Arizona Trail: Pine to Sunflower

March 19

Pine is full of pines.  Go figure!  We sleep at the trailhead to get an early start and then sleep in.  Go figure!   

In our recent snowy hike down Four Peaks wilderness, we passed a young man who looked familiar.  I later realized it was a guy we met on Miller Mountain last year.   Meet JayC!  Like us, he  is a Wendell Berry fan.  Last year we had a lengthy conversation about Wendell and about farming and homesteading, as JayC is an orchardist in Washington State and we are grass fed cattle ranchers in Northern California and Hawkeye is also a fourth generation farmer from the San Joachin Valley of California.  

JayC cancelled his thru hike last year too and, unlike us, started back at the border this year.  He’s doing thirty mile days, so it won’t be long before he makes it to Utah.  Meeting the same people on the trail often seems very serendipitous and is part of what makes distance hiking memorable. 

Somehow we get onto a new section of trail today and meet a trail crew.  They say we are their first customers!  It is a great section of trail, as all of the rocks have been rolled away, but it isn’t finished yet and we bushwhack a half mile back to the real trail.  We have  pink flags to follow though, which helps keep us on course and I only jump once, thinking a stick up my pants is  a snake.  

It’s a great day for hiking and we are fresh, so we hike twenty miles, which ends up being twenty two trail miles, as the new trail is shorter.  We camp at  Polk Springs which feels like a paradise in this arid land. The spring is deep, full and clear.  A three foot stream flows from it creating a bit of an oasis.  

We listen to John Denver from my playlist.  The song, “Poems, Prayers and Promises” resonates with us tonight and we sit by the campfire and talk of the passage of time and our  place in it, as the sun slowly sets.  

March 20

During my morning constitutional, squatting over my perfectly dug ‘cathole’, my back spasms and I tip over onto the ground until it passes.  I’m glad no one is there to see me in a semi fetal position with my bottom bare to the sky. Laying there in pain,   I remember a fall I had yesterday and decide that is probably the culprit.  What is one to do in this position, but get up and press on.

If I was home, I’d lie in bed and do as little as possible, but backpacking forces me to grow, by pushing beyond what I think I can do.   

South of here, near Oracle, there is a closed system biosphere whose mission is to serve as a center for research and teaching about the earth.  A huge glass dome was constructed to create a perfect living environment. One thing that was discovered is that trees would grow for a time in the biosphere, only to then fall over.  The reason:  no wind.  Trees need wind to strengthen their roots and we humans need discomforts and disruptions too, as they help our characters grow strong.  Today I will try to learn from my pain and bend not break; easier said than done. 

We soon cross the East Verde River and begin our climb.  Up and up many long switchbacks on, you guessed it, rocky trail.   In the next 6.7 miles we will climb 2760 feet, so we take our time and happily chit chat with quite a few hikers.  I am very thankful for every stop as it eases the pain in my lower back.  I also stop to take too many photos of the same thing: bushes and sky. Stopping along the way today is my way of bending so I don’t  break. 

We stop for water at Brush Springs and I do yoga and stretches and feel  significantly better. 

Entering an area with lots of flowing water is a delight.  Water is underrated in regular life, but out here, it’s pure gold. 

We meet Mayor, Wingit and Rocket again and have more chats.  Mayor -AKA Kyle Rohrig- has written many inspirational books we’ve enjoyed and you can find them on Amazon.  Rocket is an veteran, nurse and YouTube sensation.  I find her hiking videos very fun.    Wingit is a veteran too and dedicates his miles to  veteran friends who have died. You can find them all on Instagram.  

Well, all this talking has us going very slowly and that suits me fine as my back starts tightening up again.  We stop for the night along the trail at  a little, tiny flat spot near water.  There is also a pretty, little waterfall flowing over red rock. 

Just as we sit down on big rocks to eat, Laundry Mat and Pika hike by and then stop for a chat.  We are pleased to see them again and end up talking 45 minutes while we eat our dinner.  Today was definitely a -stop and talk- kind of day. We wanted to hike 18 miles, but with my sore back and all the conversation, I think we only managed a bit over 13 miles with a climb of 4559 feet.  

March 21

Morning comes to our little hidey hole camp site and my back feels  a bit better.  Hawkeye is getting stronger and stronger each day as well as losing weight, while I’m like five pounds heavier and hunched over like an ancient, old crone. 

Pika, last evening, suggested we try to cross some upcoming snow late in the day as it would be more dangerous in the early morning due to ice.   This means we need to hike twenty or more miles today, so we decide to keep the trail side chats to a minimum and I will do my best to keep on grooving. 

Many areas of the trail have been burned and we find our hearts leaping with joy when we come to an intact forest.  This land, The Mazatal Wilderness, is steep and the trail often contours around the boney ridges.  Water, at least now, is plentiful and clean and we are thankful we don’t have to carry much. My back says, ‘thank you very much’. 

Hike on.  Hike on!

And on.

Around 3:30, we collect water at Bear Springs as quickly as we can as we have at least three more miles to go to get past the snow section.   This might be our last water for the day as we aren’t sure how far we will hike.  

Once past, we just keep hiking on and on and then the  sun sets and it gets cold and we get tired, but no flat spot can be found. Head torches and jackets come out of our packs and we keep moving down the trail.  

Eventually, around 8:30,  a spot for our tent is found.   It’s windy, we are cold and hungry and someone might be a little grouchy.  No names.  About 23 miles hiked.

March 22

Last day on the trail is usually bittersweet for me.  Not today.  With my aching back, I’m ready to quit.  16 miles to go.  

We pass old mines on the mostly downhill trail.  Then I get a surprise.

A lovely chat with NotAChance.  A bit of backstory.  When we first started taking long walks I followed the blog of some young lady hikers who inspired me to be more adventurous.  NotAChance was one of them.  For me this ‘chance’ encounter takes me out of my head, that is already done with this trail, and back into my body and experiencing a wonderful  day.  She seems very  down to earth and that inspires me.  She is all smiles just to be out of doors hiking.  After she finishes this trail she will hike the Hayduke Trail.  You can find her on Instagram as well.   

Our minds are elevated after this talk and I once again see and enjoy where we are walking.  It reminds me of a couple of my favorite sayings: “We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” or “change your thoughts, change your life.”  Or, in this case, change your day.

 

And then it’s really done, but not before I fall again.  Kersplunk!  Lol!  Keeping it classy.