AZT 2019 Day 19: Campsite on saddle (mile 332.5) to Vineyard Trailhead (mile 348.3)

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, they weren't too steep.

Grassy hills with a view of the lake.

That was until I got to the junction with a forest road. Usually, I consider forest roads to have a somewhat easier grade than trails. That was not the case this time. They were incredibly steep with loose rocks. It made me wonder who actually drives their vehicles up them. I, again, used my slow, tip-toe method to descend. punctuated with the occasional skid downhill.

Going down.

I was not too disappointed with having to slow down, since I was not going that far. I had more time than I originally thought since I rechecked the forecast this morning and it wasn't going to be as hot as originally predicted.

Finally, I hit the Cottonwood Canyon Trail. The canyon consisted of a dry wash at first, but became more vegetated closer to the spring. I stopped at the spring to collect water. I felt silly filtering water 5 miles from a town, but I didn't have any left. I usually put most in my water bladder, with a small reserve in my Smartwater bottle in case I run out. This time I just put everything in the bladder because I was so close to civilization.

Near the spring.

I kept heading down the drainage, until I saw a weird looking stick on the ground. It took me a minute to realize that it was the end of a rattlesnake tail, sticking out of a pile of rocks. I stopped to examine it, and I could see part of the body in the rocks. It was a big one. I tried to get it to move by creating vibrations in the area by stomping my feet and tapping nearby rocks with my poles.

Not a stick.

It did not budge. I started to wonder if it was dead. If the snake was dead, I didn't want to get all scratched up by bushwhacking around it. I tapped rocks closer to it, and finally got it to move its tail slightly. Not move its body, not rattle, not budge from its spot. It just adjusted its tail. Given how crammed it was in the rocks and its apparent laziness, I probably could have stepped around it. I didn't take that chance and just did the bushwhacking.

The rest of the drainage wasn't exactly easy. There were false trails leading every which way and deadfalls blocking the real trail. I figured I was really earning my drink at the bar later.

I finally exited the canyon and joined forest roads again. These roads were also unnecessarily steep in parts and rolled up and down, instead of heading straight down to the lake. I looked at the elevation profile in the app and it looked like it would do this the whole time I was near the lake. As an added bonus, I noticed my camera's lens cap was missing. I backtracked a little ways but did not see it.

Exiting the drainage and entering saguaro country. Around this time I realized my lens cap was gone.

View of the lake from a forest road.

I also checked the upcoming route and it looked like I had a road junction coming up, then I would be passing underneath some powerlines. After that would be that coveted spur to the store. It was getting hot and I was looking forward to cold drinks and real food.

I hit a junction near the powerlines with a trail sign pointing left. I was pretty annoyed. The road to the left took me uphill and away from the lake to my right. Who designed this route?

I headed to the left and uphill towards the powerlines. I figured the trail must start heading back down after the powerlines, and the junction for the marina store would be right after that.

It was really hot by that time and I was dripping sweat. The road itself was a jumble of loose rocks and difficult to ascend. I was dripping sweat by this point. Not only was I annoyed by how unnecessarily hard this section was, but I could actually see the marina store below, where I knew there were cold drinks and maybe even blended cocktails.

As I neared the powerline crossing, I looked for the trail on the other side and didn't see it. I checked the GPS and realized I was way off route. I almost cried at that point. I calmed myself down by telling myself I was really close to the store, with it's cold drinks. If they had blended cocktails at the bar, maybe I would get myself two for my trouble. I had just ran out of water and would be thirsty.

I stumbled and slid down the road back to the original junction. It was steep, so it took a while, but I had my eyes on the marina store the whole time. When I got to the junction, I saw where I went wrong. The sign that looked like it was pointing to the road, was actually pointing to a single track trail behind the road. Ugh.

I was really excited when I finally reached the junction for the spur trail to the marina. I was even more excited, and relieved, when I crossed highway 188 to the store and saw people going in and out.

I started to follow a woman with “STAFF” written on her shirt into the store, until she turned around and said, “I'm sorry, we are closed. The internet is out.” She quickly added, “Do you have a package? I can get that for you.” She was able to get my treat package from my mom, but my resupply was going to arrive later today via FedEx.

