Follow Strider's Rambles

Day 0

Will picked me up and drove to Golden, then got on I-70 west. Around several of the ski towns, the Aspens were beginning to turn a brilliant yellow, standing out amidst the green pine trees. In Grand Junction, we stopped at Qdoba for lunch. The landscape was brown and dry. A few hours later, we turned south on Highway 89. The road hugged a roaring river and the landscape became much more scenic. In Kanab, we met a trail angel named Lisa, giving her my first resupply. She told us to take Hwy 89A south into Arizona and then take House Rock Valley Rd north to Stateline Campground, the southern approach being badly rutted after recent rains. We followed her advice. The road took us past Vermillion Cliffs National Monument, gorgeously red in the fading light of day. Three jack rabbits bounded across or near the road. We reached the campground shortly after dark and set up Will’s large 3-person tent.

Day 1

There is a neat stone monument that marks the Arizona Trail northern terminus, with a placard on the south facing side and a poem on the other. I liked the poem. We took a bunch of pictures then set off, climbing continuously for three miles. The terrain leveled out and filled with juniper trees; a few were loaded with berries and a few had dropped them all, a blue swath on the ground around their trunk. We caught up to a SoBo thru hiker named Cheez-It, an older man from Tucson. It was his fifth hike of the trail; he had hiked it twice each direction. I felt fully prepared, however Cheez-it told me one thing I didn’t know, that there was a water cache in a bear box at the Navajo Trail junction. He said to check every FarOut icon for such hidden gems.

Shortly after, we cut cross-country to reach a wildlife tank. A vast sheet of black plastic collected condensation and rain water, funneling it through a pipe and into a large, buried holding tank. One manhole had a single bolt holding the cover in place and I swung it aside to reveal clear, cold water. I filtered two liters. A trough allowed water access for wildlife and cows. We took dirt roads back to the trail and again encountered Cheez-It. We stopped to eat lunch in the shade of a juniper.

Post lunch, I broke out my new sun umbrella. The slight breeze did not impede it or the hands free attachment to my pack. I enjoyed having my head in full shade. For the most part, the terrain had flattened and after the Kaibab Nat’l Forrest boundary, it transitioned from junipers to pines. I startled a huge jack rabbit. Will & I refilled our water bottles at the Navajo Trail junction bear box. Shortly after, we entered a large burn area. Over the course of a short climb, we spottedp three groups of wild turkeys, the first over a dozen. From our new vantage, I looked down into a shallow valley with a dirt road and limestone rocks arrayed as if in a retaining wall.

We camped at mile 19.4, on a gravelly patch of ground amidst a clump of live pines that had survived the wildfire. We left the fly off the tent for star gazing, though the moon was very bright until the early hours of morning.

Day 2

Less than 2 miles from camp, we stopped at the Umbrella Water tank. We waved at Cheez-it, who was exiting, and met thru hikers Pine Cone & Commando, who were filtering water. They’d done the PCT in 2022 and Commando was on the Washington section in 2023, within 150 miles of me! It was Pine Cone’s first time in Arizona. The water had a greenish tint and I was surprised how much it slowed my BeFree’s operation.

As we journeyed south along the Kaibab Plateau, the pine trees got taller. I spotted a Greater Short-Horned Lizard about the size of my upper thumb joint. We crossed Hwy 89A and used the Orderville TH pit toilet. A forest service employee arrived to clean it and we chatted with her.

In the midst of a dirt road walk, Will & I took our lunch break, sitting on a log among pines. After that, aspens begin to appear, mostly green, but some brilliant yellow. All day it had been breezy, which was nice as it kept the temperature pleasant. However, as the day rolled into evening it got tiresome. We stopped at a cement trough within a barbed wire fence to gather water. Two miles after, we turned east down a dirt road and found a flat spot amongst aspens, somewhat out of the wind. We made camp. I’d been chilled the night before so I wore my fleece leggings & shirt; slept much better.

Day 3

In the morning, it was still breezy. Will cooked breakfast in his vestibule while I ate cold-soaked oats in my sleeping bag. Once we got moving, I wore my rain jacket over my sun hoodie to cut the wind chill. We also kept up a good pace. It’s strange, I expected to be hot and sweating, but Arizona is making me grateful that I brought so many layers.

The trail paralleled Highway 67 most of the morning. We encountered two hikers who were finishing a multi-year section hike of the AZT. At Crane Lake, we explored the shoreline. I found a non-muddy spot where I could reach the water without getting my feet wet and filtered a liter. Not long after, the trail passed a couple ponds. Then came a huge meadow, edged in dark pines backed by green & yellow aspens. Once again we ate lunch on a log, somewhat out of the wind.

The afternoon terrain was short rises & falls broken by meadows. Then came a sweeping view of the Grand Canyon’s east rim before the trail hugged the north rim for two miles. At Crystal Spring, we gathered enough water for the night and next day. Two mountain bikers stopped to chat. A mile later we made camp amidst pines, near an unmarked wildlife drinker. After dinner, we ate our allotted two pieces each of crack (Chocolove toffee milk chocolate). Then we watched the second half of a movie before going to sleep.