Monday, Feb 3rd 2025, 0700-1900
Mm56 to just past Sawtooth guzzler mm82, section 1
26 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 with a few dogs. The dogs caught my scent from a long ways off and started barking, prompting me to pick up rocks in case they were feral or loose. But one of them was actually friendly, so I got another petting in.
Later, a small herd of cows began running down the road ahead of me, which always annoys me. Many were mooing, so I started mooing back.. it’s how I entertain myself. Nearby, I could hear a low rumbling, almost like a growl. The noise was behind me and getting closer. Finally I saw what it was: the biggest bull I’d ever seen and he looked pissed! Perhaps it was my mock mooing that made him mad. He was looking straight at me as we came into sight of each other. I was between him and his cows, which was a bad place to be. I picked up my pace and the road turned, thank goodness. The cows had gone straight so I figured the bull would too. Just to be sure, I stopped and watched but to my horror, he turned and kept coming towards me. Then he started bellowing like they do when declaring their territory to other bulls. I backed up into a nearby wash, temporarily out of his sight, turned and ran as fast as I could. Eventually the sound died away. Whew!
I had to go over 10 miles this morning to get to my first water. The last few miles involved more wash and cross country travel, and I was very nearly out of water when I finally arrived at a cow trough, my main water for the day. I was excited that the float switch was working, expecting nice clear water to come out. To my dismay, the water was the most disturbing bright orange and extremely cloudy. So I had to collect the green water from the trough (which was now mixing with the orange water that I dumped out). I used my buff as a sort of pre-filter, but it didn’t do much. I had to filter a couple liters and then spend some time back-flushing, but at least the water filtered clear and tasted okay.
A mile later, I came to another source, this one a guzzler with a cool mural painted on the apron. There was a corrugated metal apron as well. The tank was pretty low and had a frog swimming in it, but the water I pulled was pretty clear. I dumped it back because just before this, 4 guys in side by sides had stopped to talk and gave me lots of water, an orange and a banana out of the goodness of their hearts. Of course, they asked if I was by myself and I told them my (imaginary) buddy was only an hour behind me. I also claimed that “he” was the one carrying a gun, for my protection. These guys were super nice, so I felt a little bad about my deception. They kept looking for imaginary buddy to show but for some reason, he never did, so they drove off after their lunch break. I promised I would share some of the water with him. Haha, not!
I began a very long haul across a barren valley, headed for the Sawtooth mountains. My god was it hot! I had my umbrella up early this day, since the first trough, but the temps this afternoon were a real chore. Without the umbrella, I couldn’t have kept hiking through the heat of the day. But there was also no place to take a break either, as there were only low shrubs, no trees. The umbrella really saved the day. My thermometer got up to 89 degrees…in my self-made shade! That’s kind of ridiculous for the beginning of February.
Although it was flat walking, some of the roads were deep sand. I did a lot of walking off to the side of the roads just to avoid it. There wasn’t much to see, other than some fields and houses in the distance. I also spotted a herd of far away horses…I guess they’re feral. Other than that, it was pretty mundane. After many hours of this, I finally entered the low hills and enjoyed some different scenery. I probably should have stopped there, but I wanted to make it as far as the last guzzler to see of I might be able to get some more water. I had just enough, but figured it couldn’t hurt too have a little bit more. But the quality was reported to be pretty bad and I was disappointed to find this was definitely the case. I used some to splash on my face and it smelled terrible. I tried to filter a small amount, but it also tasted terrible and I had to dump it back in the cistern.
I went a little further and set up my barren camp in the dark. I barely had the energy to make dinner and felt really gross from sweating so much. When planning this trip, I thought I might just do a touch and go through Arizona City. Now, I couldn’t imagine not taking at least one overnight to get cleaned up and have a break. I’d earned one, so I booked an Airbnb for the next night. This at least made me feel a lot better… something to look forward to.
