April 1, 2022
- Start: Stealth spot near Forest Road 91 (mile 517.6)
- End: South of Horse Tank (mile 539.4)
- Distance: 21.8 miles
It was another super cold night again, dropping down to 27 degrees with the wind chill factored in. Thus, when I crept out of my tent and tried to slip on my muddy shoes, I had to literally crack them open. They were completely frozen to the extent that I could barely even move the laces to tighten them down with my cold fingers.
Putting on frozen shoes and socks ranks up there as one of the least desirable things to do in the morning. Especially when your “waterproof” (not really waterproof) socks are also frozen solid.
And so, I ended up just putting on a dry pair of socks and then layering some ziplock bags on top of them before shoving my feet into the ice blocks that were currently passing as my trail shoes.
As I went outside to relieve my bladder, I discovered my shoes weren’t the only moisture casualties of the night either. My tent was covered in frost. The water in my water bottles was frozen, with just a little icy trickle available. And the footbox of my quilt had little flakes of frost covering it where it must have brushed up against the tent.
I broke down camp and shoved my things inside my pack with hands double-layered inside my knit gloves and my rain mitts. But I still wasn’t warm, even with my rain jacket and rain paints worn over my hiking clothes. This was just one of those brisk, cold mornings on the Colorado Plateau that I’d just have to deal with.
MORMON LAKE
The Arizona Trail was covered with snow when I began the morning. Sometimes I could just walk directly across it, following the frozen footsteps of the hikers who’d come before me.
But just as frequently, I found myself post-holing as the snow got deeper. I’d take a few tentative steps onto the snow, and it would hold my weight. But then as few more steps, and I my leg would plunge shin or knee deep into the icy snow. It was so incredibly frustrating and slow. But that was my morning.
Volt was hiking somewhere behind me, moving even slower than I was. I made it to the junction with the trail that led down to Mormon Lake ahead of him, and then wavered on whether or not to head toward the town. It was 10:30 a.m. Maybe there would be hot coffee in town. Or somewhere dry and warm to sit. But did I really want to walk 2+ extra miles for a cup of coffee?
Mad Max had stopped at Mormon Lake on his way north, but his texts said there really wasn’t much to the place. Moreover, the business hours were super limited this early in the season. So what was the point? I’d stocked up with enough food back in Winslow to carry me all the way to Flagstaff.
So, rather than going to town, I decided stock up on water from a nearby spring and wait for Volt to catch up to me as I down ‘second breakfast’ from my food bag. I found a patch of warm sunshine it rest in, and decided it was just warm enough now to finally strip off my rain gear.
DOUBLE SPRING
Once Volt caught up to me, I shared my thoughts about the unnecessary detour to Mormon Lake. He was feeling the same way, so we agreed to continue north at our own respective paces and we’d meet up at lunch near the Double Spring Campground in another 4.5 miles.
The remainder of the morning took me past U.S. Forest Service signs about the life of the loggers who’d worked in these forest in the late 19th century and early 20th century. And then past remnants of railroad lines used to transport the timber from the massive ponderosa pines.
After a while, the AZT merge with some sort of cross-country ski trail, with small signs of skiers nailed high up in the trees – presumably so you could still see the signs when the snow pack was high.
My cold, wet trail shoes were in and out of the snow repeatedly all morning long. And, once again, I felt as if the Arizona Trail was actively resisting my progress. It was taking all my energy just to maintain a 2 mph pace, and it seemed like the trail was trying to just kick my ass.
When we made it to the Double Spring Campground for our a late lunch, we were surrounded by patchy snow, more mud, and a few flat areas that seemed to be flooded. After a little scouting though, we located somewhere dry to spread out our tents, sleeping quilts, and other wet items in the sunshine. Then we sat at a picnic table with out shoes off as we ate lunch and commiserated about the abysmal trail conditions.
AZT BLUES
After lunch, the trail seemed to improve a bit, but I was just so tired from the last two days’ worth of snow and mud the my pace didn’t increase much. Moreover, my right knee was beginning to hurt from all the post-holing.
