Formerly Susanne's PCT Journal. This is a simple trail journal of my long distance thru-hiking adventures/misadventures. Family, friends, and total strangers are welcome to come along for the journey!
-Susanne aka "Snapper"
AZT 2019 Day 4: Patagonia (mile 51.2) to campsite near creek (mile 71.1)
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22.9 miles (19.9 AZT miles)
I left Patagonia around sunrise feeling clean and refreshed. I also wondered how long that feeling would last. The temperature was going to be much cooler today, so I wouldn't be sweating as much, but I still get dirty very quickly on the trail.
The excitement for the morning was a trail detour soon after leaving town. The notes about the detour were about as mixed as they get. Some people declared it the worst detour ever, some people claimed they had to bushwhack to rejoin the trail because they lost the detour trail, and some people said it was easy to follow. While in town I attempted to find a map of the detour, but the only information I found about it stated “follow the flagging.”
I reached the start of the detour and was at the mercy of the flagging. The beginning started out great. There were big signs noting the detour and the first couple trees has so much flagging they looked like they were teepeed. For a while it seemed like every tree had at least one piece of flagging tape.
Detour flagging.
The detour started out following some dirt roads that steeply went up and down without regard for hikers’ legs. It was in this section I saw a harmless gopher snake, my first snake of the trail. The detour then followed a fence line to another two track road. The flagging was more sparce in this section, but you were just following a road the whole time, so it would have been a challenge to get lost.
Detour roads.
Gopher snake.
Finally, the detour followed some cow paths to a canyon. Again, everything was flagged pretty well until the very end where the detour temporarily climbed out of the canyon, went back in, then climbed out again. Several times in this section I had to stop and search in multiple directions to find the next flagged tree. I didn't have to do that for too far of a distance and eventually made it back onto the real Arizona Trail.
Having a hard time seeing flagging in this picture? So did I.
The trail in this section was mostly dirt roads leading up higher into the mountains. It followed a nice, flowing stream for a while. I found a nice, shaded area by the stream to take a lunch break. There were some cows there originally, but apparently they don't like to share and moved away at my approach.
Heading up the mountain.
A shaded stream.
What?
After lunch I went further up the trail and encountered my first bull. On the Florida Trail I encountered an angry bull on the trail, and it ended up being a terrifying moment. This bull was much more relaxed and let me pass without issue. Further up trail was another bull who actually got out of the way as I approached.
Friendly bull.
Eventually, I made it to an elevation that had lots of trees. The AZT became a single track trail again and I slowly climbed up until I hit a saddle and came down the other side.
Looking back towards Patagonia.
Soon I hit Casa Blanca Canyon, which had a creek full of running water. The trail itself cut along the side of the canyon, giving some great views with the evening sun.
I then made my way to Tunnel Spring where I read about how a tunnel was built in an attempt to do hydraulic mining in the area. I had seen what looked like irritation ruins along the way, and it was nice to have some context for those sites.
I made my way about a mile past the Tunnel Spring Trailhead on swollen, weary legs and found a campsite next to the creek for the night.
26.6 FT miles I had meant to get up really early this morning. There were only two places in the St Marks National Wildlife Refuge where you could camp, and there was one that was supposedly one of the best, if not the best, campsite on the trail. However, it was over 26 miles away. Some of those miles were going to be road walks, so those parts would go quickly. On the other hand, if we encountered swampy areas, it might be a very long day. A little before dawn I yelled over at Sugar Rush to see if she was awake, which she was. We packed up in the dark and, just like last night, went crashing through the brush trying to stay on trail. There were some parts that were clear and other parts that were not so clear. When the sun came up, things didn't necessarily get better. We started to realize why we were having so much trouble last night. Even with daylight we couldn't always track the path on the ground and had to search as a team for hidden blazes. The river made
20.3 miles Just like the past few mornings, it was difficult to get up again. Unlike the past few mornings, I could actually see snow on top of my tent. It was supposed to rain or snow on and off the majority of the day again. That was not a motivating thought to get me out of my sleeping bag. I had also finally used the hand warmers that I had purchased back in Flagstaff, and they were still warm inside my bag. Somehow, I emerged from that bag and packed everything up one last time. I was only about 20 miles from the Utah border and on schedule to finish the trail today. Most of the items I had on me were damp or wet. It didn’t bother me packing them up as I knew I would be warm and dry tonight. What did bother me was having to put on my wet, cold, dirty shoes. After I did that, I had wet, cold, dirty socks as well. In Flagstaff I had also picked up toe warmers, so I stuck those inside my shoes and hoped that they would help. The view looking out of my tent. My camps
22.4 FT miles Soon after I started hiking this morning, I passed Holton Spring. It was what made Holton Creek, which gave the name to the campground I stayed at last night. It is not a very big creek. The spring formed a circular pond that emptied out of one side to form the creek. The creek then dumped out into the Suwannee River after only a short distance. Holton Spring in the early morning. Around the area of Holton Spring you could really see the karst (formed by limestone) landscapes. It was fairly bumpy and dominated by large holes formed by water cutting through the soft limestone. After about 5 miles, I hit Gibson Park for breakfast. It appears to be a campground, but is available for day use. I used the picnic table out front, then used the bathroom and refilled my water supply. The bathhouse had “Way down upon the Suwannee River” painted on it, which are the lyrics to the song by Stephen Foster. It seems like everything in the areas uses it for advertisement
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