September 3, 2015
Start: Passage 32, mile 7 Elden Pueblo.End: Passage 32, mile 9.2 (N 35° 15.558 W 111° 34.858).
Miles: ~2.2.
My daughter and son were supposed to drive me to Elden Pueblo today. The plan was to leave around four but that didn’t happen. Don needed to wait a bit before he could eat so we decided he would stay home. Then Katie didn’t want to drive back alone so she tried to get her boyfriend to go. By five, nothing was happening so Barbara suggested I just drive myself and she’d get by without the truck. After some discussion, that’s what I did.
Traffic slowed way down and was backed up for a ways. It turned out that a truck pulling a travel trailer jackknifed around Moore’s Gulch. What a mess that was. I hope no one was hurt. I don’t like being stuck in traffic like that but I really can’t complain when I know how terrible someone else’s day is going.
When I got to Camp Verde, I made a quick stop for dinner and then finished the drive to Flagstaff. I had shuttle service reserved from the Grand Canyon to the Flagstaff Pulliam Airport, so my plan was to park at the airport then get an UBER taxi to Elden Pueblo. On the way, I installed the UBER app on my phone. When I turned off the highway to go to the airport, I lost phone service. Well crap. Fortunately, as soon as I turned into the parking lot, service came back and I was able to request a ride. Just a few seconds later, I received a message that a driver was on the way. I asked the ETA and was told about ten minutes! I got my gear and walked to the terminal. About half way there, I decided that yes, I would bring the new set of trekking poles I just bought so I went back to the truck and got them. Once at the terminal, I decided to zip the bottom half of my pant legs on. I just barely finished zipping one leg on when my ride showed up.
It was maybe a fifteen minute drive from the airport to Elden Pueblo. It was interesting learning about the UBER taxi service as the driver answered several questions I asked along the way. Once at Elden Pueblo, I retrieved my headlamp from my pack and tried to turn it on. It uses a touch mechanism and I forgot how to unlock it. After several minutes, I finally got it to turn on and was off.
My plan was to hike about two miles before setting up camp for the night and to find several geocaches along the way. I decided not to bother looking for the multi-cache, Key Thinking, as it appeared difficult and too time consuming for this trip. Then, for some reason I missed looking for Catwalk#1 - Puffer. I don’t know why and can’t explain it. So the first geocache I looked for and found was Catwalk#2 - May, followed by Catwalk#3 - Cinnamon, and Catwalk#4 - Sadie and Sam. Those three were easy to find but the next, Gus 1, was a bit more difficult as I had to climb around an old Juniper to find it. The last cache I found, Radio Fire Cache, was a bit over ten years old and farther off the trail than the others.
I made my way from the cache back to the trail through a field of ferns, then found a nice place to set up camp in a small stand of Ponderosa Pines. It was nice to be on the trail again as my last big hike was close to three months ago. I was a bit anxious though, as I hadn’t been feeling very well during the week. I’d been having bad headaches and still had one but it was easily bearable now. I also had about 109 miles to walk in the next five days and didn’t know what the water situation would be. Sometimes it’s hard for me not to worry that things won’t go as well as I hope.
September 4, 2015
Start: Passage 32, mile 9.2 (N 35° 15.558 W 111° 34.858).End: Passage 34, mile 19.5 (FR418).
Miles: ~24.3.
I slept pretty good last night but wasn’t ready to get up this morning. My plan was to hike to FR418 where a friend would meet me with a beer. That was enough incentive to get moving. I broke camp and was on the trail at five of seven.
Not long after I started, I stopped to find geocache, Mountain View. It was just off the trail and did have a nice view of Elden Mountain. About a half hour later, after going around the northeast end of Elden Mountain, I left the trail to find geocache, Boulder View. This cache was a ways off the trail and hidden in a pile of huge boulders.
I spent a lot of the morning getting used to the trekking poles. They seemed okay but they are noisy on the rocks and I was clumsy placing them when the tread was rocky or narrow with a lot of brush. I ended up carrying them some when the trail was overgrown with grass.
