I have received several messages from readers of my website, wondering what I have been up to. Did I make it to Utah? Am I still hiking? Where have I been lately? My thanks to those who have written, I appreciate your concern. I did make it to Utah, and have also hiked the Highline and Blue Ridge passages. I have completed 400 miles- half of the Arizona Trail!! I have stopped hiking to wait out the heat and the monsoons. From July to September, monsoon season brings violent storms, flash floods, and lightning to Arizona. I want no part of any of these things, so I will resume hiking when monsoon season is over. Since I will not be generating any new journal entries, I will be spreading out the journals I do have written throughout the rest of my break.
After the strenuous schedule I have been keeping since March, I have really enjoyed having free time again. It is so nice to have time to spend with my husband and animals. Since it is so hot and/or stormy, I have had to spend most of my time indoors, which is giving me a bit of cabin fever. Thankfully, there are a few places that are fun to go even in the heat of the summer in Tucson. Brian and I have gone up to Mount Lemmon for a break from the heat, and Sabino Canyon is running with cool water and has giant trees for shade along its banks.
I have also been to the library a lot. It’s so nice to roam the shelves without concern for how heavy the books I want to read are. (this ruled out a lot of books I would have otherwise read while hiking) I have read a lot of good stuff, one of my favorite books I found at the library is Arizona’s Names (X marks the Place) by Byrd Howell Granger. It is a perfect book for anyone who has wondered how places in Arizona got their names. I have marked some of the more interesting ones that pertain to the Arizona Trail and will share them in a future journal entry.
Two hobbies of mine that have fallen by the wayside due to this hike are dance and artwork. So, until I start the trail again, I have gone back to taking bellydance classes and teaching private students. It feels so great to dance again. I have a renewed appreciation of how beneficial the movements and isolations of bellydance are for my body and my spirits. It is also a good way to keep active while I am off the trail.
There is a small group of Arizona Trail volunteers that continue to build trail after the heat sends everyone of sound mind running for the A/C. They are the Summer Crazies, and I am happy to count myself among them. We’ve been meeting to build the Arizona Trail two times a month. We are working in the Las Colinas passage, where the trail crosses Rosemont Junction. Fortunately, it’s up at 4500 ft., so it’s quite a bit cooler than Tucson (which is at 2500 ft). I love going out into the Santa Rita foothills, which are now green and lush from the rains. The other Crazies are a lot of fun, and trailbuilding is always a lot of laughs and a great way to get some exercise in the outdoors. When the day’s work is done, we assemble under the shade of a big walnut tree and eat tasty snacks.
So, that’s what I’ve been up to- keeping myself busy until I can get back on the trail in September. I feel like I’m just beginning to digest all that has happened to me in the past months. The other day, a song came on the radio that I often listen to on the trail. My mind flashed to all the amazing places I have been while listening to that song, and I was overwhelmed by a feeling of gratitude for all the spectacular scenery and unbelievable experiences I have had thanks to the Arizona Trail.
Since I have reservations at Jacob Lake for tonight with my dad, I am able to dayhike today. My dad came down from Kanab, and he dropped me off this morning and was even picking me up at the other end so I wouldn’t have to walk the extra 2 miles on the road to Jacob Lake. It was really cold and I had to wear a warm hat while hiking. There was a 10-mile reroute on to AZ 67. I was happy to get back on the trail. The miles flew by today and the walking was pleasant. It reminded me of walking in the forest preserve in the Chicago suburbs where I grew up; it was so flat in parts. I ran into Ryan and Ben who are thru-hiking the Hayduke Trail. The website for the trail says: “The Hayduke Trail is an extremely challenging, 800-mile backcountry route through some of the most rugged and breathtaking landscapes on earth. Located entirely on public land, the trail links six of the National Parks on the Colorado Plateau in Southern Utah and Northern Arizona with the lesser known, but equally splendid, lands in between them.” Read more about the Hayduke Trail at www.hayduketrail.org. It was interesting hearing about their experiences. They had just done a detour on the trail to hike the Paria River Canyon and were taking things at an easy pace. Ben has a blog up at www.hayduketrail.blogspot.com. It’s fun to run into other hikers on the trail, especially since it doesn’t happen much- so it’s a novelty rather than an annoyance. My dad picked me up at the trailhead on HWY 89. This is some cushy hiking! Get picked up, go back to a hotel, eat real meals and then get placed back at the trailhead the next day. Thanks Dad! We went to cache some water so I wouldn’t have to carry two day’s worth from AZ 89, and I got my first glimpse into Utah. The road leading up Orderville Canyon was easily passable in our rental car. Utah looks pretty tantalizing from a distance- I can’t wait to see what it looks like closer up.
I slept in this morning because there was no reason to get an early start to beat the heat today. Not when it got down to freezing last night. I made my way toward East Rim View. I had visited there with my parents last year, and. I remember wondering what I would feel like arriving on foot. I was again blown away by the amazing view of the Eastern part of the Grand Canyon- a giant, sinuous chasm cutting through the flat scrub in the valley 3000 feet below. I set up for a snack break, and as I was enjoying the view, 5 people on horseback with a dog came up the trail. The exuberant puppy ran full-speed toward me, licked my face, flipped over and showed me his belly for belly-rubs. I was happy to oblige, it was fun to see a dog on the trail. I used to bring my dogs hiking with me all the time until one of them developed medical problems and the other got to old to keep up. I really miss hiking with them, they were great trail dogs. I eventually tore myself away from the East Rim View and continued along. The hiking was easy, but it was really windy and it got cloudier as the day went along. The trail went through the amusingly-named Tater Canyon. There were these weird-looking networks of what looked like underground passages in the dirt along the trail. I don’t know what made them. Around 2 pm, I felt some rain, accompanied by lightning and thunder. I stopped to get my rain gear out when I saw a group of people on mountain bikes. This is the most people I’ve seen on the Arizona Trail in one day. (besides inside the Grand Canyon) I realized when I looked closer, that what I thought was rain was actually snow! I had to laugh- snow on June 4th in Arizona! I had about 3 miles to Crane Lake, where I was going to have to get off the Arizona Trail and walk on AZ 67 around a burned area for 10 miles. The skies looked nasty, and the thunder and lightning were getting more frequent. I decided that since I was going to be walking on the highway anyway, that I would try to hitchhike to Jacob Lake Inn and get out of the deteriorating weather conditions. I had never hitched a ride before. I didn’t think I’d have any problem getting picked up; it was just a matter of what kind of person was going to offer me a ride. After only about 10 cars passing, I got a ride. Brodie and James work on the trail crew in the Grand Canyon. I must say that is one of the most awesome job descriptions ever. I thanked them for their hard work on the trail- that must be an awesome undertaking to keep such an extreme trail in good shape. I enjoyed talking to them on the ride, and was happy that my first hitchhiking experience had gone well. As we pulled into the Jacob Lake Inn, the skies completely opened up with giant rain and lightning. There were a lot of people milling about at the Inn, mostly people on motorcycles who had been caught in the storm. A lot of them had come south from Utah, where it was snowing hard. I was able to get one of their last rooms. I put my stuff in my room and called my dad, who was in Kanab, Utah doing some sightseeing. He was happy to hear that I was checked into the hotel. I then made a beeline to the restaurant. As I was eating, I looked out the window, and the rain had turned to heavy snowfall. More motorcyclists came in, snow encrusting their helmets. Some were ill-prepared for the cold and wet weather. I sat in the restaurant and talked to a lot of people who were waiting out the storm. No one expected snow in June in Arizona. I took a little walk in the snow to take some pictures and then back to the restaurant for pie before going to my nice, warm room.
