AZT 2019 Day 43: Campsite north of Little Pleasant Valley Tank (mile 740.1) to campsite near Umbrella Tank (mile 768.4)


28.4 miles

I was another cold, cold morning. The kind that make you have to really convince yourself to get out of your sleeping. And, that is what it did. I talked out loud to myself until I convinced myself to pack everything up.

As I was undoing my poles from my tent, one end came loose and whacked me underneath the tip of my nose. It was such a force that I checked for blood. Thankfully, it didn't bleed and wasn't broken. It hurt enough, however, to sit down and take a moment to recover. It was not the start to the day I was looking for.

As I headed down the trail, I passed a tank with a deer at the edge, then followed the trail which ran parallel to highway 67. I could see cars going by on their way to and from the Grand Canyon North Rim.
Passing a tank in the early morning.


Next, the trail climbed up Telephone Hill. Here I encountered an expansive burn area, and I could see storms coming in the distance. Today was supposed to be the first day of a multi day weatherfront.

Highway 67 as seen from the trail. 

As I moved through the hills of the burn area, still running parallel to 67, light snow flurries started. Sometimes they looked like flurries, sometimes tiny hail. Soon after that started, the wind became intense and was blowing the snow/hail horizontal.
Entering the burned area.

The start of the storm. 
By the time I reached the water trough that was my main water source for the day, it was snowing heavily. Much of the time that snow was blowing horizontal as well. It felt absurd to be trying to filter water in such conditions. Snow was accumulating on everything, including my backpack. I filled up two Smartwater bottles, but decided not to open my pack to put some of that water in my water bladder. I knew everything inside would be soaked if I did, so I decided to wait for a break in the weather to do so.

Soon after the trough, I exited the burn zone and was back in the trees. They seemed to do nothing to shelter from the storm. I came across a trailhead with a nice pit toilet. I have never done the “hiker trash” thing of sheltering in a pit toilet before, but I briefly did this time.

I was able to put the filtered water in the water bladder and check what was upcoming on the Arizona Trail App. If worse came to worse, I was able to shelter in another pit toilet 8 miles away. When I opened the door it was still windy and snowing heavily.
Yep, still snowing. 

For the next 7 or so miles, I kind of put my head down and braced against the weather. The snow eventually turned to rain and the rain would pause occasionally. I made the mistake of taking my poncho off during one of these pauses, and I just ended up putting it back on a couple minutes later.

As I got close to the next trailhead, and Highway 89, the rain stopped and the sun came out. I passed some people walking near the trailhead and realized how absurd I must look. At the North Rim General Store, I had purchased two extra items to help weather this storm. I bought an overpriced, touristy fleece best that said “Grand Canyon North Rim” on it. Over that I wore my rain jacket (Outdoor Research Helium II) and my ULA rain skirt. On top of all of that was the second purchase I had made, a clear plastic emergency poncho. It was a glorified garbage bag.

At the trailhead I had cell signal from the nearby town of Jacob Lake. I checked the radar, hoping that I had gotten lucky and that the storm had passed for the day. Unfortunately, I saw that I was just in a pause in the storm, and another wave was coming.

I crossed hwy 89 and walked as far as I could before it hit again. Luckily, it was just the heavy snow and not the wind. It frosted everything in white and I wondered if I would have a dry place to set my tent up for the night.
Snow and wildflowers.
A frosted AZT. 

Luckily for me, that wave of snow was followed by some sun, so all the white disappeared and I was able to dry out a little. I set my tent up about 20 miles from the Utah border, with plenty of light left to organize my gear and start heating up my sleeping bag before the next wave of storms hit. Tomorrow, I finish the trail.

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