March 7
Jill, a friend of Tracy’s, has offered to take us to the Tiger Mine trailhead where our hike will start. She arrives at 7:00 am and 20 miles later we are at the trailhead.
We check out the sign that welcomes us to begin our hike. We are 209 miles from the border. Our plan is to go to Sunflower AZ about 175 miles away. At Sunflower we will figure out a way to get back to our van and then figure a way to go back to the border and hike back to here. Those are details that we won’t even think about, now we are going to enjoy the trail.
The day is overcast and there is a nice cool breeze. One of the challenges of hiking this trail is the temperature. Wait too long and hiking becomes impossible due to heat. Today though that is not the problem and down the trail we go.
This part of the trail has gentle rolling hills. A good way to start a hike. We won’t be climbing those mountains in front of us for awhile.
The trail winds us through a cholla cactus forest.
Don covers up from the sun and looks at the snowy mountains to the south.
Even though there has been a lot of rain, It feels quite dry.
The state owns the land that the AZT passes through, however on both sides of the trail is private property that the owners have given permission to be used for hiking. In order to separate private properties we will be either passing thru gates or going over these bridges. This trail unless designated otherwise can also be used by bikers. These bridges make it easier for bikers to use rather than stopping to open up a gate.
Due to all the rain and snowfall this year, there is an anticipation of a superbloom. We see a patch of poppies and are hoping that this is the beginning of lots of flowers.
Poppies
We give our friend, Tracy the trail name of Rock it! She is a collector of rocks and if she didn’t have to carry them, this one might have ended up in her huge rock collection at her house.
This is one of the few hikes that we have done that will have us drinking from unusual water sources. The first one that we come upon is called Mountain Tank. a water sources for cattle in the area. It is also a source for hikers that once filtered is good to drink.
We see the tank from afar and make our way to find our water for the night. We fill up several liters of water and then hike on. We will be doing a lot of dry camping which means carrying lots of water. We each have the capacity to carry 4 litters of water, plus Don is carrying a 3 litter bladder if at some point we need more.
After we fill up with enough water for dinner we start looking for a camping spot. We finally settle for an area that is fairly open, but soon discover that it is a cholla mine field. We carefully select a spot and send as many cholla thorns as we see flying. The challenge tonight will be getting into the tent without bringing in any thorns.
We hope there is no wind, cholla segments fall off quite easily and we don’t need any punctures in our air mattresses.
As the sun sets we are treated to a light show in all directions.
By 7 we are in bed and soon fast asleep.
Miles hiked 13.5
March 8
Happy to report that we were thorn free and ready to start day 2 of hiking. Rock It has some breakfast while Don and I eat our usual bar and plan to have breakfast at the next water source.
The trail winds around cholla cactus and mesquite trees.
So many thorns!
And Saguaro Cactus
We meet our first hikers today.
Splash started where we did as well. She loves to hike and years ago did the PCT. This past year she had a knee replacement and is finding the trail challenging. She is also carrying extra clothing and micro spikes which is adding to the weight of her pack.
The other three hikers we met are just doing a section hike. They are from Arizona and are planning on doing the entire trail when the conditions are good. They gave us some information about the next water source. It is quite reliable and currently is filled with lots of water. In fact they say you could go swimming in it. The name of this source is called Bee Hive.
There it is, a place for breakfast and filling up our water containers.
The water in the tank was quite green, but the water coming out of the pipe was clear. We filled up our bottles , had breakfast and were ready to continue our hike.
As we were heading down a wash, we didn’t notice any footprints and the sign that we were looking for hadn’t appeared yet. At least that is what we thought. We pulled out our Far Out App and to our dismay we had missed the turn. When I looked at some of the photos we had taken that day, I saw the sign that we had missed! Too much talking! Our destination tonight was the Freeman Trailhead. There is a resupply box there and the last update we had was that there was some water in the box.. We had been carrying extra water in case there was no water. That was a good plan, because when we arrived there was no public water.
We found a place to camp nearby and used some of the water for dinner. Tomorrow we will need to walk 6 miles to the next water source. We will have breakfast there. There were groups of cows around our camp and it was soon apparent that not all were happy that we were camping there. One particular large bull made it known by bellowing out warnings. By this time we were both in our tents. Tracy could see the bull heading our way, not wanting to be a threat to the bull, we decided that staying in our tent was the best approach. We were relieved when it made a detour to go around our tent. Not sure if we would have survived being trampled. The bull must have met up with some cows and he seemed to be content and quiet!
Miles hiked 14
March 9
Today we need to get to the next water source which is 6 miles away. We have enough to drink, but not enough for breakfast so we hike on. We were glad that the morning temperature is good for not needing a lot of water. We pass by this skull, who perhaps run out of water.
Arizona is known for its blue skies and today was one of them.
We were fascinated by all of the contrails in the sky, Looks like a lot of planes are heading out from Phoenix today.
Random rocks add to the dessert scenery.
According to the app we are approaching our next water source. In low water years, there is often a small pond here, but this year it easily could be called a lake. There is a lot of debris in the water so we pre filter it before putting it thru the water purify filter.
