Arizona Trail/ Mike 36.7 to Patagonia

 

Day 4:

About 16 Miles

It was warm last night, in the 40's.  When I went out at night for a wee, the star filled sky a glorious sight. 

We hike by 8 am and it is cattle country we traverse through;  friendly Angus,  Angus crosses and a few Herefords . Being a ranch couple, with cattle of our own at home, we eyeball them for their confirmation and talk soothingly to them as we pass. The eyeballing is mutual and we wonder how we measure up in their eyes.  They are very used to hikers.  Sweet souls.  We also see lots of deer bounding up the grass covered ravines and over the hills.   I'm loving it, although all the downhills I still have to go slow and hobble.  

We pass a water tank, which is what we Cali folk call a pond.  Arizonans follow the Aussie tradition.  Below the dam there is a ten foot high concrete wall across the creek with a French drain out the bottom running clear and cold water at about 10 liters a minute.   How international with Aussie tank and French drain.  

We meet Kyle from Alaska at the next water source, Cott Tank enclosure,  he's biking the whole trail in a couple weeks.  Wow.  All the Wilderness areas he bikes around though, so he didn't traverse steep Miller Peak.  Cott tank actually has metal tanks and a solar pump.  Hmm. Water is good.  Cyclists and horses must take a detour around this fenced in enclosure and it's kind of confusing as there is a walkthru that leads out and up the creek, but it isn't the trail.  Don't ask us how we know. We all laugh and continue with our phones pulled out and GPS on.  Kyle zooms off on his fat tired bike. This happened more than once today, I might add. 

Tonight's camp is in Stage Stop Inn, in the cute town of Patagonia.  The hotel has a lovely courtyard area with pool and a western theme. We have  gourmet pizza and a Greek salad at The Velvet Elvis.  Really good food, but a bit pricey. 

The trail today was  easy to moderate when crossing washes, and the two plus road miles to town were hard on our feet. 

 

Today's takeaway: when you are in cow country keep checking your map or gps as the biggest and best trail might not be the right one. 

Tip: Guthooks app for the Arizona Trail is integral for us.  It makes it so easy to find the trail and hiker's post water and trail conditions, so you know what is coming up and can plan accordingly. It helps us mentally.