AZT Finish (for real for real!)

Day 3: 20.2 miles. Marina-ish to Reavis creek

Not all miles are created equally. Today kicked my booty!

I took my time packing up (over an hour). Bid farewell to Dungadin, and continued on. The rain was on and off all morning. I kept stopping to put my rain jacket on just to then take it off 20 mins later. It was too hot to keep it on if not needed, but too cold to get soaked. I was climbing a super steep and long climb out of the valley, so I was working up a sweat. Hiking in cold rain is a tricky balance of trying to not get too sweaty (which makes you colder), but also not get drenched with rain (which also makes you colder).

I was carrying tons of water. It didn’t matter much yesterday bc I was heading downhill, but climbing with so much water was tough. I probably didn’t need to carry this much water, but the sources were a bit unrealizable and I prefer to err on the safe side (especially now that I was hiking alone). I also could tell how much extra weight my saturated tent and fly were adding to the mix as well.

Last night my rain fly held up in the wind and rain with my rock configuration but they nearly destroyed on of my guy lines (it is unreliable now). The worn out guy line and the dripping rain mean it’s probably time for a new rain fly (or send this to Big Agnes for repair).

Today was day three of four, the crux. One of my former running coaches would tell us that when we had workouts with four reps, the third one was the one that mattered the most. It’s the hardest, but the other reps are just to tire you out for the third rep, while the last one is just meant to empty the tank. Today was rep three out of four, and I would need to muster some additional mental strength to make it happen.

Early on during my dirt road climb, I stopped to chat with three hikers coming the opposite way: Sequoia, Stats and a High school senior with no trail name (Sequoia’s son).  I stood there in the rain and chatted for way too long considering the day I would have ahead of me, but I was enjoying the human interaction and connection.

The dirt road was STEEP and I was moving SO slowly. The path was muddy, but not Flagstaff snow melt muddy.

When the single track trail returned, I had to navigate through some VERY washed out washes. There were cairns everywhere, which helped, but at times it was tricky to see where to go and even trickier to scramble around the eroded trail. I was grateful for the hikers going north as I was able to see their footprints at times which helped assure me I was going in the right direction. Sometimes there were 15 foot drop offs where the trail washed out and sections where all fours were needed.

In one spot, I slipped in the mud and fell on the edge of a cliff washout and realized there was no standing up. I threw my poles down, then managed to get my pack off and lower it as much as I could before dropping it too. Then I could scramble my way down the cliff. It was a little scary because the mud was slippery. When I turned around, I realized my foot placement on a rock on my way down was super sketch and the rock was definitely coming out of the ground and about to break off. If that had happened while I was scrambling down I would have taken a terrible spill.

This section was long and slow and up. Eventually the northbound hikers’ footprints disappeared. The technicality of the trail never let up. Ever. It just kept being hard! The way-finding in dry creek beds and washes added to the mental challenge.

The trail was overgrown in sections and the grass was so wet it completely soaked my pants, socks and shoes all the way up to my waist - my soaking pants were sticking to my skin and it was cold, but I knew it wouldn’t last, so I quit resisting the wet flora and just forged ahead.

I finally reached the sign for The Superstition Wilderness! I was so excited to be here! I’d endured many challenges to finally get another chance to hike this section. I entered the Superstition Wilderness on a long and steep climb, just as the sun began to come out! I reached the top and just as I did, I found myself surrounded by yellow flowers and sunlight everywhere! I started to run! I was so overcome with joy! The dramatic fields of yellow flowers made me happy! And…. For the first time all day I had a stretch of downhill! I ran the section of downhill but it was pretty overgrown and the rocks weren’t as visible, so I fell and twisted my foot on a rock.

I decided to take a break to dry out my things in the sunshine. My socks had been so soaked I had to wring them out and they got a bit drier. My feet were still wrinkled after a 40 minute break! I snacked and just enjoyed the sky time — sitting on top of the world completely alone! I didn’t busy myself in my break with reading the map or messing with my gear. I just sat there and let myself enjoy the stillness and the sounds of nature as the sun dried out my gear.