The trail had been wandering in and out of the forest with views of both Elden Mountain and the San Francisco Peaks as I headed towards Schultz Pass and the end of passage 32. Almost two hours after I started hiking this morning, I made it to the trailhead that marks the start of passage 34. I felt good and with the two short breaks to find the geocaches, I decided to continue hiking.
A few mountain bikers passed me as I made it another hour and ten minutes and close to three and a half miles farther along the trail before hunger and fatigue caught up with me. I had some food, took a short nap, and was back on the trail a half hour later. The tread was good and mostly in the trees as I continued walking. Cyclists would pass me every once in a while in either direction. Once I crossed Snow Bowl Road, the trail started to climb more but the grade was easy enough. I expected it to get steep as it climbed but that never happened.
At quarter past noon, I was getting hungry so I found a nice place to stop for lunch. I was hoping for an area with some nice views, but there was too much forest so I settled for soft, pine needles to rest on instead. I was hoping to get back on the trail by one but missed that by five minutes.
Next on my agenda was to find AZ's Ancient Aerie geocache. I checked the GPSr to see how close to it I was and found out I had passed it. I wasn’t too far past though, so I turned around and went back down the hill a ways. Once close, I dropped my pack and continued a bit below the trail to find it. Finally there was a really great view but I had left my camera with my pack. At least I brought a pen to sign the log.
About an hour later, I reached the Aspen Corner trail junction and stopped and had a snack, then wandered down to Alfa Fia tank, where I got some water. The water was mostly clear and tasted good enough. Once I was done at the tank, I headed back up to the trail junction. It was starting to rain so I pulled my umbrella out along the way. Back at the trail junction, the rain stopped so I put the umbrella away and finished eating before hiking down the trail. For some reason I decided not to look for the geocache, BAG’s Bowl. It was hidden in 2001 so I’m really disappointed that I skipped it, especially since it was only a few hundred feet from the trail.
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| Alfa Fia Tank. |
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| Aspen Corner. |
After I found the cache, I had about a mile and a half left to FR418. The walking was easy as the tread was good and the trail was mildly descending. I passed through some aspens and turned my phone on so I could text my friend, Jeremy. I got a text from him saying he was out hunting and I texted back with my ETA to FR418. I saw him pull up to the trail about a minute before I arrived. He was with another so I hopped on the back of his Razer and we drove off to his parents’ cabin. My hat was on without the strap so I had to keep my head facing down otherwise the hat would have blown off. It wouldn’t have been that big of a deal except we had to travel farther to drop Jeremy’s hunting partner off at his cabin before going to Jeremy’s parents’ place.
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| Nearing FR418. |
September 5, 2015
Start: Passage 34, mile 19.5 (FR418)End: Passage 35, mile 7 (N 35° 37.422 W 111° 46.942).
Miles: ~24.5.
I slept really well on a bed up in the loft over the barn. It was finished and very comfortable. I got up at 5:30, got everything packed and went over to the house where Jeremy’s father, Jack, was having breakfast. There was bacon, eggs, and toast. That was much better than the Pop Tart I had planned. Such wonderful trail magic! Jeremy and Jack were heading out hunting and gave me a ride back to the trail. We left their place about quarter after six and I was hiking ten minutes later.
The trail meanders gently down the forest passing some hunters’ campsites where it reaches a road and passes to the west of White Horse Hills. After about a mile, the trail leaves the road and follows a wash down to Kelly Tank. From there, the trail follows alongside a road for a few miles. There were a couple of hunters next to the road and I asked them how their hunt was going. They said they just saw a nice buck up the hill from us. I wished them luck and continued hiking.
Last night and this morning, Jeremy kept telling me he left a message on the trail for me. He ensured me I wouldn’t miss it. Just shy of two hours after I started, I walked across some writing on the trail. I had to back up to read it, “Russ is gay.” Okay. I just had to laugh.
