November 16, 2013  Sunflower to the Mt. Peeley TH.  (18.1 miles and about 4,500 feet of climbing)

Me, Ernie and Dain after the hike.  Guess who didn't
plan for the weather?  Whose sweatshirt is that Dain?

Another fantastic day on the Arizona Trail, including friends, some threatening fall weather and the usual trail challenges.  I was watching the weather report all week, as there was a storm due just prior to this planned hike.  My last check of the weather report indicated just a 30% chance of rain. Typically in Arizona, that means partly sunny with some lingering clouds.  Much to our surprise as we drove to the TH, menacing dark storm clouds were everywhere, with temps a bit lower than anticipated.  In fact, after being dropped off at Sunflower, my friendly hiking group were driving to the Mt. Pelley TH in fog and a mix of rain/sleet.

Cloudy and cool!!

Again, I have to thank the group of friends that I hike with.  They planned their hike around mine, dropping me off in Sunflower and then heading to the Mt. Peeley TH.  They planned to hike south on the trail and meet me along the trail as I headed north.  Little did we know that the toughest part of the trail was on their end.  I also thought I might have some company hiking the entire segment,  but once everyone saw the weather, those plans soon changed. They were the smart ones:)

I've been pretty fortunate on my journey, not encountering too much bad weather.  I did get rained on for about 30 minutes on this hike, but considering what it looked like it could have been a lot worse.  I did receive two pretty significant benefits of the weather though.  One the temperature was fantastic and secondly those big black clouds hanging on the mountains all day kept me moving pretty quickly all day long.  

Effects of the Fire!!!

The first twelve miles went by pretty quick.  This area was badly burned in the Sunflower fire.  Reports had said there had been some crews in last spring to clean up some parts of the trail and that was definitely the case on the first portions.  Many thanks to the crews who worked on this, without those efforts this trip would not have been possible.  It was amazing to see the destruction that a forest fire has up close and personal.  Not only the vegetation and landscape, but also to any trails in the area.  With no vegetation to slow runoff, trails become a prime target for water.  This high water volume destroys trails, leaving rocks, boulders, ravines, dead trees and other assorted challenges.  Add to that a burned out landscape, and route finding on these types of trails can be an adventure.  

The Arizona Trail Association just announced that these signs
were being added randomly along the trail.  Almost halfway between Mexico and Utah!!  

As I said the first thirteen miles went very smoothly, the last five not so much.  I stopped for lunch about 11:30 and sent a text to the others letting them know where I was at.  I envisioned seeing them pretty soon.  I should have known I was in for more of a challenge when Ernie sent a text back and asked "How's the trail?"

From that point on the trail was not only physically challenging, but mentally also.  The trail tread was extremely hard to find, trail markers were few and far between.  Many cairns were hidden by the new growth coming back since the fire.  Several times I had to retrace my steps or bushwack to get to the trail. This would account for my mileage total above, which should have been about 17 miles total, not 18.1!!!

You had to be there!!  I swear I never saw the acorns??

Old mine shaft next to a creek.  The pipe looked new, but the bucket looked old??

wildlife on the trail, literally

Happy to finish for the day.  I can smell the beer.  

 

The different colors in the rock in this wash was amazing

In the end though it was another amazing day on the Arizona Trail, even more so with the challenges and friends to share the experience with.  

October 26-28th, 2013 Frazier TH to Sunflower (45 miles and 10,000 feet of climbing)

Why so serious??  Maybe I knew what was ahead of me!!

This trip is filled with family history, friends, lots of bear poo and the humbling reality of a really long first day.  I started this trip at the Frazier Trailhead, adjacent to Roosevelt Lake.  This trailhead offers a short 1+ mile link to the AZ Trail.  The Fraizer TH is named after my great grandparents T.T. Frazier and Stella Frazier.  They were early Arizona pioneers in the Roosevelt area arriving several years before construction of the dam. They operated the Frazier General Store there for decades.  I remember visiting the store when I was little.

Being able to link my Arizona Trail hike to family history is a wonderful benefit to my journey.   The Arizona Trail is special that way, linking not only the many geographical wonders of the state, but also linking it's historical past.  Another great reason to get out and enjoy any or all of the Arizona Trail.

Dain, Lillian, Janice, Karen, Nate and Dave.
They are smiling because they are on the way
to Mexican food!!

My first day started out well, great weather and friends to join me for the first part of the day.  Actually they did the smart thing, they hiked the first 5 miles with me to the highway bridge crossing the lake, then they took the highway back to the trailhead (which was shorter).  This enabled them to get to the mexican food and adult beverages sooner.  Later in the day I was really wishing that I had joined them.  (and from the stories
I hear, it was quite the lunch!!!!)

The day was a little warm, and after the bridge is a lot of climbing.  In addition to that it was just one of those days that I just didn't have my "A" game.  In fact I don't think I had my "C" game.  That made for a very long uphill afternoon.  Needless to say I stopped my day earlier than anticipated knowing that I had a lot more climbing ahead of me the next day.

The trail crosses the bridge. You can see part of the trail on the
other side as it climbs the hill

Setting up camp the first night I noticed my first bear poo of the hike.  I was camping by a dry stream, the droppings were old (luckily) so I wasn't too concerned.  Little did I know that this would be just the first of many bear poo encounters over the next two days.

So, not sure what bear poo looks like.  Click here Bear poo  for more information than you probably wanted to know.

The second day started with some more climbing, but I was feeling better.  One of the neat things about this hike was the fact that for most of the hike you have some spectacular views of Roosevelt Lake and the Verde River valley.  It is also a narrow trail on a really steep sideslope.  These types of trail are really neat to hike, except when you start thinking about what other things might be on the trail.

This segment of trail had more bear poo than I have seen in all my hikes put together.  Not a real comforting thought when you consider there aren't too many options of where to go.  Now I knew that this late in the season seeing a bear was not too likely, but when you are alone and only talking to yourself, that knowledge is not as clear.  In the end, I never saw a bear, but I also didn't sleep as well at night as I might have otherwise.

Sycamore Creek

The last day of the hike was along a long Forest Service road and then turned to the west ending along Sycamore Creek.  The fall colors were pretty spectacular and the pictures I'm posting really don't do it justice.  (It was windy and a bit dusty by the time I took these photos)

In the end, a great hike, enjoyed with good friends, and some amazing family history.  I now have about 155 miles remaining on my journey.  I'm sure they will be a challenge, but I'm already starting to wonder what comes next??






Below are some of the other sights from the trip, enjoy

This is a photo on the downriver side of Roosevelt Dam

Four Peaks Wilderness

More Fall Color!!

I wonder if the guys from "Fast and Loud" will give
me a finders fee for these??