Kent's Arizona Trail Adventure

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!!!