The Rincon Mountains and Saguaro National Park, by Roger Carpenter / Greg in Wild
I reached mile 140 of the 800-mile AZT on March 17. There is much beauty in the desert if a hiker knows where to look. Before crossing under Interstate 10, the land where cattle had grazed was devoid of many of the trees and cacti I came here to see. When my friend / AZT hike supporter Alan and I left a campground in Colossal Cave Mountain Park to hike a couple of miles together, we enjoyed the blooms of wildflowers and cactus on an easy-going trail. I continued snapping images after Alan turned back to drive home. These are my favorite places, with no cows!
In the heat of the day, I arrived at the clear flowing Rincon Creek. The coolness of the water convinced me to stop, rest, soak my feet and, most of all, enjoy a day that excessive heat had engulfed Arizona. I chatted with about ten other AZT hikers, many of whom pushed ahead to Saguaro National Park.
In response to the heat advisory, I cooled my feet in the gravelly edge of the creek and planned to wake hours before dawn and hike with my bright headlamp for two or three hours. Thankfully, I would reach lofty 7900 feet elevation and well above the 90-plus degrees of the desert floor. Oh, I needed to earn lower temperature by ascending 5400 feet while exposed to the sun. I used the umbrella for much of the climb while observing the saguaro cactus disappear below 5000 feet elevation and be replaced by several species of shade-giving trees, including pines. Naturally, the concern with predicted record-high temperatures kept breaking my intention to breath and step mindfully and meditatively. My brain wants to hike uphill faster than my body will allow. Water was flowing partway up and at the Manning Camp in Saguaro NP, where I spent the night watching the stars through the netting of my Six Moon Skyscape Trekker tent as the nighttime cold motivated me to zip fully into my sleeping bag.
The 3 a.m. alarm and night hiking works! It’s how I need to hike going forward because the heat advisory was not forecast to break anytime soon. Meantime, I enjoyed the diversity of the desert foliage down below and the pine forests up high.
See where I am located on the Garmin map: https://share.garmin.com/RogerCarpenter
Coming soon: the first ranking of my wildlife sightings!
The creek looks so inviting! However, here at our home, it was 26 degrees Fahrenheit this morning. I wish Robert and I could send a little bit of cool air your way. Keep on making good decisions. You rock!