Fifteen minutes later I reached the intersection of FR523 and FR416 and decided it would be a good place to take a short break and have some food. After about half an hour I crossed 523 and continued down 416. A short time later, it was getting sunny and I decided I ought to put on some sunscreen so I had another short break.
From there, the trail continued following the road and gradually descended while the forest changed from Ponderosa to Pinyon and Juniper. Another man was hiking up the trail. He was out for a day hike and mentioned that his wife was following him in a vehicle and I would see her soon. He also added that she was very capable. That seemed like an odd thing to say. Sure enough, about a minute after we parted she passed me as I walked along. The man mentioned that there was a great view ahead as the trail passed over a saddle to the west of Missouri Bill Hill. At eleven, I reached the saddle and sure enough, the view was spectacular. I took some pictures and decided it would be a good time for another break. This time I took my shoes and socks off, had some more food, and rested. My toes were dirty but I decided I would wait to clean them when I next stopped for water.
After fifty minutes I continued down the hill towards Babbit Ranch. The trail turned west and followed a fence line. There were some cows ahead of me and as I approached they would run ahead. I’d near again and they would run farther along. The grass looked greener on the other side so they kept their attention that way. We played this cat and mouse game for over a half mile when there was a break in the fence and the cows turned north. A short distance later, the trail turned northwest and there were the cows happily grazing. This time they stood there munching on grass and watching me as I passed by.
Half past one, I reached the Cedar Ranch trailhead, finishing up passage 34. There was a cache box at the trailhead but it was empty so instead I went to a metal tank with water about a tenth of a mile away. The water was cool and good, in a metal tank, but was green so it took longer to filter than clear water would have. I was uncertain what the water conditions were ahead, so I filled all my containers for close to seven liters. That made for a heavy pack. At twenty of three, I was back at the trailhead and starting passage 35, Babbit Ranch.
The first four miles of passage 35 are on a wide, well-travelled, dirt road. Several vehicles passed me and waved. After about an hour, my left foot became sore and I realized I forgot to wash and air my feet when I got water. I decided I better take care of them so I took a half hour break, wiping the dirt of my feet and had having some food. I was hoping my foot would feel better after the break, but it didn’t. I continued walking and soon passed Tub Ranch where a group of horses would run ahead and then stare at me as I walked by.
Leaving Tub Ranch, the road winds up a short hill where a Native American couple driving by in a truck filled with firewood stopped to chat. The man mentioned how it was a nice day for a walk and I agreed. He asked where I was heading and I told him the Grand Canyon. He asked if I had a gun since there are some mean Mountain Lions in the area. I said I didn’t and would have to poke one with my trekking poles if attacked. That got a laugh from the woman and they drove off. I figured a lion would much prefer one of the nice juicy calves running around than me.
Most of the day I felt really good hiking. I found it interesting to look back where I started and see how much farther away the San Francisco Peaks were getting. I figured I’d end up with my longest day ever on the trail but now both my feet were sore. They were getting worse and I wasn’t even half way to the canyon. By around twenty past five it was getting difficult to walk. I felt completely deflated and was losing any ambition to continue the trail. It was wide open and I was worried about wind so I continued hobbling along. Ten minutes later the road turned up and there was a flat area protected between some hills so I stopped for the day and set up camp. It was a fairly rocky spot, but I didn’t care, I just wanted the day to be over.
I took my time with dinner and all the camp chores. Since I stopped early I had plenty of light. I slowly set up my tarp, checked my feet, and got dinner. I checked the data sheet and how far I’d travelled. I had completed about 50 miles and still had more than 60 to go and on bad feet. I went to sleep worrying about how I would be able to finish.
September 6, 2015
Start: Passage 35, mile 7 (N 35° 37.422 W 111° 46.942).End: Passage 36, mile 4.3 (N 35° 50.468 W 111° 51.890).
Miles: ~22.9.
Last night I went to sleep listening to cows bellowing southeast of me and coyotes singing southwest of me. I awoke this morning to a few sets of coyotes singing back and forth to each other. I really enjoy listening to coyotes yipping and howling.