After my break, I found footsteps going SOBO! This made me so happy as I knew I had company out here! Would I catch the other hiker? Mentally, it helped knowing there was another person in front of me relatively nearby (the footprints were fresh - from today)!!

I got tired and sleepy when I still had 5 miles to go. It brought back some Double SCAR trauma. I desperately wanted to lay down on the trail for a dirt nap. I resisted the urge, knowing I was fighting daylight and if I didn’t make it at least 20 miles, I didn’t think I could finish the next leg in one push (meaning an extra day on trail). I really wanted to finish tomorrow — especially because I didn’t have another dinner so I would survive on extra bars and smoothie powder. I was motivated enough to push my way through the agony of sleepiness and click  my body in auto pilot and push. I pushed and pushed. It was hard and I went to a low place. This felt exponentially harder than the previous two days combined. Emily (Dungadin) would not have been happy if she had continued on! Occasionally, I lost the trail because it was faint and I had to backtrack to find it. The trail wasn’t super well travelled in some areas.

With 3 miles left to go, I crossed a gorgeous creek with beautiful campsites. I needed to make more progress and I knew I could do it. I thought of all the people I knew that would hike into the night and night-hiking was totally fine. I just needed to tell myself it didn’t mean “failure” to finish in the dark. It wasn’t easy to leave that beautiful campsite and push on.

I tried to hike my hardest, but I still needed to whip out my headlamp for the last 1-2 miles. I memorized the terrain and knew that when I finally started heading downhill again I would end up at Reavis creek, my home for the night. When I got to the bottom of the climb, I saw a tent and I began talking! The Sobo Footprints I had been following all day was here in this tent — her name was Grouse. She told me there were some flat spots near her tent but to be careful about the little cactus popping up everywhere. I scouted and finally found a spot about 20 feet away from her to set up my tent.

I was getting cold very fast. My hair was still wet (from the rain? Sweat? Both?). Camping near water is chillier than not, but I needed to collect water. I cooked dinner and let my Coconut Curry Chickpea Dhal (DELICIOUS!!!!) cook in its bag while I went out to collect water. I was so anxious to take off my muddy pants and get cozy in my sleeping bag with my favorite trail meal of all time.

I got lost on my way up from the water source in the dark. I must have been walking through other campsites and got quite disoriented with  multiple trails and then all of a sudden no trail but flat areas for camping. I finally got my phone out and looked at the map to try to find the AZT. I had to bushwhack in the dark a little but I knew I was close. I finally called out “HELLO?” And Grouse used her voice to help orient me back to our area.

I got to my tent and smelled something AWFUL! It smelled like POOP! I looked at my croc and saw what appeared and smelled like human feces on my shoe! NOOOOOOOO!!! What a disaster! I used the water I collected to wash but I didn’t want to get my hands contaminated so it was impossible to really clean them. I took them off and walked barefoot to my tent. In all my years backpacking I’ve never actually stepped in someone else’s latrine. It made me so angry that people don’t bury their poop well enough! I tried to get it out my head and enjoy my dinner in my tent.

After dinner, I was settling down to sleep when I heard a rodent nearby. I started pounding the ground and making noise and eventually it went away. I was REALLY cold that night with. My damp hair. I put on all the layers and finally passed out.

Day 4: Reavis Creek to Resupply Box at Picket Post Trailhead, 25 miles

I woke up at 5:15 AM in the dark and WET! What? I had gone to sleep with clear skies, why was everything completely soaked?!

Camping near a creek has its perks (immediate water source for cooking and anything else), however, the condensation game is serious (not to mention how COLD I was this morning!). I also believe this was the highest up in altitude I camped of all the nights out here. Needless to say, I had all my layers on and still felt chilled to the bones. I knew I needed to get moving, but I did NOT want to leave the warmth of my sleeping bag! If today was to be anything like yesterday, I would for SURE finish in the dark as I had 25 miles to hike instead of yesterday’s 20. I didn’t want to finish in the dark, so I motivated myself to get up. I began organizing and packing and got on trail at 6:20 AM. It was still completely dark, but I knew I was within striking distance of daylight.

