March 20, 2022
- Start: Cottonwood Trailhead (Mile 334.8)
- End: Stealth Spot near the Radio Towers (Mile 342.2)
- Distance: 7.4 miles
A rodent was scurrying around making noise near my tent all night. I couldn’t tell how big it was. Definitely bigger than a mouse. And while I wasn’t exactly worried about defending myself against a squirrel or chipmunk, I suspected the animal didn’t want me. It wanted the food resting inside my tent.
I was so tired from hiking through the Superstitions that I’d gotten a bit lazy last night. I slept with my food sealed inside an OPSAK (odor-proof sack) like I normally do, but I didn’t take the additional step of putting the OPSAK outside in my vestibule or further away. I just assumed I wouldn’t have to deal with as many critters at this elevation.
I should have been smarter though. Had I already forgotten the javelina I’d seen just a few evenings ago? The Arizona desert was full of critters (cactus mice, kangaroo rats, cliff chipmunks) that might chew a hole right through my tent if I wasn’t more careful.
ROOSEVELT LAKE
I was fully awake by 6:30 am but didn’t rush to break down my tent. I’d walked several miles past Cottonwood Spring last night, so I was ahead of schedule. And my one goal for today was hiking the remaining three miles down to Roosevelt Marina where I planned to pick up my resupply box. There was no point in getting down there before they opened for the day.
Once I got moving, I realized the AZT was still lousy and slick with rocks as it slowly descended toward Roosevelt Lake. A trail runner headed past me near some power lines, but other than hum it was a completely quiet Sunday morning out here.
Down below me, I could see the outline of the marina’s docks in the distance and the blue metal roof on the office holding my box. Most AZT hikers send a box here to help with resupply through the Superstitions, Four Peaks Wilderness, and Mazatals.
There are really only two places to resupply on the 150-mile stretch between Superior and Pine. Hikers can send themselves a box to Roosevelt Marina (43 miles after Superior) and/or head into Payson (84 miles after Superior).
If you have to choose just one option to stop at though, most people opt for Roosevelt Lake because the marina sits barely 1/3 of a mile off the AZT, whereas Payson is requires a 30-mile hitch to town.
The trail junction down to the marina was easily identifiable, thanks to the historic Roosevelt Lake Cemetery that butted up against the trail. I saw bright white crosses planted into the sandy ground between paddle cactus inside a split rail fence.
A wrought-iron door gate at the cemetery front entrance informing me the 100-year-old cemetery was established circa 1906-1915. This made sense. A boom in construction took place here during that era, bringing 2,000 people to the middle of the Arizona desert as the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation built a concrete dam on the Salt River.
When the dam eventually became operational in 1911, the Salt River project flooded about 10 miles of the original river and another 8 miles of Tonto Creek, creating a major reservoir in the desert named in Theodore Roosevelt’s honor. Nearly 75 people were buried here, including workmen who died while building the dam and a handful of family members and local settlers.
RESUPPLY
As I approached the asphalt highway, I thought I saw a giant banner on the marina that said “Hikers Welcome.” But as I got closer, I realized it was actually read “Bikers Welcome.” Nonetheless, I was greeted by a cheerful woman inside the marina store who knew exactly why I was there.
A tower of AZT hiker boxes stood behind her counter, piled five feet high and at least six feet wide. That was a heck of a lot of resupply boxes waiting to be picked up! My position at the front end of the pack this season meant I was probably seeing 90% of the packages coming through here and it was impressive! The AZT used to be a sleepy trail, but it seemed to be booming in popularity now.
I paid the marina’s $10 fee to hold my resupply box, then went outside to explode its contents across a picnic table while I waited for their restaurant to open for breakfast. It would be like Christmas this morning, especially since I’d forgotten much of what I’d packed inside weeks earlier.
The marina had a small area beside their parking lot set up just for AZT hikers. There were a couple of picnic tables there, some trash cans, a small patch of artificial turf, and a shed that served as both a hiker box (to offload unwanted resupply items) and a power station with an outlet and power strip to charge our phones and other electronic devices.
As I sorted through my box of goodies, I realized I’d sent myself way too much food for the next stretch through the Four Peaks wilderness. I didn’t want to carry all this stuff uphill from Roosevelt Lake. About one-third these goodies would end up inside the hiker shed before I left.
AN UNEXPECTED NEARO
A car pulled up as I sat alone at the picnic table sorting what food to keep and what to leave behind. Then a young woman jumped out of the back seat and jogged to the marina’s store. I didn’t pay her much attention until she came out with a flat rate priority mail box that looked identical to mine.
Only with that prop in her hand did I realize the woman was Leah (the hiker I’d met back in Kearny). She’d jumped a solid 20 miles ahead of me thanks to my zero. What was she doing here at Roosevelt Lake?