There was some wind last night and I didn’t set my ridgeline tight enough so the poles ended up moving when the tarp billowed and lifted them. The tarp was sagging quite a lot this morning. I moved the poles back and the tarp stopped sagging, but that was no matter as I was about to take it down anyway.
I was a bit late getting going this morning. I took my time, probably because of my trepidation to start hiking; to see how my feet would fair once back on the trail. Thankfully, after the night’s rest, they felt better than last night and didn’t seem too bad once I got going and was making tracks.
A little over an hour and a half of walking, there was a lot of water dripping off my butt and down the back of my legs. I had a two liter platypus bladder in the back of my pack and I thought perhaps it had started leaking so I stopped to see what was going on. The bladder wasn’t leaking so I think it was just making me sweat a lot. I decided to take a break and air my feet while filtering the water to other bottles. It ended up being a nice 45 minute break where I also had some food and put on sunscreen. Right after I started hiking again, I noticed the batteries in my GPSr had died so I ended up changing them out.
Just a few minutes later, there was a large metal tank near the trail with a trough below it. I went to see if there was any water. The trough was empty and I didn’t see a way to see if water from the tank to trough was turned off or if the tank was empty too. I was good for water so I didn’t worry about it and kept on going. A little over four miles later I reached Upper Lockwood Tank. The tank was overflowing and the water looked good. Lockwood tank was about two miles later so I decided to wait to get water there.
Ten of noon, I reached Lockwood Tank. There was water in it and there was an earthen dam so I went around it to see what else was in the area. There was a trick tank on the other side so I decided to go there to get water. The valve to the trick tank wasn’t working but there was some water in it that looked clear and good so I filled up and had lunch. Unfortunately, the water tasted bad. When I was done with the water, I noticed that there was a skeleton for a large bird in the tank. Yuk, no wonder it tasted bad. I didn’t feel like wading into the cattle tank on the other side of the dam so I just kept it and continued hiking.
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| Lockwood Tank. |
Shortly after leaving Lockwood Tank, I passed an old cabin. I figured the ranchers built it near the tank. I was getting hot hiking in the sun and was thinking about using my umbrella but then storm clouds started building to the west and I could hear thunder. A few minutes later, clouds started covering the sun and I was no longer hot. A little after that, the trail left Babbit Ranch and turned off the road. Finally, after more than thirty miles of road I would be hiking on single track again. Then, maybe half a mile later, it started to rain so I stopped and opened my umbrella. Maybe ten or fifteen minutes later the rain had stopped so I closed the umbrella and a short time later I put it away. The trail crossed a road, and the bottle I drink from was out of water so I took a short break and filled it up before continuing a couple miles farther to the end of the passage near Moqui Station.
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| Cabin. |
After saving my GPSr tracks for the last passage, I wend and found geocache Moqui Stage Station, then checked out Moqui Station, a stop along the stage coach route from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon. There wasn’t much left there but it was interesting and I took a break to eat and rest and air my feet.
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| Moqui Station. |
After the break, I went back to the start of passage 36, Coconino Rim. There were about four empty water jugs strewn about. I’m sure they were left by other trail hikers that had cached the water. I hate seeing hikers leave their trash lying around. While I was checking the water jugs, it started raining so I opened my umbrella before continuing the hike. After about fifteen minutes it really started storming with thunder and lightning and heavy rain. I retreated into the forest and put on my rain jacket and rain kilt and waited out the storm for about ten minutes when it eased up enough to where I felt comfortable continuing.
The trail was in an open meadow and followed the old stage route. There was lots of water along the wheel tracks where the trail went. I did my best to keep out of the mud and water but my feet still got soaked; there was no way to avoid it. After a while, the storm was completely past and the rain had stopped so I put my umbrella and rain gear away and continued hiking. Eventually, the trail went back into the forest and it was very pleasant walking. I passed a couple of horses off to my right. They stood there and watched me as I watched them.