I felt as if I was just stomping through the forest and it was taking every last ounce of my ‘sisu’ just to power through the end of this day. It was more than just the physical difficulty of the elements that was getting me down too. I think a big part of my struggle was the drastic mismatch between my expectations of the trail and the reality I was currently experiencing.
I’d been mentally prepared to be flying through the Colorado Plateau. The terrain profile here was relatively flat compared to the rest of the Arizona Trail. And so many former thru-hikers bragged about 25-30 mile days through flat pine forests. Yet I wasn’t anything close to 3-4 mph like I’d expected here.
It seemed as if I was either wading through water, postholing through snow, or wiping thick clay-like mud off my shoes ever since we got able the Mogollon Rim. And it was just so frustrating! If this was supposed to be the “easy” part of the trail, what was still ahead of me?
I stopped for a mid-afternoon break to soothe my frustration with some caffeinated Crystal Light and salty snacks, and I just sat on a downed log there until Volt reached me. I needed something to get me out of this funk. If I continued hiking by myself, I was just going let the frustration spiral and take all the joy out of the hike.
Lucky for me, Volt was willing to hike in tandem with me and we spent the next two hours playing little trivia games with each other.
What’s the top three favorite foods you look forward to at the holidays? Describe one family tradition that is unique to just your family. Give a 5 sentence synopsis of the best book you read. Which sibling is your favorite and why? What’s the best name for a dog? Tell me about your best friend in high school?
We just kept entertaining each other with topic after topic as the miles whiled by and the snow began to gradually disappear. By 5 pm, the forests opened up around us, and we even caught some nice views of Arizona’s tallest mountain – Humphreys Peak – to our north.
THAT’S A BIG CAT!
The sun was dipping in the sky by the time we made it to Walnut Creek. Water flooded the trail as it ran under a timber bridge, and we decided to make use of it and get our fill for the evening.
As we were leaving, we met a section hiker named Hawkeye who told us he’d crossed paths with earlier today, and he was about four hours ahead of us. I guess that answered the question of whether we would catch Elliot today. Not a chance.
We continued north looking for a dry place to camp, crossing back over Lake Mary Road yet again. This was the same road that we’d camped near after crossing to its west side last night.
Lake Mary Road had gone around the east side of Mormon Lake today, while the Arizona Trail stayed to the lake’s opposite side. But now paths met again and we needed to cross back over. Changing sides of the road would allow the AZT to remain on the high ground when we hiked past Upper Mary Lake, the long narrow reservoir that nestled against some tall cliffs just ahead.
Volt and I scoured the area ahead of us for somewhere flat and dry to set up out tents before we lost daylight, and that’s when I spotted some interesting tracks in the dry mud. I wasn’t 100% sure if they were from a bobcat, or cougar, or mountain lion. But they were definitely from a large cat of some sort, since they didn’t have the telltale toenail marks you always see with dog or coyote tracks.
We finally found ourselves a semi-decent car camping spot located just off the forest road right. It was still about 1.8 miles south of Horse Lake (where I’d originally hoped to get to today), but we still made it close to 22 miles by the time we stopped.
We set up out tents at dusk with views of Humphreys Peak in the distance, and I even had just enough cell signal to send a text ahead to Elliot to tell him how far we made it. Who knows if he’ll see the message, but I’m almost certain we will all be in Flagstaff by late tomorrow afternoon, and hopefully he’ll want to hang out with Volt and me when we get there too.
Highlights
- Spotting those large animal prints in mud was pretty awesome. The only time I’ve ever seen a mountain lion in the wild was near Williams, Arizona (about 50 miles west of here), so I know they are definitely out here in places.
- I’m glad we stopped at the Double Spring Campground for lunch. Not only did we get a chance to dry out our gear, but we also got to sit at a picnic table while eating. How very civilized!
- The views of Humphreys Peak this afternoon were awesome. And it’s only one more day until we get to Flagstaff!
Challenges
- Putting frozen shoes on this morning did not start my day off with loads of positivity.
- The trail conditions before lunch were abysmal. It was some of the worst hiking I’ve done on the Arizona Trail. It’s got to be 1000 times easier when it’s dry, I’m sure.
- My right knee started hurting today from all the post-holing. Hopefully it’s just some temporary discomfort though and not something that’s going to linger for the remaining 250 miles.