HOME, HEARTBREAK, HEALING

On November 10, 2023November 10, 2023 By AnnaMeyrickKirkpatrickIn desert hiking, eating well on the trail, Hiking, life begins at 50, naturopathic medicine, never slow down never grow old, Senior Hiking, thru hiking, thru hiking with food allergies, Thru hoking New Mexico, ultra light hiking, vegan gluten free trail food, women hikers, women hikingLeave a comment

After Successfully Completing the Trail Things Got Really Challenging

It has been almost 5 years since our Arizona Trail thru-hike and I haveg been reflecting upon what happed after we got home. I’m finally able to get some perspective, it’s hard to articulate when you are in the middle of stressful situations that are on going.

I am going to pick this adventure back up and share as Paul Harvey would say “The rest of the story”

we successfully completed the trail on Summer Solstice 2019 and we hung out in Kanab, Utah for a few days before heading home to Oregon. We caught the bus out of town mid-afternoon for a 3-hour trip to Las Vegas where we spent the night so we could fly home to Oregon early the next morning. Vegas was pretty overwhelming for us so we checked into our rooms, I got some take-out for dinner and we went to bed.

Around 3 am I woke up to use the restroom, I grabbed my phone and saw there were quite a few messages. Blurred eyed I opened one from my mom and started seeing images of what looked like a kitchen, but it was all black and strange looking. The text said “your brother took this” I did not understand what I was looking at, was it my daughter’s kitchen? I knew it was messy and they were moving out, was there some clean-up disaster, did soot get blown all over? Why was my brother at my daughter’s house late at night taking photos of a filthy kitchen? I was very confused and scrolled to the older messages in the thread.

THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE!! with photos of my parent’s house on fire in the dead of night. The house we were flying home to in a matter of hours, the house where we were going to live as we transitioned home to Oregon after living in California for almost 7 years. The home where we dropped off our belongings, the home my daughter and her husband were going to stay for 4 weeks before they traveled the world for a year. My mom’s house for over 30 years, our safe haven, home, our landing pad, a very critical and important piece to our plan to move back to Oregon. I stared in shock, it was 3:30am and I cried out to Jamey “The house is on fire!” Jamey bolded awake and we tried to process what we were looking at. We called home immediately to check in and get the details.

Everyone was safe, luckily the dog woke up my parents and they were able to get out and call the fire department. The fire started in the garage, my mom had a mobility scooter and the battery caught fire, it quickly burned up the garage and went up into the attic, and destroyed the house. We were so grateful everyone was ok, you can replace a house but not people. We were in a state of shock, our plan to relocate home had just gone up in smoke. We made our way to the airport at 7am and flew home. I had visions of returning home to my family triumphantly as an accomplished thru-hiker, I would tell them all about it and bask in their love and support.

My mom, daughter, and her husband picked us up at the airport looking disheveled and discombobulated, we hastily threw our packs into the trunk and piled in. Our hiking accomplishments evaporated, there was no time for stories about the trail or how we overcame the hardships. Our vision of having a safe home to come back to while we got reestablished in Oregon was gone. We went to Thai food for lunch while we tried to process what just happened and what we were all going to do next.

We pulled up to the house, grabbed our backpacks out of the car, and stood in the yard taking in the burned-up house. We gathered up lawn chairs, sat down, and watched while the fire inspectors and insurance people move around doing their thing. Over the next couple of days a port a potty was delivered, we set up a bigger tent and pondered how long we could live outside in Oregon while the house was being rebuilt. I ordered an even bigger tent, a bell tent, and set up space in there. My daughter and her husband were still trying to get ready to travel the world for a year. They had moved out of their apartment and planned on using the basement apartment to get sorted before they left. I had them use the bell tent as it was bigger while they got staged to leave. We continued sleeping in our hiking tent.

July rolled around and the campout continued, my parents dealt with the insurance and were rushed into picking a contractor to rebuild the house. In their moment of crisis, a shady contractor secured the contract which turned an already stressful situation into something worse, more on that later.