My Garmin InReach wasn’t sending messages to Dungadin! I would need to communicate with her about picking me up and I knew there wasn’t any cell service the whole day. I was quite frustrated with my device. What if something happened to me?! I tried sending messages to my dad and sister and nothing sent. My InReach was synced to my phone and properly connected on both my phone and my InReach. So I decided to type a message to Dungadin T-9 style from the InReach. It took way too long to type out with my cold fingers and the message wasn’t even helpful. It was way too early in the day to have anything substantive to say regarding an ETA, but I needed to know I could communicate if something bad happened. The Superstitions and I don’t have a great track record, and part of my preparation was having my InReach device to be able to text in case of an emergency.

My T-9 style message went through (phew), but I was still quite frustrated that the phone sync wasn’t working. I turned my phone off and on again and viola! I could send and receive messages normally! So I carried on. Dungadin asked for an ETA and all I could think of was “goal before 5:00 pm!” (Which was insanely aggressive! But also, 20 minutes before sunset…!)

Finding the trail wasn’t easy. I got turned around quite a bit. Once I finally found the trail, I crossed the creek (wet feet — oops!), and was plopped into a giant meadow with grass as tall as me. It was VERY challenging to find the trail. I tried to scan ahead, while looking directly in front of me on the ground and was able to use my “trail sense” to find my way. There were times when I lost the trail and had to use the FarOut app/map to get myself back on trail, but I was impressed with my intuitive trail instincts for the most part. I’m SO glad I didn’t try to navigate any of this last night while it was dark. At least I was mostly alert and had my morning wits about me. At the end of an exhausting day (last night), I would have struggled MUCH more to solve the meadow puzzle.

The meadow grass soaked me, but not as badly as it had yesterday (there are levels of being soaked…). Many of the fields were frosted and sparkly in my headlamp. The frost prevented me from getting drenched and the sparkles gave me immense joy. Frosty sparkles on blades of grass in the headlamp are like personal trail magic.

Literally impossible to capture, but the photo reminds me of the frosty magic. :)

The climbs were steep. The downs were steep too. However, the trail was significantly less technical than yesterday.

Most of the morning was cloudy and I wasn’t sure if I would get rain (although I was confident the sun would come out eventually)!

I decided to take a break as the sun was dancing with the clouds and at least let my feet dry out. I knew letting my tent and socks dry out was futile unless I sat in the sun for a long time, but I set them out to get “mostly” dry (or at least a few stages drier), helping both my sloshing feet and the weight of my pack. I also began to feel hot and wanted to take off my pants and switch to shorts for the first time in 4 days!

My break spot was perfect and I felt as if I was in between earth and somewhere else. How was I the only human alive drinking up the magic of this place on this day? It was so beautiful and I took my time filtering water, snacking, and massaging my feet.

After about 45 minutes, I packed up, put on my “less wet socks,” and clicked into focus-mode. It was go-time. In order to crush big days and push myself physically, it’s important to be able to find focus-mode and try to turn down the volume of everything “non-essential.”

This meant fewer pictures and breaks. I felt into my body and found strength with each movement. I focused on form and keeping a decent rhythm to my cadence. I was not moving slowly.

When I reached the ridge just south of Roger’s Trough TH (where I bailed last year), the view on both sides was absolutely STUNNING! It felt brand new! Last time I had been completely encapsulated in a blizzard with no visibility. This time, I was in shorts and the sun was out! The mountains in the distance were swimming in clouds and I was on top of the world!

Roger’s trough had ZERO cars in the parking lot. Wow. I was so beyond lucky to have encountered a vehicle AND people last year to rescue me off the mountain. The odds were a bit insane.

I didn’t remember how much uphill marching I had to do on the road leaving the parking lot, as I was so desperate last time and just trying to keep myself moving and alive. When I got to the top, I remembered the trail was smooth and full of downhill switchbacks and I enjoyed the grade, terrain, and view! I was plugged in to some Financial Feminist podcast episodes and cruising.