I enquired if I should come back later for the second package, and she said no one was going to stick around because there was no internet. I asked if anyone would be at the bar to pick it up. I had seen people going in and out of that side and assumed it was still open. She said that the whole place was closed. Suddenly, I realized I would not be getting a cold drink after all.

She then pointed out the picnic tables that were available to hikers and pointed down the street to where I could fill up water. The word “water” triggered a wave of emotions, since I had run out on my detour, and the thing that kept me calm was the knowledge that there would be cold drinks in my future.

I could see them behind her. They were right there. I had cash in my pocket. I decided to make one last effort to beg for the chance to but a cold drink before the store was locked. At least that was my intent. My emotions flowed out instead. What came out of my mouth was something like this: “I [sob] really want…[choke][sob] a Gatorade [sobsobsobsob].”

Once that flood gate opened, it was hard to close. I was crying pretty intensely in public. I must have made quite a scene as the look on everyone's faces was a combination of horror and pity. The lady ran into the store and grabbed me a fountain drink Powerade, then let me sit at a table just inside, something they don't like hikers doing.

Another woman came up and carried my poles inside, while I was trying tell the men staring at me that I was OK, just exhausted. I was telling them that through tears, so I'm not sure how convincing I was. The woman carrying my poles was the mom of another hiker, Mary Poppins, which was supposed to be coming off the trail today as well.

Once I had drank some pity Powerade and cooked down, I calmed down a lot. Then, I just felt embarrassed. Pretty much everyone has emotional breakdowns on the trail, but most happen on the trail, not in public. I was very embarrassed.

I headed out to the hiker picnic tables, han king and apologizing to the staff as I went. One of the men who had been staring at me while I was crying grabbed my Smartwater bottles and filled them with cold water for me, bringing them back out to the tables.

I sat at the tables, eating my mom's treats and waiting to intercept the FedEx truck. Mary Poppins and her mom came to join me for a while. We watched the staff leave and a steady stream of potential customers walk up to the store to find it empty. There was even a beverage delivery that came and had to reload his truck because no one was there.

Hikers were not allowed to charge electronics at the store. We were supposed to go to the ranger station down the street for that, as well as the bathrooms and water. Since I needed to intercept the FedEx truck so I had to wait there. I had found a solar charger in a hiker box, that was a but finicky. It was great for supplemental power, but not as a primary charger. It was being a pain in the butt in the afternoon heat, so I wasn't able to charge anything. Finally, I saw the FedEx truck and chased it down.

I took everything to the Visitors Center/Ranger Station. It had just closed for the day, so I couldn't use the bathrooms. However, the water was outside the building and I found an outlet to start charging while I repackaged my resupply.

I also started catching up on my journaling. While I was typing a hornet landed on the underside of my arm and stung me. Usually, something like that would hurt a lot more, both physically and emotionally, but I was already spent (on both). My reaction was more like, “Yep. That happened.” Soon after, I saw a roadrunner. At least something positive came out of the day.

Roadrunner. 

I had to leave before my electronics had fully charged, because the sun was setting and I still had a couple miles of hiking to do. This was not ideal as I had a good 5 or 6 days until I would be near another outlet.

I made it back to the trail, and started hiking. I got amazing views of the lake as the sun was setting, as well as the marina store with the big “OPEN” sign on the roof. I also almost a rattlesnake. It was coiled in a sleeping position on the trail and didn't even notice that I had walked right up to it.

Setting sun on Roosevelt Lake.

Leaving the lake and marina.

It was at that point I knew I needed to stop at the nearest camping spot. With my luck, today would be the day I get airlifted off the trail for stepping on a rattlesnake. The sun went down and I turned my headlamp on a higher setting than normal to see the trail better. Unfortunately, every bug around the lake took that as the opportunity to smash into my forehead. It was a constant stream of them. I kept my head down and kept moving forward.

I finally got to the long bridge that crossed the dam. It was nighttime, and there was not much of a shoulder, but I managed to not get hit by the few cars that came by. After the bridge was a trailhead parking lot where people had mentioned they had camped. I set up my tent on a slight slant behind some boulders. It was right next to the road so there was the noise of cars going by. I didn't care at that point and went to sleep. I was done with the day. So done.