I wanted to go to Oregon Country Fair with my children, it was Fair’s 50th birthday and also my 50th birthday. It was scheduled before the fire happened and with some rearranging, we were able to go. My daughter’s husband stayed “home” with all the dogs in the tent so we could attend the 3-day event. After Fair, we celebrated my 50th and my mom’s 70th birthday, not with a big party as planned but with our immediate family sitting at a picnic table in the yard with the burned house behind us. It was still a fantastic birthday and we were all happy to be together.

August rolled around and it was clear the house would not be done anytime soon and it was becoming clear something was off with the contractor. My mom and her husband declined the offer to be put into a rental home while the house was being rebuilt. My stepfather refused to leave so they had the insurance company provide them with a 5th wheel to live in on the property. By mid-August, I was finally able to accept I could not continue to live in the tent waiting for the house to be rebuilt. We would have to return to California, sort out Jamey’s property, and come home when things were finished. I was crushed and not happy about having to return to the place I thought we left, I wanted to be home. My daughter and her husband left at the end of August to start their trip abroad and we took an old car and drove back to Central California.

We had been gone for months from the California house, upon returning we noticed Jamey’s sister came in and removed all the artwork that belonged to their mother and grandfather, both were artists. They were supposed to take turns choosing art per their mother’s will. His sister did not think Jamey should receive any of the art since he was not going to have children. This situation would take a long time to resolve and lots of negotiation on Jamey’s part to get his inheritance back. In the meantime I needed a job, I had closed my studio, ended my classes, and said my goodbyes in April when we left to hike. Jamey closed his practice down, he could not call patients back on the phone and tell them he was back in town for a while. I took a job as a chef at a high-end catering company as we sorted his parent’s belonging and worked on getting the property ready to be sold. We did not know when the house would be ready in Oregon and the issues with the contractor were getting bigger by the day.

My parent’s house insurance had not been updated in years and because of that the amount they had to replace their house was on the very low end, it they were not paying attention the money to rebuild the house would be gone before they had the roof replaced. The contractors were shady and knew all the tricks to drive up costs, upon research we saw they had been moving from state to state scamming people, and never properly finishing a house. This was alarming as it was now November and nothing had really been done to the house, payments were going out, and they wanted more money but nothing was being built. My parents got some solid advice and decided to cancel the contract with the contractors. This was a nightmare since they had taken a lot of the insurance money and had not done any work, the contract they signed stated if they canceled the contract the contractors would keep 30% of the total payout. With the contractors dismissed and limited funds to rebuild the house, my mom asked us if we wanted to come home and “camp” in the basement apartment and help with the house. We were just treading water in California waiting to return so we agreed. We are used to roughing it and the basement apartment did have a working pellet stove to keep us warm.

We finished getting the California property ready to be sold and we headed back to Oregon arriving home on a rainy Winter Solstice. We immediately put most of our belongings in a storage unit and unloaded our bed and personal belongings in the basement. We worked all day in the rain getting sorted. The basement apartment was a taken down to the studs and it was filled saved furniture. We carved out a space for our bed and entertainment system. I put up a canopy outside and create a camp kitchen, we used the porta potty outside and took super quick showers in the RV where my parents were staying.

We rented a house for a week at Christmas time so we could enjoy the holidays with family. Jamey and I rang in the New Year of 2020 with friends at a Roaring 20’s party and were very optimistic about the upcoming year. Jamey would start a new medical practice in Oregon and I would get reestablished as an art educator. Little did we know that things would be much more challenging for us, on so many different levels.

Completion

On June 25, 2019 By AnnaMeyrickKirkpatrickIn arizona trail, arizona trail 2019, desert hiking, eating well on the trail, Hiking, hiking arizina, life begins at 50, meal ideas for thru hiking, never slow down never grow old, resupply on the arizona trail, Senior Hiking, thru hiking with food allergies, trail food, vegan gluten free trail food, women hikers, women hikingLeave a comment

Flagstaff was a wonderful recharging stop. We got almond milk lattes on our way to the trail. It was a beautiful day to hike. We were passed by over 25 mountain bike riders, day hikers and joggers. A very popular trail on a Sunday, more people we had seen in one day in the trail the entire time.

