Monday, April 8th, 2019
We filled up our water bottles at Reavis Creek. It was a cold morning, so we weren’t too thrilled about submerging our hands in ice water before continuing our hike through the Superstitions.
We bumped along until we took a very steep gravel road down. I nearly fell on my ass a number of times, but managed to catch myself.
Then there was a steep up that led to a pleasant ridge walk with views of Roosevelt Lake on both sides. It was another hot morning, so I was glad to finish the climb. Before reaching the high point, we managed to catch back up with Rosey and Gerber who were taking a break in the shade.
There was one last big climb left and I was glad to get it over with. I was hot and dehydrated, so it was nice to take a lunch break near the trailhead once the bulk of the hard work was through. We reached the end of the Superstitions and the trail was mostly downhill as we approached Roosevelt.
The first stretch going downhill was on a gravel road. It was steep and this time I was unable to prevent myself from falling on my ass. But a little gravel in the ole butt cheek wouldn’t slow me down. The heat however, soon would.
We passed a group of badass trail maintainers who were working hard under a sweltering sun to move the trail out of the wash. We thanked them as we walked by. Their volunteer work makes it all possible, and I can’t appreciate them enough.
We started walking under some trees as we made it to a spring. Gerber was getting comfortable in a patch of shade as she hydrated. I was just about out of water, so I was thrilled.
The trail sadly left the comfort of the trees into a burn zone. I was not feeling so great. I was overheating and couldn’t manage to cool down, so we sat in the shade and hydrated for about 15 minutes until I was ready to proceed.
Then we ran into rattlesnake number 6 who was hiding in the grass!
The trail switched to a gravel forest road, and we caught up with Rosey there as we enjoyed a view of the lake and marina.
At the bottom of the hill, we ran back into Gerber by a stream. She decided that she was going to camp there, but Rosey was trying to convince her to hike a bit further. We planned on hiking all the way to the trailhead so we could hitch to Tonto Basin first thing in the morning.
They were still debating as we continued on the dirt road which switched to a very groomed, single track trail.
As I mentioned earlier, the ‘plan’ was to make it to the trailhead, however we found a site too wonderful to refuse at mile 347. The scenery was gorgeous and we caught a wonderful sunset right before bed.
21.1 miles (34.0 km)
Jump Ahead to The Arizona Trail: Part 19
Jump Back to The Arizona Trail: Part 17
Start from the Beginning
Stubbs Rambles On 