March 15, 2022
- Start: Kearny, AZ (Mile 257.8)
- End: Kearny, AZ (Mile 257.8)
- Distance: 0 miles!!!
After getting my ride into Kearny from the off-duty police officer yesterday afternoon, I immediately made my way over to main restaurant in town Old Time Pizza to fill my belly with hot town food.
As I waited for my food to arrive, I surveyed my surroundings and saw some folks in their 20s sitting at a table. They had that sunburned, wind chafed look about them, so I wandered over to ask if they were hikers. As it turns out the were both hiking the AZT, but separately.
The female was a gal from Denver named Leah, and the Arizona Trail was her first long distance hike so she didn’t have a trail name yet. She was incredibly friendly and seemed super amped to be hiking the trail. And I was glad to finally be able to put face to the name that was consistently ahead of me in the trail registers.
Meanwhile, my initial impression of Eagle was a little less kind. Don’t get me wrong. He was nice enough, but just a bit weird. Kind of spaced out and in his own world.
I’d run into them again at the grocery store later that evening and our second interaction only served to reaffirm my initial assessment. Leah was a ball of energy and scouring the store for her resupply. Eagle was staring into space in the chip aisle, and was either very high or very clueless. I’d already mentally re-named him “Space Cadet.”
RESUPPLY
I spent the remainder of my evening at the General Kearny Inn cleaning up, charging my electronics, and sorting through my resupply box.
This was my third resupply box on the AZT, and honestly, I didn’t need to send a box to this town. It had absolutely everything I really needed between the IGA grocery store and the Family Dollar. The only real reason I mailed a box here was because I knew I needed to resupply my contact lenses.
After my 2019 thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail, I decided to switch from monthly contact lenses to daily lenses. They were far more comfortable (because they’re thinner) and I no longer had to worry about tearing a lens during my hike, or putting my old lenses backing my eyes, or carrying saline solution.
But there was one downside to the change. Rather than using the same pair of contact lenses for a month, I needed to carry two new lenses for every day. And I’d need to protect them from extreme temperatures (like freezing or hot sun). All of which could be a challenge on the AZT.
So instead of carrying (and protecting) 6-8 weeks worth of contact lenses – or 100 lenses and their individual packaging – on my entire AZT thru-hike, I decided to just mail myself extra lenses in Kearny and Pine. Thus, the need for a resupply box.
Hey, it’s VOLT
The General Kearny Inn sat on the far edge of town, which meant I got a decent night’s sleep too. There was no road traffic or loud parties happening in Kearny. So I lounged in bed until 9 am because I was hiking exactly zero miles today.
I started to feel restless and hungry by mid-morning, so I threw on my clean clothes and walked down for breakfast at the IGA grocery store. Once again, Kearny was earning its reputation as friendliest town on the AZT, because the bakery at the IGA provided free coffee and a free donut for any thru-hiker that stopped by.
With breakfast complete, I went for a walk around town to get the lay of the land, and that’s when I spotted another hiker walking on the opposite side of the road with his pack on.
Hey, I recognized that guy in the olive green sun hoodie! It was Carlisle!
I bellowed out his name at the top of my lungs, and he turned to see who was trying to get his attention. I crossed the road, and together we made our way through town back to the IGA so he could resupply. He’d gotten to Kearny late last night and still needed to get food so he could head back to the trail.
After some basic pleasantries, announced also he’d decided to adopt the trail name Volt.
Apparently, he’d run into Doug – the guy doing trail magic at the Tiger Mine Trailhead. This was the same fellow who wanted to spitball potential trail names for Carlisle while we waited. But perhaps he realized giving a trail name to a hiker he didn’t even know was a little creepy. So he told Carlisle that I was actually the one who’d decided on his name and he was just the messenger.
I shared the real story with Carlisle, and he just shrugged. “I kinda like the name,” he said. “It’s short. It’s easy to remember. And it’s cool.” And so, now Carlisle was officially Volt.
ANOTHER FAMILIAR FACE
I had nothing better to do with my morning, so the two of us sat at the dining area at the IGA bakery for a half hour while he ate his free donut and I drank a second cup of coffee. Then we decided to move over to Old Time Pizza for an early lunch.
Volt got into town late enough last night that everything was already closed for the evening (except the General Kearny Inn). He really wanted to fill up on pizza before heading back out to the trail this afternoon, so I wandered over with him, happy to have the company.
And so, we sat around eating pizza, drinking a few beers, and talking about the trail for the next two hours. Volt was just starting to get ready to head back out to the trail when the door to Old Time Pizza swung open, and in walked Mad Max!
Well Volt couldn’t go now. We had to catch up with Mad Max. The three of us hadn’t seen each other since our initial lunch on Mt. Lemmon. And that’s how we ended up sitting around until well after 3 pm shooting the shit. (Or how I lured them Volt into taking a zero in Kearny too).
The rest of my afternoon was pretty low key. I went back to the hotel to finish my town chores. I sewed up some holes in my sun gloves and shoulder pouch with dental floss. I backflushed my Sawyer to make sure it could deal with the cruddy water I’d encounter during the next section of the AZT.
And then I chilled in my room watching videos on YouTube while I waited for the sun to dip in the sky. Once the afternoon cooled down and turned to evening, I joined the guys again out in the hotel courtyard for beers and then one last stop at Old Town Pizza.
As we sat around eating pizza yet again (my third time in two days), one of the employees named Jodie even offered to drive us to the trailhead in the morning. Talk about amazingly nice people! Kearny really is the best.
HIGHLIGHTS
- My zero was exactly what I needed: rest, food, and the company of a few good hikers.
- I’m so happy I ran into Volt and Max Max again. So far they’re the coolest people I’ve met on the AZT and I was really digging getting to know them better. I almost feel as if this might be the beginning of a trail family.
- The people in Kearny are just awesome. Free donuts and coffee… A free ride back to the trailhead tomorrow… What more can you ask for? Friendliest trail town on the AZT!
CHALLENGES
- No a single, damn one!