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 37: Campsite north of Bismarck Lake (mile 606.4) to campsite near Chapel Mountain (mile 633.5)
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27.1 miles
It was certainly a cold morning. At 8,800 ft in elevation, it was just going to happen. It wasn't, however, as cold as I thought it would be. I was perfectly cozy in my sleeping bag and z-lite. So cozy that it was really hard to get up. It was much lighter in the sky than it usually was when I pack up, and it took me longer than usual to do so.
Once I got my body moving on the trail, the temperature was much more comfortable. I was headed down the mountain though alternating area of pine and aspen. I even spotted a friendly deer, who didn't seem to mind me coming down the trail.
The trail moving through aspens.
Hello, deer.
Eventually the trail flattened out, and I joined a forest road. I happened to glance back and saw I had a great view of the snow covered peaks I just passed.
Looking back at Humphrey's Peak.
The trail branched off on a footpath that paralleled a road, then joined roads the rest of the day. I saw a gopher snake on one stretch of road.
Road walking.
Gopher snake.
At one point, I passed a resupply box. Trail angels leave water caches for hikers who are supposed to pack out the empty containers. What has been happening is that people will take most of the water, but leave a small amount on the jug so that they do not have to carry it with them.
Resupply box.
The typical sight at a water cache. A mostly empty jug.
Usually, this really bothers me. Today, however, I was looking for one of those jugs to take with me. At least one of the upcoming water sources is out of arms length. I found one of these mostly used jugs in the resupply box, topped off my water, and carried it out with me.
Then, I went back to forest roads. Later in the day, the road dipped into a valley. While in this valley it was time to fill up with water again. I took a side trail to East Cedar Tank. I was a little wary when I approached and saw a metal tank overflowing with algae. Luckily, as I got closer, I saw that there was a pipe with clear flowing water. I filled up, then headed back to the road, seeing a coyote just past the tank.
East Cedar Tank.
Coyote.
I road walked for several more hours, passing many cows. Finally, at the end of the day, I chose my campsite for the night. It was nestled in some trees with a view of both the sunset and snow covered mountains.
Hello Susanne.....I ran into some of the foul weather today that you encountered a few days ago. Driving between Sedona and Flagstaff on 89A the road was covered in snow and ice and the snow plows were out in force......I then ran into snow on I-40 East of Flagstaff off and on all the way to Albuquerque, NM. Happy to read that all is going well in spite of the weather problems you have encountered.....
There have been some unexpectedly bad storms the past couple weeks. It is definitely not what I expected in May. I would have packed differently otherwise.
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...
14.8 miles I woke up early again today. I figured if the trails today were anything like the trails I ended the day with yesterday, I would need more time. The plan for today was to get to Roosevelt Lake by noon, then wait out the afternoon heat and do a few more miles near sunset or just after dark. Sunrise. Roosevelt Lake had a store that accepted resupply packages. I had a general resupply sent there and my mom sent a box of treats as well. The store also had a bar/restaurant attached. To top things off, people had reported their wifi to be amazing. I figured it would be a good place to spend my time and money. They apparently didn't want hikers hanging around to charge their electronics or wiping themselves down in the bathrooms, and also sent hikers to the ranger station to refill water, but I figured I could work around that. The hills themselves weren't too bad as I started my day. I rolled up and down the grassy hills with views of the lake. Overall, t...
Hello Susanne.....I ran into some of the foul weather today that you encountered a few days ago. Driving between Sedona and Flagstaff on 89A the road was covered in snow and ice and the snow plows were out in force......I then ran into snow on I-40 East of Flagstaff off and on all the way to Albuquerque, NM. Happy to read that all is going well in spite of the weather problems you have encountered.....
ReplyDeleteThere have been some unexpectedly bad storms the past couple weeks. It is definitely not what I expected in May. I would have packed differently otherwise.
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