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, dropping 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 crack them open literally. They were so completely frozen 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 put on a dry pair of socks and layered 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 got outside my tent, I discovered my shoes weren’t the only moisture casualties of the night. My tent was covered in frost, and the water in my bottles was frozen, with just a little icy trickle available for my breakfast cooking. The foot box of my quilt must have brushed against the tent overnight because it also had little flakes of frost covering it.
I sighed with exasperation. Then I broke down camp and shoved my things inside my pack, my hands double-layered inside my knit gloves and rain mitts. But I still wasn’t warm, even with my rain jacket and rain pants worn over my hiking clothes. This was just one of those brisk, cold mornings on the Colorado Plateau that I’d have to deal with.
MORMON LAKE
The Arizona Trail was covered with snow when I began the morning. Sometimes I could walk directly across it, following the frozen footsteps of the hikers before me.
But just as frequently, I found myself post-holing as the deep snow. I’d take a few tentative steps onto the icy snow, and it would hold my weight. But then a few more steps, my leg would plunge shin or knee deep into the abyss. It was so incredibly frustrating and slow. But that was my morning.
Volt was hiking 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 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 two or more extra miles for a cup of coffee?
Mad Max had stopped at Mormon Lake on his way north, but his texts said there 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 to stock up on water from a nearby spring and wait for Volt to catch up as I downed my “second breakfast.” Then I found a patch of warm sunshine to rest in, deciding it was just warm enough to finally strip off my extra rain gear layers.
DOUBLE SPRING
Once Volt caught up to me, I shared my thoughts about the unnecessary detour to Mormon Lake. He felt the same way, so we agreed to continue north at our own respective paces. In another 4.5 miles, we’d meet up at lunch near the Double Spring Campground.
The remainder of the morning took me past U.S. Forest Service signs about the lives of the loggers who worked in these forests in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. And then past remnants of railroad lines used to transport the timber from the massive ponderosa pines.
After a while, the AZT merged 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 repeatedly in and out of the snow all morning. And, once again, I felt as if the Arizona Trail was actively resisting my progress. It was taking all my energy to maintain a 2-mph pace, and it seemed like the trail was trying to just kick my ass.
When we reached the Double Spring Campground for our late lunch, we were surrounded by patchy snow, more mud, and a few flat areas that seemed totally flooded. However, after a little scouting, 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 our 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 that 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 stomping through the forest and it was taking every last ounce of my ‘sisu’ just to power through the end of this day. More than just the physical difficulty of the elements 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 hiking anything close to 3-4 mph 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 above the Mogollon Rim. 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. Then, I sat on a downed log until Volt reached me. I needed something to get me out of this funk. If I continued hiking by myself, the frustration would spiral, taking 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 are the top three foods you look forward to during the holidays? Describe one family tradition that is unique to just your family. Give a five 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 kept entertaining each other with topic after topic as the miles slipped by and the snow gradually disappeared. 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 when we reached Walnut Creek. Water flooded the trail as it ran under a timber bridge, and we decided to make use of its abundance by getting our fill for the evening.
As we were leaving, we met a section hiker named Hawkeye who told us he’d crossed paths with Elliot earlier today. He was now about four hours ahead of us. That answered the question of whether we would catch him today. Not a chance.
We continued north looking for a dry place to camp, crossing back over Lake Mary Road again. This was the same road that we’d camped near after crossing to its west side last night.
Today, Lake Mary Road had gone around the east side of Mormon Lake, while the Arizona Trail stayed on the opposite side. But now the two paths met again, and we needed to cross back over it. Changing sides of the road would allow the AZT to remain on the high ground while we hiked past Upper Mary Lake – the long, narrow reservoir nestled against some tall cliffs just ahead.
Volt and I scoured the area ahead of us for somewhere flat and dry to set up our 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 just off the forest road. It was still about 1.8 miles south of Horse Lake (where I’d originally hoped to get to today), but I couldn’t complain. We still made it close to 22 miles by the time we stopped.
We set up our 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. I’m sure it’s got to be 1000 times easier when it’s dry.
- My right knee started hurting today from all the post-holing. Hopefully it’s just some temporary discomfort though and not something that will linger for the remaining 250 miles.