was taking the side trail up to the CCC built Colossal Cave building. I picked up my resupply box and bought a cave tour. I charged some devices while talking to other hikers and shoving food into my backpack. At 11, it was time to see the caves. They were cool. Not the spectacular ones others can be, but still interesting in their own way. The limestone is harder so it doesn’t have that glossy wet look of other caves. It’s also dry and dormant, waiting for the next big flood to start growing again. The cave is also shallower which means it’s a constant 70 degrees instead of 50s many others are. I saw one bat. It’s a bit early for them to migrate up, but I did see cave bacon and popcorn.
After my tour I grabbed lunch at the concessions stand, chicken strips, fries, and prickly pear lemonade. I worked on my journal and blog (the last post was written at the caves) while my electronics charged up. I got hungry again so I grabbed a pretzel and prickly pear ice cream. That ice cream was delicious. The colossal pretzel was massive. Biggest one I’ve ever had and aptly named. Eventually 1500 rolled around and I needed to head out. The gates closed at 1600 and I wanted to wash my socks at the camp ground. I packed up and hit the trail back.
