AZT 2019 Day 28: Pine Trailhead (mile 461.1) to campsite near the East Verde River (mile 479.7)

18.6 miles

My parents and I left Mesa in the early morning today and were able to get to Pine by about 8:30 AM. We weren't, however, able to get a parking space at the trailhead. There was a lady angrily waving us around as we tried to pull in. We had to make our own parking spot along the entry drive.

I said goodbye to my parents and headed towards the trailhead. There were tents, music, and people wearing numbers. I entered the trailhead, half expecting someone to stop me. There was a sign that said today was the Pine Trail Race, and it looked like this trailhead was the finish line.

The Pine Trailhead.


Sure enough, a couple feet in I had to step aside for a trail runner. A minute or so down the trail, I stepped aside for another. Eventually, I ran into someone from the event and asked him how much the race route shared with the Arizona Trail. We compared maps and saw that the trail and route diverged not too far ahead.

A little further up trail I hit the race pack. I was definitely swimming upstream. I could only take a couple steps before stepping aside for several runners. They were all very nice though, and greeted me with a hello. One even apologized for causing me to step off the trail.

Finally, I hit a non race portion of the trail and started gaining in elevation. The views were amazing. I could see the surrounding hills and mountains, as well as the town of Pine and highway 87.

Heading up in elevation. 

View of Pine from the trail.

Trail views.

Highway 87 as seen from the trail.


I stopped for lunch near Webber Creek. This area was gorgeous. It had a great, clear, strongly flowing stream. Surrounding the stream were pine trees and the ground was carpeted in lush, green ferns.

Webber Creek.

Lush ferns among the pines.


Eventually, the AZT joined with the Highline Trail, which I walked most of the rest of the day. This trail used to be a road that connected the settlements below Mogollon Rim. I followed it getting great views of the rim itself as well as crossing streams and occasionally moving through pine forest.

Mogollon Rim. 

The Rim from the AZT/Highline Trail.


As the sun went behind the rim, I made it to Washington Park Trailhead.  I moved past it, crossing then following the East Verde River until I found a spot to camp. Tomorrow, I will take that steep climb to the top of the rim.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

FT2018 Day 44: Campsite near the Aucilla River (mile 734.2) to Ring Dike Campsite (mile 760.8)

Image
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
Read more

AZT 2019 Day 44: Campsite near Umbrella Tank (mile 768.4) to Utah-Arizona border (mile 788.7)

Image
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
Read more

FT2018 Day 40: Holton Creek River Camp (mile 652.0) to Black Tract Campsite (mile 674.4)

Image
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
Read more