Author: kaulua26

Saturday Apr 17th, 2021, 0630-0930Monica Tank to HWY 60, then ride to Magdalena10 miles It was so terribly cold overnight. I woke to pee around 3 am and found that all my water bottles were frozen. I made several cups of coffee in the morning to warm up, having to break ice to do so. It was hard to pack with my hands so cold and not functioning. At least I had less to pack, since I was wearing every piece of clothing I had. Even my teeth aligners froze when I took them out to eat breakfast. This was probably the coldest night I’d yet experienced while thru-hiking, well into the low 20’s. Walking didn’t help a lot. We[…]

Friday Apr 16th, 2021, 0800-1830Indian Springs to Monica Tank, alt to avoid Potato Canyon19 miles The answer to the cliff-hanger of Day 29 was that TS was just fine, if a bit tired and sleepy. He made it back to camp around 1:30 am with water in tow. I woke up early in the morning as usual but took it easy, in case and understandably if he wanted to sleep in. He didn’t really, so we were back on trail, grinding like always. It had been quite cold overnight. The little mud puddle at the spring was iced over. So it was good that we had another big climb to a place called Grassy Lookout. There was a fire tower[…]

Wednesday Apr 14th, 2021, 1300-1900HWY 52 to San Mateo Canyon, segment 27, mm 51017 miles I woke up thinking this would be a fine place and day to take a zero… that’s how much I liked the cabin. Even though this tiny town had hardly anything, it had just enough…provided the general store was open. I was up early to get some blog work done, so I went over to the church. Pastor Jim had invited us to go inside to use the wifi, so that we didn’t freeze sitting outside. It was a lot like a library, only all the books had a very specific theme. When the long-awaited general store opened, we had 2 more surprises waiting. One[…]

Tuesday Apr 13th, 2021, 0630-1030Duck Canyon solar water tank to HWY 52, then road walk/hitch to Winston, segment 27, mm 49412 miles All was quiet overnight, save for some coyotes. We got an early start, eager to get to the road to maximize our hitching luck…perhaps we could hit rush hour into town? Sunrise over the San Mateos was fantastic. We walked a series of farm tracks and some cross country to get to the road. The landscape was open prairie, with views for miles. We saw a herd of about 40 elk along the way. They ran all over the hills, in and out of sight. We could follow their movements behind the hills by the dust cloud they[…]

Saturday Apr 10th, 2021, 0830-1800Gila Visitors Center to MeOwn complex, end segment 22, mm 42523 miles It did indeed get very cold overnight…the thermometer read 27 degrees F in the morning and my skirt was frozen stiff. Luckily my socks and shoes had mostly dried. I packed in the dark and moved into into the RV trailer to charge my phone and get good wifi. It wasn’t much warmer in there, so I drank lots of coffee and hot water. Too bad I couldn’t combine hot pools and device charging very easily. Just as planned, Tinman was at the hot springs to take us to the trailhead at 0730 am. I still can’t get over just how wonderful people can[…]

Friday Apr 9th, 2021, 0715-1000West Fork Gila cliff dwellings to Doc Campbells and hot springs, end segment 21, mm 400.63 miles I slept very well in my humble nest under the trees, like a little squirrel cradled in the pine duff. I really am becoming feral I think. We had a short walk to the trailhead and cliff dwelling monuments, but we immediately had to cross the river, over and over again. It’s pleasant in the hot afternoons but the mornings, when it’s in the 40’s, not so much fun. Where I slept seemed to have trapped some of the warm air from the previous day, but as I walked down the valley, it became even colder. We got to[…]

Thursday Apr 8th, 2021, 0715-1900Mogollon Baldy to West Fork Gila cliff dwellings, segment 21, mm 397.525.5 miles The wind howled all night, sometimes even shaking the metal container. It was a bit drafty, doing little to trap our body heat, but still far better than our tents would have been at keeping out the cold! Plus, we were well protected from flying objects, bears, and vampires. Ghosts still might have been able to seep through, I’m not sure. The sunrise on top the mountain was beautiful, if a bit frigid and blustery. I was glad we spent the night up there but also ready to get down to lower and less burned climates. The notes indicated that the trail ahead[…]