Susanne's Adventure Journal

17.9 miles It was an early morning.  I got up and started hiking before dawn. As usual, I didn't start hiking as early as I would have liked since the ambient temperature has been so pleasant in the dark. It makes hanging out in your tent and playing on your phone much more desirable to hiking. I needed to get up because I was facing a hot, exposed, 7 mile climb away from the river. Temperatures had been getting warm only a couple hours after the sun came up  and I wanted to get as much of the climb done as possible while the temperatures were cool. Morning view of the Gila River from the trail. I hit the junction for the beginning of the climb after sunrise, but while it was still cool. It was also the last place to get water for over 11 miles. I still had some water in my pack, but I decided to go down to the Gila and drink a liter of electrolytes. I hadn't been feeling well during the first part of today's hike. I figured I was dehydrated, low on ele...

23.5 miles I started the morning with a small climb out of the little canyon I had camped in and up to a series of saddles. They were full of saguaros and the views were amazing. Morning views. More views. As I was taking video of one of the views. I heard, “Snapper!” I look down and see Sierra bounding up the trail like she had all the energy in the world. She was in a good mood too. We chatted for a little while before hiking on at our separate paces. Soon I hit a saddle that had views down into Copper Basin. I saw a winding strip of green vegetation that I assumed must be the Gila River. I also saw houses belonging to the town of Kearny and a huge mining complex dominating the landscape across the way. First view of the Gila River.  I headed down steeply, towards the river. The saguaros seemed to get more numerous and there were still wildflowers blooming. Part way down, I saw my second rattlesnake of the trail. Descending to the Gila River...

23.1 miles The afternoon heat of yesterday really had an effect on me. I wanted to learn from yesterday's mistakes and get up early to do as much hiking as I could while the temperature was pleasant. Unfortunately, the temperature was very pleasant lying on my sleeping pad as well, which is how I spent most of those early hours in which I was supposed to be hiking. I only hiked in the dark for a little while before the sunrise. And, it was a spectacular sunrise with the clouds turning red followed by golden rays poking out over the mountain. Red clouds in the morning.  Sunrise. Scenery in the morning.  When the sun got high enough, I went to switch from my headlamp to my sun hat and realized I didn't know where my sunglasses were. I unpacked my whole bag and didn't find them. Then, I realized they were sitting on top of my hat last night. When I switched from hat to headlamp, I simply pushed the hat back so it was hanging off my neck. My sunglass...

23.2 miles I had arranged with Marney to be shuttled to the trailhead at 5:15 am, so we headed out from the hotel just as the first bit of light was peaking over the horizon.  It was going to be the hottest day of the recent forecast, and I wanted to get some hiking in while the temperature was still comfortable. As soon as I headed down the trail, I could feel warm drafts already and knew it was going to rough later on in the day. This is what I had been laughing about when I woke up in the snow the other day. The scenery was stunningly beautiful in the morning light with the light filtering through the mountains and hills, and backlighting the cacti. Right away I started seeing saguaros again. Morning on the trail. Backlit cholla Saguaro in the morning . The rest of the morning was, for the most part uneventful. I went uphill, downhill, through a wash, and back uphill again. I just kept repeating itself. There were plenty of wildflowers and cacti st...