Somewhere along the way, I missed a turn and got off trail a short distance. When I noticed, I just went cross country to get back on the trail. It wasn’t long after that where I started walking in Russell Canyon and came to a trick tank with Russell painted on the sign. It was twenty past six and there was good water and a great place to camp so I called it a day.
I was happy with the day. My feet were still bothering me but I was able to deal with the discomfort and was confident that would continue to be the case. I had a good camp with a comfortable bed of pine needles. I finished my camp chores had dinner and went to sleep.
September 7, 2015
Start: Passage 36, mile 4.3 (N 35° 50.468 W 111° 51.890).End: Passage 37, mile 8.5 (N 35° 58.402 W 112° 03.812).
Miles: ~23.2.
I slept well last night. I believe I heard some elk bugling but maybe it was a dream. I thought I heard some partying too, so who knows. After eating a Pop tart for breakfast, I took some pictures and broke camp. I went and filled up on water and started to hike away when I decided to get another picture of the tank.
I finally was on the trail, hiking up Russell Wash at twenty to eight. About 45 minutes later I reached Russell Tank. I checked and there was some muddy water in it, but not much. As the miles passed by, there wasn’t much to see except more trees and forest until I reached the Coconino Rim where I had a glimpse of the Grand Canyon. The trail stayed along the rim for a short distance then crossed a drainage where I took a fifty minute break after climbing up the far side.
At quarter of eleven, I was on the trail again. The trail continued along the Coconino Rim for several miles but I wasn’t able to see much beyond the forest. I was hoping for views off the rim but they seldom occurred. After an hour and a half I stopped for another break that lasted thirty-five minutes before I continued my walk. About an hour and fifteen minutes later, at five past two, I reached FR307 where I turned off trail and walked the road a ways to get water at a wildlife tank.
I like wildlife tanks. The water is usually good, much better than from stock tanks. Normally they have a large metal area to catch rain where it is drained into a large metal tank. Then the water from the tank feeds into a trough that animals can drink from but normally can’t get in. At least that’s the case for large animals like elk and deer. The water at this tank was cool and tasted good. It was a bit green so that slowed the filtering down some. I took my shoes and socks off and ate while getting the water. I had a nice break.
By the time I got back to where the trail crosses FR307, it was quarter past three. From there, the trail is on a nature trail with informational signs about some work that was done several years ago to rid the trees of mistletoe and improve the health of the forest.
Not quite ten minutes of that and I reached the end of the passage at Grandview Lookout Tower and trailhead. I’ve been up the tower before so I didn’t bother climbing it today. I did throw my garbage away in a supplied trash receptacle and looked around for a couple minutes before starting passage 37, Grand Canyon South Rim, my last of this trip.
I didn’t care much for the first few miles of this passage. It appeared the forest floor had been cleared or something unnatural happened to it. The trail was a bit rough too, and was harder on my already sore feet. Basically, I just mindlessly plodded through. Eventually the trail got better and returned to the normal monotonous forest. It dropped into a small canyon and passed an empty Watson tank. It followed a road around a bend and I missed where it turned off the road. I noticed my mistake soon enough and decided to take a break, check on my feet, and have some food before getting back on trail.
I rested only about fifteen minutes since it was already half past five and I wanted to get more miles in so I would be able to finish up early afternoon tomorrow. After another half hour or so of hiking, something changed with my right foot and it started to hurt a lot more. It felt like the blisters grew in size. I decided to quickly stop and drain the blisters then continue until dark. Once that was done, I felt some relief but not much and made it another mile and a half or so when dusk started setting in and I decided to stop for the night.
I found a nice place to set up camp near the trail. The ground was level and thick with pine needles. When I was about half way done pitching my shelter it started to rain. I quickly put on my rain jacket and threw my gear under the tarp. By the time I finished setting up the tarp, the rain had stopped.
After settling into camp, I had dinner and checked what I was in for tomorrow. I had about fifteen miles left. My feet took a turn for the worse near the end of the day but I figured I could tough it out tomorrow, especially since it would be my last day of the trip.
