Twig Adventures

Monday Apr 18th, 2022, 0610-1900Rim Top to Lower Black Canyon, EABO mm 220, Segment 4 mm 11. 22 miles. There was another town stop this day, except it wasn’t much of a town. We dropped off food resupply packages at a general store a few weeks ago, as we were passing by in the car. The store wasn’t even yet open for the season, but we were lucky to run into the manager. The Rim Resort sits right along the main highway and our route, so it was very convenient to leave food there, lessening how much we had to carry from Pine. It was another 75-80 miles to the next trail town, Show Low. We had 11 more miles to[…]

Sunday Apr 17th 2022, 0600-1900La Cianega to Rim Top, EABO mm 198, Segment 3 mm 59. 31 miles. There wasn’t too much to say about this day, other than it was more iconic Rim travel. I hiked the rest of the Highline Trail, then ascended Military Sinkhole trail for the final few miles to make it to the top of the Rim just in time for sunset. The day started off a little iffy for me in that I wasn’t feeling great. I felt a little congested, like I was getting a mild cold, and my back was hurting. I quickly snapped out of it, feeling much better after an hour of walking. A beautiful morning, with nothing but 360 views[…]

Thursday Apr 14th 2022, 0600-1800Fivemile Pass Tank #2 to Corduroy Wash, EABO mm 126.5, Segment 2 mm 76.5. 25 miles. It was another diverse day in terms of temperature and terrain. I recorded a low of 26 inside my tent, waking to sparkling ice crystals lining my walls. I slept cold towards dawn but considering that my quilt is only rated to 22 degrees, I think I did good. I could have still put on my puffy, which I instead had stuffed in my footbox to keep things warm. The morning took us through a maze of jeep track. Some intersections were marked, most not. It would be very hard to do this route without GPS. We stopped to check out[…]

Wednesday Apr 13th 2022, 0600-1900Chaves trail to Fivemile Pass Tank #2, EABO mm 101.5, Segment 2 mm 51.6. 26.6 miles. It was a cold one overnight. It got to 36 degrees inside my tent but outside, the temperature plummeted to 27 as we started walking. It’s amazing how much heat a tent can trap…even one as well ventilated as mine. I stayed just warm enough and didn’t even have to break a chemical handwarmer (which I picked up in Sedona for extra peace of mind). We followed the Chaves trail for several miles, finding it very distinct in some spots and barely discernible in others…typical of many other trails so far. The intermittent cairns were mostly all that helped to guide[…]

Tuesday Apr 12th 2022, 0620-1820Oak Creek to Chaves trail, EABO mm 75, Segment 2 mm 25. 22 miles The forecast called for rain in the morning and sun by the afternoon, so I wasn’t too concerned about getting wet. Even if it poured, I’d dry by the end of the day. I started up a trail to the top of the rim once again, and I could feel it getting colder as I went. But there was a peaceful calm produced by the overcast skies. It was as if the desert was holding its breath in anticipation. Wildflowers sprang up alongside the trail as it switch-backed the steep canyon walls. This was a finely constructed elevator of good grade. All hell[…]

Monday Apr 11th 2022, 0610-1800The Coxcomb to Oak Creek via Sedona, EABO mm 54.214 miles I slept really great in my cowboy camp configuration. It helped that not one thing bothered me all night…no bugs, ants, mice, nothing! I heard the soft hoot of an owl and some coyotes in the distance, that was it. We got going early in order to make it to town for breakfast. I wasn’t even sure how far we had to walk to get to town, since we planned to take alternate trails into the west end. We followed a series of mountain bike trails right up to the base of iconic chimney rock, then accidentally took a wrong trail straight up to the[…]

Sunday Apr 10th 2022, 0610-1830Taylor Cabin to just NE of the Coxcomb, EABO mm 39.425.8 miles 4000 gain, 3900 loss I slept really well overnight and awoke to a cool morning. I was loving the detailed information provided by my thermometer. It read 46 degrees. What a swing from a high of 98 the day before. In my rush to pack in the morning, I got a little distracted trying to fold my new tent properly and neglected to pack my stakes. I wouldn’t realize this oversight until 6 miles and more than 4000 feet climbed. Ooops. Aside from loosing a critical piece of gear for the first time ever during a thru hike, the rest of the day was[…]

Saturday Apr 9th 2022, 1300-1900MRT Western Terminus at Parsons Trail 144 to Taylor Cabin-Sycamore Creek, EABO mm 14.314.3 miles Well, it was finally back to the trail, which felt like a long time coming. Two weeks of travel preceded this start (as opposed to my AT start, where I hit the trail less than 24 hours after leaving my house). My hiking cohort for this trail, TS, was driving from the east, so I decided to fly to Denver in order to visit family beforehand. He picked me up along the way and we did a marathon drive from Canon City, CO all the way to my friends’ place outside of Phoenix. I dropped 3 food supply boxes along the[…]