I was pretty tired, I don’t sleep well in motels and ours was particularly noisy with Route 66 going by and all the drunk people roaming around shouting during the night.

We stopped for awhile in the afternoon and took a nap.

We planned on hiking over 20 miles each day but I was too exhausted and we wanted to camp by water. We went about 13 miles and stopped at a big pond for the night. Many people were enjoying the area with their kids and dogs.

We set up our tent, made some food and crashed out.

The next morning we were on the trail by 6 am, I had been looking forward to this section as it was a rare stand of aspen tress. The trail took it’s time meandering through the white barked beauties. We stopped and made oatmeal for breakfast in this section so we could enjoy them longer.

We hiked around 23 miles that day and stopped at another “tank” which is a cow pond but it looked like a beautiful little lake.

The water had been great after filtering the entire trip except for now. The water tasted like cow, grass, algae and other off putting taste. Pretty gross to say the least and I had just run out of flavor packets for the water, of course. We had been using these great little packets of lemonade raspberry flavors, I guess I should have saved some for the end. It’s difficult to drink such nasty water even when you are thirsty but you have no choice. Drink disgusting water or get dehydrated and sick, not a hard decision. We did luck out as a Trail Angel had stashed a few gallons of clean drinking water along the trail. We took advantage of that but left some behind for other hikers.

The trail after the beautiful aspens and pines was flat, treeless on old country roads. Not the most inspiring trail and it seemed to go on for ever. It was “only” 85 degrees but walking on an open exposed road made it seem hotter.

Around this point I realized our food supply was extremely dismal and we were quickly running out of food. I did some calculating and realized we did not have enough food for the numbers of miles left. We went into conservation mode which meant under 800 calories a day to power us through 22 mile.

Burning 5000 calories and eating 800 is extremely challenging. This section was suppose to be “easy”, the terrain was flatter and we assumed we could hike more miles.

WRONG! My body maxes out at about 22-25 miles a day. I might want to walk more but my body does not agree with my brain.

In the morning I can hike about 3 miles an hour, by evening it slows to about 1 mile an hour or less. My feet are pretty beat up after 600 miles over rocks and rough terrain. My toes protest with each step, my left big toe has been completely numb for weeks. My middle row feels broken, my heels are sore and my ankle twinges with pain off and on. We did get new insoles for our shoes in Flagstaff, our old ones were extremely flat. The new ones helped a lot but my feet are still not very happy.

All of these coupled with a low food supply made this section one of the hardest of the entire trip and that is saying a lot since it has all been challenging.

I realized the food issue was mostly my fault. I usually take care of the food, sorting it out, making sure we have enough.

I was preoccupied in the store as I was talking to my son on the phone while Jamey put food in the cart. When we got back to our room I was busy finishing my blog while Jamey dividend up the food. Some came with us and the rest was mailed ahead to the North Rim so we had food for the final 77 miles. We over estimated how many miles we could do each day on the “easy”terrain and underestimated the food we needed. I also learned an extremely valuable lesson that I need to double check my OWN food bag before I start out on a 100 mile stretch. Hard way to earn such a lesson, but you can bet I’ll never forget it.

Having a 15,000 calories food need over 3 days and eating under 2400 makes for a long, exhausting experience.

It was pretty rough but again made me have more empathy for those that are food insecure on a regular basis.

We dragged ourselves into Tusayan on Thursday June 13.

Tusayan is a Grand Canyon village with a few restaurants and lodging. There was a Starbucks so we went there first and got iced almond milk lattes.

