Arizona Trail, Days 22 to 25, March 26-29

By Greg in Wild / Roger Carpenter

The recent weather forecast began to give me hope for cooler weather. After two zero days in Summerhaven at cooler77 I high elevation and another day off the trail to have my lacerated thumb treated, I started a four day hike of 64 miles to the small town of Kearny. The elevation through this area, that includes the Tortilla Mountains, was low at below 4,000 feet. I knew heat would be a problem.

I used my umbrella on March 26 before finding a rare patch of shade at 1 pm. After 4 pm, the sun was low enough to cast shadows from spindly trees. That night my tent was set up too close to a rat’s den, and this rat chewed off one of the guy lines on my tent.

Despite the setbacks of laceration and much hotter than normal weather, I pushed forward. Then, the trail provided! I noticed the coolness in the morning air when I woke at 3 am on March 28. I also noticed the flat terrain that was not rocky like many of the miles I had hiked. My pace was brisk, and I felt energized in the nicely cool breeze. I kept moving forward until I reached a Freeman Road trailhead that was set up as an aid station to support participants on the Arizona Monster 300 running race. It was trail magic! The hosts offered me water and food. I enjoyed a PB&J and watermelon before continuing on the trail happy to great nearly all 100+ participants. My day ended after 23 miles, the most of the hike so far.

On March 29 I hiked 11 miles before hitching a ride to Kearny, where I stayed at Trail Angels Jeff and Que’s home. They are generous hosts who have greeted 1,000 hikers into their home.

The last four days as a whole were the best for hiking and how I felt physically. Now I hope the temperature continues to moderate. I will be optimistic about the next three weeks of desert hiking before I climb up to the coolness of the Mogollon Rim.

Through March 29: 21 hiking days, 4 zero days, 264.9 miles, 434 miles to the finish at the Grand Canyon.

My current location