It turns out she had some friends living in Phoenix who’d come out to hike with her the past few days. They’d hiked all the way up to the Vineyard trailhead (a few miles further north) and were now shuttling her back to grab her resupply box before returning her to the trailhead to continue her solo hike. I wished her luck, and waved goodbye as she and her friends drove off.
Five minutes later I spotted the silhouette of another familiar figure. It was Mad Max walking across the highway from the cemetery to the marina! Before I knew it, we were cracking open some beers as we waited for Volt to catch up and join us for lunch.
I’d honestly only planned to hang out at the marina for a few hours while my electronics charged and I got some town food. But once Volt showed up and the three of us were back together again I was having too much fun to leave! We staked out claim at one of the marina’s outdoor tables and began grousing about the Superstitions, drinking, and being hikertrash for several hours.
I was getting ready to pull away around 2 pm and finally return on the trail, but a storm was on the horizon. Black clouds were moving our way and they appeared to be inbound soon. Who wanted to hike up the massive hill after Roosevelt Lake in a big rain storm? So I sat there longer, eating a veggie burger, drinking another beer, and stalling until the rain storm passed.
BACK TO THE GRIND
Finally, at 4:30 pm, I knew it was time to break out of the vortex of town food and comfort. If I didn’t get moving now, the sun would be setting on me with a sum total of three miles of hiking under my belt…all of which were achieved before 9 am.
Mad Max and Volt agreed to join me and leave Roosevelt Lake behind. We wouldn’t get far before nightfall. But we could hike four miles up to the top of the next peak and camp there together.
I took the lead position, returning to the cemetery and hiking over a series of hills that made me realize I probably shouldn’t have quite so much town food. I felt sluggish and tired, but I was still making better time than my compadres.
Up ahead in the distance, I could see the metal arches of the blue bridge that crossed over Salt River near the dam, and I wondered whether it would have been easier (or shorter) if we’d all just roadwalked on Arizona Highway 188 from the marina instead of taking the AZT.
But if we had, then I never would have experienced the bird’s eye views of the lake and its surroundings.
Eventually the AZT dropped down again and joined the paved highway for the long crossing over the blue bridge I’d spied from above. I could still hear Mad Max and Volt’s voices behind me, but I was pulling further and further ahead.
And then came the real challenge – the hike from the Vineyard Trailhead to the radio towers where we planned to camp. This was where the AZT gained 1,200 feet in just 1.4 miles. It was steep. It was exhausting. And the beer buzz was long gone.
I can’t imagine trying to climb this section of the AZT during the heat of the day. It was really difficult. I had to stop several times just to catch my breath, using the repeated stops to take photos of the lake views behind me.
When I finally made it up to the base of the tall metal radio towers, the wind was blasting at least 20 miles per hour. The sun was going down quickly and it was chilly enough that I needed to pull my gloves and down jacket out of my pack just to set up camp!
I found a spot with ample room for all three of us to set up our tents, but keeping them upright would be the real chore. My tent’s aluminum poles barely seemed capable of holding the nylon material up in the stronger wind gusts, and I had to stake out two extra guy lines for additional support.
Mad Max and Volt had an even harder time getting their tents set up. Both of them were using ultralight trekking pole tents, and the wind was doing them no favors. Mad Max eventually built a small windbreak out of large rocks at one end of his tent in order to set it up, while Volt let forth a spew of expletives over the next 20 minutes as his tent repeatedly collapsed mid-pitch.
The wind died down around 8:30 pm, but the temperature continued to drop as the moon rose above us. It would be a cold one tonight. Plus, I’d need to get up early tomorrow to make up some miles if I wanted to get to Payson in two days’s time.
I don’t regret my unplanned ‘nearo’ at Roosevelt Lake. The camaraderie of these two hikers was genuinely enhancing this thru-hike. But I knew I had to be careful. My desire to finish the AZT by April 15th wouldn’t be compatible with shorter mileage days. I needed to make today’s laziness the exception, not the rule.
Highlights
- I enjoyed having an easy day with lots of town food and some much-needed rest for my feet after the difficulty of the Superstitions. And it was all the better with Mad Max and Volt there too!
- Although I’d planned to leave Roosevelt Lake by 2 pm, I’m grateful I chose to delay my departure a bit and avoid the major rainstorm. Hiking in that downpour would have dampened more than my mood.
- The scenery leaving Roosevelt Lake was fantastic, especially looking down on the blue bridge
Challenges
- Today is the first time on this thru-hike where I experienced the tension of wanting to hang out with other hikers (Mad Max & Volt) versus following my own timeline and hiking solo. I’ll have to decide whether hiking with a trail family is in my future.
- The insane wind at this campsite this evening was something else. I’m grateful I brought my semi-freestanding Nemo tent for these conditions, and I didn’t have as much of a struggle as the guys.