Category: Desert Winter Thru Hike

Monday, Feb 10th 2025, 1130-1800Buckeye, beginning of Sec 3 to Gila river, Gillespie dam area, mm15, section 3.15 miles. I dragged my feet getting out of town. As usual, the day before had slipped away from me and I still had many chores left to do… especially this blog! I left the hotel reasonably early…or at least well before check-out (poor form for a hiker), but I needed to pick up a small box from the post office, which opened at 8:30. I didn’t recall what all was in the box, so until I got it, I couldn’t go food shopping. Along the way, I looked for a cafe but Google maps didn’t show that anything was open. Go figure[…]

Sunday, Feb 9th 2025, 0700-1100Mm100.5 to outside of Buckeye, hitch into town, end section 2.12.5 miles. I was looking forward to getting into town early, walking across a creosote playa while the sun rose. A massive solar project had just been built to the east…Buck30 unexpectedly got caught up in it when he hiked in fall 2022, that’s how quickly it had gone up. So now the route had to go around it. Things can change fast in the desert. All these wilderness and National Monument areas that I walked through are probably already under threat of getting axed and sold to the highest bidder. Billionaires selling off OUR public lands to other billionaires, because corporate greed and corruption know no[…]

Friday, Feb 7th 2025, 0700-1800Vekol Valley Rd. to just past Maricopa AZ238 rd., section 2 mm7424 miles. My water supply would be refreshed this day no matter what, so that was a comforting thought as I set out in the morning. But I woke with a sore throat, so I realized my body was probably fighting off a virus. I hoped I wouldn’t get sick in the next few days, before I could make it to town for some rest. I’ve been fortunate to never have gotten a cold while hiking. I think it’s all the vitamin D I get from the sun. So I felt pretty confident I’d be ok. On the other hand, it sure would suck to be[…]

Thursday, Feb 6th 2025, 0630-1830Sonoran Desert National Monument Boundary to near Vekol Valley Rd.,  section 2 mm50.29 miles, but probably only 25 miles actually hiked due to some shortcuts. This was a big day but a good one! I was up early, trying to wring as much out of the pleasantly cool morning as I could. A 10 by 10 goal seemed plausible, despite the large chunk of cross country I needed to do. I followed a power line road for a bit, anxious to get away from it. I camped not directly under but pretty near to the lines and could hear the weird static noises all night. Table Top Mountain grew ever closer… I’d be circling it all[…]

Wednesday, Feb 5th 2025, 0700-1900Arizona City to Sonoran Desert National Monument Boundary, section 2 mm21.521.5 miles. And not a drop to drink. This describes my day walking along the Santa Rosa canal, which is part of the CAP (Central Arizona Project). The route followed the canal for something like 14 miles, keeping hikers off the busy roads as a way to escape the urban and agricultural sprawl. It wasn’t the most exciting hiking, but served as a decent connector. It reminded me of the walk out of Safford on the GET. I tried to leave early to get the benefit of a cool morning, but 9 am was the best I could manage. I had to make another stop at[…]

Tuesday, Feb 4th 2025, 0630-1300Mm82 to Arizona City, end section 113 miles. I woke up around 4 am hearing strange noises. Finally I realized it was somebody firing a gun repeatedly. It wasn’t rapid fire but more like someone target practicing. I couldn’t figure out how that could be done in the dark? It was still going on when I packed and started walking. Sadly, it seemed to be in the direction I needed to head for a cross country bit through the Sawtooths. So I checked my map and found a short dirt road alternate instead. My morning was pretty easy and very pleasant, with views of the prominent pinnacles of the small mountain range. After only an hour,[…]

Monday, Feb 3rd 2025, 0700-1900Mm56 to just past Sawtooth guzzler mm82, section 126 miles. As great as the day before was, this one was kind of a dud. I started with a walk along an old railroad bed, which was ok except that there were deep cut-outs where washes came through. Long ago there were bridges, but all had since collapsed. So it was some effort finding a way down and then up through the cuts. Still, it was kind of cool to be following such an old railroad bed. Along the way, I heard a rooster crowing, so there must have been a ranch nearby. Then there was a lot of dirt road walking, where I went past a boondocking couple[…]

Sunday, Feb 2nd 2025, 0710-1740Saturn tank to wash near mm56 , section 123.5 miles. The silence overnight was mind blowing. There have been few places I have been with such an utter lack of sound. I heard a few cow moos and planes flying over, but that was it. I really felt like I was in the middle of nowhere. So much for being afraid of migrant or drug running activities in the area. Other than really old discarded items like backpacks and water bottles, there was no evidence of recent activity nor did I hear anything suspicious. I packed in the dark and was just hitting the road as it got light. I walked dirt roads for a few[…]

Saturday, Feb 1st 2025, 0640-1820Just outside SNP to past Saturn tank, section 1 mm 33.23.5 miles. I woke early and started walking a series of paved roads that turned into dirt toads, all leading west across the low valley. At times I was even following roads to the SW, which was slightly demotivating, since eventually I needed to head north. I entered the Ironwood Forest National Monument area…there wasn’t much to see other than a few boondockers initially. There were also some 4wd vehicles out and about, and even a guy on a gravel bike. One of the 4wds stopped to report that he’d had to turn around at a locked gate that had private property signs posted all over.[…]