There was one motel that was affordable and does not take reservations, you can call at 9 am. We arrived in town at 8:30am, sat with our lattes and decompressed while the caffeine and calories hit our blood steam. Everything was right in the world again and I called the motel at 9am on the dot. They are kind to AZT hikers, not only do they give you a discount but they let you check into your room as soon as it’s ready. We were lucky as a room was ready to go and we were checked in before 10 am, a minor miracle. We showered and then walked to Wendy’s and ordered as many things as we could eat on the menu.

Lemonade, fries, plan baked potato, chili, mixed fruit and a garden salad. We devoured our food and then went back to the motel to digest our meal like snakes.

I spend the afternoon watching a few movies on my HBO app while Jamey sorted his patients, answered emails and filled scripts.

We went to dinner and had fajitas for two and a margarita.

Again it was too much food after not eating much the previous days. As great as the food is, as hungry as you are it is just such a shock to the system. You would think I would have learned my lesson by now as this was not the first time I had done this.

Apparently I am a slow learner and I suffered the consequences of my actions as a result.

I made it back to the room and collapsed on the bed. I felt like Mojo the monkey from The Simpson episode. Homer feeds the monkey so much he can barely function and wishes to be put out of his misery. I could so relate to poor little Mojo😊

We got a decent night sleep as the motel was a lot quieter then the previous stay at Flagstaff.

We got up at 5am and got ready to leave. We stopped at Starbucks and bought a few things at the extremely overpriced tourist market. We did need more food for our hike into and out of the Grand Canyon but we knew from our research that the store at the Grand Canyon village was less expensive and had more options.

We made it to the Grand Canyon Backcountry Permit Office by 9:30 am.

There was not a waiting list for hikers and we were able to get a permit for Bright Angel Campground. We thought we would be put in the stock area to camp as that had been the experience of many hikers before us. It is June and hot on the Canyon floor so that probably explains why we were able to get a proper campsite.

After we got our permit we rode the shuttle bus to Mather Campground and had no problem getting a campsite. Luckily they put aside a few spots for hikers and bikers so we did not have to make advanced reservations.

We got situated and went over to the store. I was so excited to see it was a big, proper store with fresh produce and so many allergy friendly foods. We got food for the day and our Grand Canyon rim to rim hike.

Jamey spend about 3 hours calling patients and chasing good cell reception around the campground.

I sat in the shade and worked on my blog.

After Jamey was finished we took the bus shuttle to the South Rim Visitor Center. Such an interesting experience being around so many people after spending so much time on the trail where we would go days without seeing another person.

National Parks are like Disneyland, crowded with people from all over the world.

We got lattes, watched an 8 minute video on the formation of the canyon and then we had enough and headed back to our campsite. We found a deck of cards in the bearbox and played Gin Rummy for awhile. We made some dinner and then went to the tent pretty early. We watched a movie I downloaded on Netflix and then went to sleep.

We got up before 4am packed up and walked to the bus stop.

We got off at the Bright Angel Trailhead and started our descend around 4:50am.

There were quite a few people there but they were not hiking all the way down. Most people go to the first rest area which is 1.5 miles down and then hike back up, still quite the journey. We had 9 miles to hike before we reached our campsite on the Canyon floor.

It was breathtaking to watch the sun come up over the Grand Canyon and seeing the colors change. Indian Garden Campground was the first camp area, it was lush, gorgeous and had flowing water. Many families with children were packing up and heading back up the canyon.

We were moving at a good pace and did not stop long there. We knew it would be getting hot soon and wanted to make it as quickly as possible to Bright Angel Campground. We passed dozens of hikers going up as we were going down. Many were coming back up the south rim from camping. Quite a few were going down to meet their boats to go rafting. I was surprised to see people of every age, young and old and all in different stages of fitness. Going down might seem “easier” but it’s hard on the body for different reasons. The trail down is not a smooth path, much of it is like big steep stairs with huge drops. I needed poles to help minimize the jarring impact on my knees. I’m a tall person and wondered how the shorter people and children handled this descent.

By 8:45 am we were in the direct sun with intense heat radiating off the rocks and sand.