I had to slow down when I began to cross a bunch of creeks. It was sometimes hard to find my way around them and know if I should cross, walk alongside it, or how to find the trail. At one point I got off trail and bushwhacked a little back toward the trail and got some intense thorns in my hands as thorny branches above pulled my hair.

After I climbed out of these canyon wash-y areas, I saw Picket Post mountain! I knew that was my finish! I recognized the island of a mountain; its shape and grandeur, and I got a burst of finish-line energy! Then, I saw Superior (the town) and the highway! I knew I was still far-ish, but I also knew I was close(ish)!

Eventually, I realized I was within the home stretch and I pressed the gas even more. Fast hiking suddenly morphed into running. My Latino playlist was just right for some quick footwork and I was dancing with the rocks and trail. Usually when I’m carrying a pack, I only run downhill. But when the next song came on and the terrain included some uphill dancing, I didn’t stop. I become one with my 28-lb pack and danced and ran uphill too. I ran for FOUR MILES STRAIGHT WITHOUT PAUSE! And I would have kept going, but I had a massive creek crossing right before the highway.

I ran like a finish line sprint for no one and no finish line. I took out my ear buds, marched right through the creek (rock hoping would have taken forever to figure out), and celebrated with myself.

I walked a little bit further, savoring the trail and the mountains I had just come from, wishing it could go on and on forever. I didn’t want to be done. I was finishing on such a high note, with maximum adrenaline and excitement, to the point of near delirium. I got to the highway and there was no sight of Dungadin (nor did it seem possible to scoop me up at this intersection. I continued on the trail under the highway in a tunnel and messaged Dungadin to meet me at the resupply box by the trailhead 0.5 miles further, uphill. I was finished!!!! I called Shelley and Louly and chatted for a brief stint before I said bye and found Dungadin waiting for me (we both pulled up at the same exact moment!). The sunset at Picket Post mountain was absolutely stunning and I couldn’t believe my tango with the AZT had finally come to an end.

I finished this hike with myself, in my own way. Some people thru hike in one go, and I’ve done that too, but this hike wasn’t in one go, or two gos… it required this last little bit of effort. And while it wasn’t 400 miles like I hiked in April, I threw down 85 miles relatively easily considering I came from a pretty sedentary season of work prior. AND, no mile is a freebie. So even the shortest of hikes have their lessons and their challenges. I learned not to minimize shorter section hikes. For one, my body wasn’t trail-hardened so these miles were hard fought. My bruised hips and shoulders hadn’t built up callouses and my nervous system had a difficult time sleeping for more than two hours at a time on the ground. I went from maybe 6 hours of exercise per week (that’s a generous estimate these days haha), to 10-11 hours of rigorous mountain hiking with a heavy pack per DAY. For four full days! I wasn’t acclimated to the terrain and weather patterns so I carried WAY too much water (which I don’t take issue with), but there was room for optimizing my experience and this making each step slightly less painful. I am glad I carried all the sleeping bags because I was warm at night and it allowed me to rest. I think I would like to add a tiny little pillow, and maybe a blow up mattress to my gear closet now that I’m 40 (hehe!). I’m also interested in trying out different packs because I’m still frustrated with Osprey’s downgraded non-usable side pockets and hip pockets. Salt is king in the desert and I ate ALL my chips. My favorite dinner is the coconut dhal 2x — wow, that one changed my life.

Next year, I am toying with the idea of doing the desert section of the CDT in New Mexico. I don’t have ambition to leave my work for a 4-5 month trek anytime soon because I love my work so much, but I think biting off mid-tier sections with plenty of work-dedicated zero days intentionally sprinkled in throughout for student calls could make for a beautiful spring!

Trail is magic. Mountains heal wounds. And yes, the mountains saved me. I needed this and I’m looking forward to walking across the most magical place with the most magical person in a few weeks! Stay tuned!