We are thankful for the water as well as the ability of our Sawyer squeeze to turn it into good drinking water.
We have an interesting encounter with a bull today. He was standing on a hill above us and his horns glistened in the sun. One could tell that he was checking us out and would stand his ground. He never charged but with heads down and slowly walking we were able to get past him with no confrontation. I have a feeling that cows might be the bears of this trail.
The trail leads us on single track as well as very rocky roads. We bypass a water source that is used for wildlife. We have been told that there is a reliable water source where we want to camp tonight. The interesting thing that happened today was that the app we were using for our route was updated and when we checked mileage everything was further than we had planned. It became the joke of the day that maybe or maybe not we will make it to camp tonight. There was a first occurrence for all of us today when we came upon a saguaro that had fallen down on the trail and had been sawed in half in order to clear the path.
We were intrigued by the saw cuts that were made that showed the different layers of the plant.
The saguaro is only found in the Sonoran Dessert and can grow between 40 to 60 feet tall. They can weigh between 3200-4800 pounds when fully hydrated. The wood ribs were used for roofs, fences and furniture.
Tracy pointed out the saguaro boot that is found on dead saguaros. This boot was used for water containers by the native Americans,
The boot is also used by birds for nesting.
As our hike for the day is feeling that we should be done, we start looking for the magic blue barrel. We were told about this water source by the three men that we had met yesterday. Then there it was and just as they said it was reliable. One just had to turn the handle and out came great cold water, We quickly filled our water bottles and started looking for camp.
Water sources in the dessert are unique!
With no rain in the forecast we felt good about setting up camp in a wash. There were no signs of cattle so we were looking forward to uninterrupted sleep.
Miles hiked 15
March 10
It was a quiet night in the wash with temperatures being on the cool side. By 7 we were on the trail and greeted by light touching the saguaros.
The saguaros come in so many shapes and sizes, it is difficult not to stop and take photos of all of them.
Todays hike is going to take us up the big hill. Several days ago when we met the 3 gentlemen they hinted that the big hill is the challenge for this section. We could see the trail in the distance as it worked its way up the mountain. We assumed that we would be conturing around the hill(mountain), but that was the wrong assumption. First though we heard a waterfall which was not what one would expect in the desert.
We were told by some hikers that we would hear it before we would see it. It is not common for it to be here, but with all the snow this winter there has been a lot of precipitation. Had it been warmer, I think that we would have all stoped to take a shower.
Our shadows on the wall begged for a photo to be taken.
Finally we were heading up the hill and soon discovered that this trail did not contour but took us up to the top where we would walk on a ridge.
The ridge
The views from the top were 360 degrees, however one view was that of a large mining area. Our next section of hiking will take us near that area.
Heading down the other side to the mountain.
As we headed down to a lower elevation we became awed by the poppies in bloom. With all the rain and snow this year the prediction was that hitting the right areas would lend itself to a superbloom.
Yes, indeed we are going to experience a superbloom.
As I was hiking down the trail, I came to a gate and on the other side was a women who said that the last time she had hiked this trail, she had met a hiker at the exact same place. She began telling us about the flowers and then told us that she had written several guides on flowers and hikes of the area. She also was published in some of the newspapers of the area.
It was an informative way to end the hike for the day.
Christine headed up the trail and we found some shade to eat some lunch before heading to the trailhead. Tracy suggested that we go to her house which was about an hour away to shower and do laundry and that she would bring us back to this trailhead tomorrow for us to continue our hike. This made our logistics so simple. We had planned to stay in Kearny for the evening, but they were having a Pioneer celebration and all the rooms were filled. There is a trail angel, Gary, in Kearny that will pick you up at the trailhead and take you to town so our plan was to call him when we got to the trailhead. Just as we were getting close to the trailhead, Christine returns from her hike and once again begins sharing her knowledge of flowers with us. She is heading thru Kearny and it will be no problem to take us to Tracv’s car which is parked at Gary’s house. Once again the magic of the trail provides!
As we approach Gary’s house we see him and his wife Lynette trying out props for the parade tomorrow. I think the picture says it all!
Trail Angels Gary and Lynette
We had a chat with Gary and see why he is known as a super trail angel! We had to stop at the local grocery store for some food and of course ice cream before heading back to Tracy’s house.
As we were heading down the road we were passed by a white pickup truck going well over the speed limit. Shortly afterward three police cars were in pursuit with sirens blaring. They were soon out of sight and we thought that we would never see them again, however, as we approached an intersection there were quite a few people looking down the highway. Tracy pulled into a gas station and asked one of the bystanders. He said that the truck went thru the intersection without stopping and fortunately there wasn’t any traffic at that moment. The driver must not have realized that he was heading into a no outlet area. soon he was surrounded by 10 policeman. End of story.
Now it was back to tasks at hand, laundry, showers and repacking our packs with our new ration. By the time we were in bed, sleep came quickly. What a day! The last few days were a great intro to the trail and we were looking forward to being on it tomorrow.
Mileage hiked 8.5