AZT: Pine Trailhead to North Sycamore Creek

The Stats:


Woke up with a headache, neck and shoulder pain and with my left knee throbbing.  A very auspicious start to another section hike on the AZT.   Luckily, as the miles rolled slowly by, my body loosened up and my mind was  set free from the everyday anxieties that I have a hard time shaking.   Hawkeye hiked strong and also enjoyed our first day of backpacking since summer.  

It was a warm spring day in the upper 70’s.   Water was plentiful for Arizona.   We had a cement water tank, three streams and a piped spring to choose from.    We hiked through burned areas covered in brush, and beautiful mature forest with ponderosa pine, foxtail pine, juniper, Arizona Cyprus  and oaks.  As we climbed higher, we got our first look at the Mogollon Rim.  It is a very steep, rocky rim that was always looming over our left shoulders.   It’s like a Mini Great Wall of sorts.   

We met a day hiker, a bike packer, a few jays and one deer.   A highlight was watching a pair of ravens entwined toppling hundreds of feet in the air.   About twenty feet from the ground they separated and flew off into the trees.  

Our camp is a little homely tonight,  in a burn scar, but we are just close enough to the stream to hear it sing as it rolls by.   It was also excellent for a cold soak before bed.   It was just deep enough for my hips and legs.   My joints will be the better for it.