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 30: Sheepherders Tank (mile 504.2) to campsite near tank (mile 531.3)
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27.1 miles
I tried looking at what the day had in store for my on the Arizona Trail app. Pretty much the only things labeled were forest roads, trail junctions, and stock tanks. Nothing too exciting.
The morning turned out mostly as described. I left the tank I camped at last night on a forest road, then joined another forest road, then a footpath for a short while, then another forest road.
Hiking a forest road.
The signs could have been a little better in this section. I had to keep looking at my app to make sure I knew where to turn. After a while the signage got better and I turned onto another footpath.
A footpath section of trail.
I was heading to a spring I wanted to use as a water source. When I checked the app, it showed me off trail. I knew I couldn't have been off trail because I turned at a very clear “Arizona Trail” sign. On the app, the trail followed forest roads. I figured the footpath must be new and the app hadn't been updated.
I had to pick a new water source because the spring was no longer on the current route. Luckily, the new trail rejoined the old trail just before Bargaman Tank.
I was pretty impressed with this tank. It had flow from a creek as input and created a little creek as an output. It is not often that you find tanks with active water flow. I set my bag down next to the input creek, filled up on water, and ate lunch.
Bargaman Tank.
Not a bad spot for lunch.
The afternoon was more of the same. I followed forest roads and footpaths. Again, I had one stretch of footpath trail not line up with the GPS on the app. The big difference was that everything was much more green in this section. There were new, green grasses growing everywhere dotted with dandelions.
A much greener trail.
Dandelions.
Towards the end of the day I started seeing water caches in random spots, usually 1-2 gallons. I didn't really need water at the time, but I was annoyed to find that hikers were using most of one gallon, but leaving some water in the bottom and opening the next so that they would not have to pack out an empty jug. It made me very angry.
When I hit Gooseberry Springs Trailhead, I needed to fill up with water. I saw 3 gallon jugs waiting by the trail register. As I approached I expected to find them all partially empty and realized that I could be packing out all 3 jugs because other hikers are lazy. To my surprise they were full. I was able to use about half of one and not have to pack it out.
Thank you trail angel!
As the sun started to go down, I started to search for a camping spot. As luck would have it, I was walking through a very rocky section with no comfortable place to set my tent up. I went several miles before I found somewhere suitable. I managed to find a rock free, flat spot on some pine needles near a stock tank.
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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