September 8, 2015
Start: Passage 37, mile 8.5 (N 35° 58.402 W 112° 03.812).End: South Kaibab Trailhead, GCNP
Miles: ~15.
I slept good last night. It was quiet and I didn’t hear anything. It took me longer to break camp and get going than I expected. It always seems to take longer than it should. I was on the trail about ten past seven.
The day started out pretty good. My feet were sore but didn’t slow me down. I was making good time. After about an hour, the trail dropped into Coconino Wash and followed it. The path was muddy at times but not too bad. That was also the time that the helicopters and planes were constantly flying by. They were out some yesterday, but that was nothing compared with this morning. About every minute or two, one would fly by. It was almost constant. Grand Canyon air tours must be big business.
After a couple hours, the trail turned a bend and the Grand Canyon Camper Village in Tusayan was right in front of me. I didn’t expect that. I really should have but it caught me off guard. The trail turned right, up a hill and away from it though. Shortly afterwards, the trail went back down the hill and the road veered right so that’s the way I went. Unfortunately, the trail turned left. I walked over half a mile before I noticed I made a wrong turn. That mistake would cost me over a mile walking. An extra mile I begrudgingly had to make since my feet weren’t getting any better.
I had been hiking for over two and a half hours once I made it back to the trail, so I stopped for a much needed break. I took my shoes and socks off and nursed my feet. I had some food and I applied sunscreen. At quarter of ten, about 35 minutes after I stopped, I was back on the trail.
A little less than a mile and the trail passed under highway 180 as it heads north to Grand Canyon National Park. Once on the other side of the highway, the trail joins a wide gravel path that enters the park after a half mile. This was really the worst part of the whole hike. The gravel path was not very enjoyable. It was hot and uncomfortable to walk. The scenery was just forest with lots of blow downs throughout. This is a part of the park not meant for tourists to see and went on for miles. Eventually the gravel turned to pavement and I stopped, got some water, and opened my umbrella to give myself some shade.
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| Grand Canyon National Park |
As I neared Mather campground, another hiker was coming the other way. The hiker was a woman on a southbound thru hike of the Arizona Trail named Farwalker. We chatted for a while. I enjoy meeting other hikers and she was the only other backpacker I’d seen this whole trip. I knew of some others on a SOBO thru hike but hadn’t seen them. She said they were ahead of her, so they probably went into Tusayan or passed me when I was off trail for that mile.
When I reached Mather campground, I went to get some water. At the bathroom facilities there was a sink so I rinsed myself off along with my shirt. It sure felt great to get the salt off my face and to wet my head. It was a quick stop. I had just over two miles to go and wanted to finish. I was there for less than ten minutes.
From there, the trail is near the canyon rim, but the canyon is not visible until the last half mile or so of the passage. The trail follows a dirt utility road just south of highway 64. Finally, the trail crosses 64 and joins the rim trail and wham, the canyon reveals itself quite abruptly! It’s such a contrast and is very exciting after being stuck in forest for so long. That and being at the finish of the hike was exciting for me. I made it to the parking lot then followed the path to the South Kaibab trailhead where I finished at one-forty. I had hiked about sixteen miles in five and a half hours. I was very happy but also very tired and had an overwhelming desire to lie down. So I did, for about ten minutes or so before I got up and wandered back to the parking lot to catch a bus to the visitor center.
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| At South Kaibab Trailhead. |
When I got on the bus, the driver told everyone how I had climbed out of the canyon but I told him I hadn’t. That surprised him and he let everybody know that wasn’t the case. I probably should have mentioned I had hiked from Flagstaff but didn’t.
I had a shuttle reservation from Grand Canyon to the Flagstaff Airport at 6:15. I knew there was another one scheduled at 3:15 so I got on another bus to take me to the shuttle stop at Maswik Lodge and see if I could change my reservation. Once at the lodge, a lady at the welcome desk helped me change it. There were two seats left and I took one of them. I then had just enough time to have a bite to eat before the shuttle left.
