Arizona Trail/Parker Canyon to Above Canelo Hills Trailhead

 

Day 3:

About 12.5 miles

Last night was cold.  26 degrees Fahrenheit cold in the tent and we awoke in the night and put on extra layers and cuddled close. There was no wind.    In the morning our water bottles were frozen.  We were glad that we had put our Sawyer water filter in bed with us, otherwise the ceramic filter could break and not filter properly. 

We sleep in and wait on the sun like kids waiting for Christmas morning.  The gift of warmth.  We cheer its arrival at 8 am and wait on our gear to dry while we sip coffee and listen to the birds greet the new day.  We don't start hiking until 9:30.  It's the POSH traveling life for us.  

We travel up and down most of the day with our biggest climb of 1000 feet in the morning. It is one of those climbs with lots of ups and downs though, so more elevation was climbed than 1000.  

My left knee is much better as Mark taped it with some leukotape, but unfortunately my right knee hurts.  It took the brunt of the climb down on Miller Peak and is complaining loudly.  I'm a bit disappointed.  My ego sore as well as my knees.  Oh well, nothing to do but to do it, so he tapes my other knee too and I hobble on all the downhill parts. 

There is water in pools in each of the canyons we cross and  we stop in Middle Canyon and have a leisurely lunch of a hot meal, so we can camp tonight with snacks as dinner and not need extra water nearby.  Dry camping it's called.    The temperature is perfect for hiking as it stays in the 60's and 70's all day.  

We meet a sobo section hiker named Brad at the Canelo Hills Trailhead and we soon camp with an open view to the east awaiting tomorrow's Christmas morning gift of the sun. 

Hopefully a short day will help my knees, otherwise this hiking adventure might be cut short. 

The trail today was moderate with quite a few ups and downs and loose rocks. 

 

The biggest takeaway from today is seeing the distance we've come in two days.  In one of the top photos you can see Mark pointing to Miller Peak. We feel pretty inspired by the distance our little feets can carry us. 

Tip: Leukotape is really versatile.  Excellent for blisters and other taping needs and lasts up to a week on your skin even if it gets wet.  We've also used it like duct tape for minor repairs.