Friday, March 22nd 2019
It was a chilly morning, So we quickly packed up, then made our way down the mountain. We stopped at the water trough to fill up. Fortunately there were streams everywhere, because the trough was dry, aside from the green sludge on the bottom.
The trail followed alongside empty stream beds, and took us on single tracks and dirt roads. We saw a flock of fat turkeys and a couple cows, two windmills, and passed through a turnstile and several gates.
Oh yeah, and we’d see the Border Patrol balloon in flight throughout the day.
The scenery would change very little around us, but we’d see different mountains appear in the distance as we traveled through Parker Canyon.
When we took a lunch break by a stream, we met a triple crowner named Thatch. After talking about the Florida Trail, he’d hike ahead as we cameled up.
The steady, low grade we had been hiking turned into climbs. We took a short break about 4 miles in at a saddle, then made our way to the high point.
Convenient as it was, during that climb, I got a nosebleed after trying to blow a snot rocket. I know, gross. As far as the nosebleed goes, I chalk it up to the dry air.
Once the bleeding slowed down, I shoved a wad of toilet paper up my nose and continued to climb. The view at the top was incredible!
Thatch was at the top eating dinner before the sun went down. Not a bad idea, but we were only about 2 miles from our endpoint, so we kept on trucking.
We stopped at Canelo Pass Road, ate dinner, then scoped out a place to set up.
We found a good spot hidden from the road by the trailhead parking lot, and we could still see the balloon floating amongst the colors of the sunset as we tucked in for the night.
Distance Traveled: 21.7 miles (34.9 km)
Jump Ahead to The Arizona Trail: Part 3
or
Jump Back to The Arizona Trail: Part 1
Stubbs Rambles On 