We worked our way to the Colorado River, it was so vast and swift. We came to the big suspension bridge and made our way across to the Bright Angel Campground and creek. We were able to get a creekside campsite and set up our tent. It was blazing hot, the hottest day we had encountered so far. We quickly found a shady spot near the creek. We stayed there for the rest of the day. The heat and jarring impact of the trail caused my feet to swell up and my left shin was radiating pain every time I walked. Phantom Range was .1 from our campsite so I limped there to get some lemonade, the only drink available besides $8 cans of beer. Beer has gluten so lemonade it was and boy was it delicious. I took advantage of the 47 degree water and soaked my feet and shin for hours. Even sitting in the shade it was well over 100 degrees. It was a long day riding out the heat, the creek was lined with bodies all trying to cope.

We made dinner and tried to sleep,it did not cool down that much at night. It was still over 90 degrees with no breeze all night.

We got up before 4am so we could start the journey up the North Rim. The North Rim is 1000 ft higher then the South Rim and around 13 miles to the top. Now we understood why people usually go back up the South Rim or hike down the North Rim and up the South Rim.

The Arizona Trail is South Rim to North Rim so we just had to follow the course we were already on.

The hike up in the morning was spectacular, it followed the large Bright Angel Creek most of the way. Hearing the sound of water while hiking the Canyon was magical. The elevation back up is around 6000 ft, it is pretty gradual most of the way until you reach the last 3 miles.

Again I had an issue with not enough food. To survive the heat you need more calories so your body can cool itself off. We had food set aside for the hike up but it was not enough. We burned through our remaining food before 10am, at that point we’d had been hiking for 6 hours.

The last part was incredibly steep and being so low in calories with no more food made it so much more difficult.

It took over 3 hours to finish up the trail. I had to stop every 10 minutes, I just did not have enough energy. Not only was it the elevation gain but the high elevation, over 8000 ft made it even more challenging.

This “short” section of the Arizona Trail was by far the most difficult for me.

We saw so many people come down 1.5 miles and then completely struggle trying to hike the 2000 ft back up.

One older gentleman could only go 3 steps at a time then had to stop, he looked like he was going to stroke out. It was not good and we were concerned for him. Jamey did check in with him and his wife.

At one point when I stopped I almost had a sobbing meltdown.

I held it together but boy was I on the brink of losing it. I was extremely frustrated with myself for not bringing enough food. I knew it did not have to be this rough if I had proper calories.

You would think I could figure it out but obviously I failed again. I knew it was my own fault and that made it even more frustrating. It does not help the situation when you stop to swear and berate yourself while trying to make it to the top. I did manage to pull myself together and did not have an “outward” meltdown, just a huge internal collapse.

We stopped at one lookout point and chatted with a couple we saw early. They had hiked 1.5 miles down and watched us climb the trail for over an hour.

Chatting with them pulled me out of myself and helped clear my mind.

We did finally make it to the top of the North Rim, it took over 9.5 hours.

I only had enough energy to make it to the top and was crushed to see the Grand Canyon Lodge was 1.5 miles away. The Lodge was where the food was and I was desperate.

Luckily the couple we were talking to saw my distress and they offered to shuttle us to the lodge.

They were traveling to Bryce and Zion after the Grand Canyon so their car was pretty packed with stuff. The wife got out and stayed on the side of the road with Jamey while the husband took me to the lodge. He went back and they moved stuff and crammed Jamey and her into the car and returned to the lodge.

With much heartfelt thanks we said goodbye. Hundreds of people were milling around the lodge checking into cabins, getting on tour buses. I asked someone where the food was and quickly found a saloon and espresso bar. I got lattes for both of us and orange juice. After that I went to the little deli and order 2 bowls of elk chili. We drank our lattes, ate chili and then chatted with a fellow that said he saw us the day before at Indian Garden on the South Rim. He was interested in our thru hike. We were the only bedraggled looking hikers near the lodge with large packs and hiking poles. After we finished the chili I went into the lodge to make dinner reservations, their only opening was for 9pm, 6 hours away. Still there would be food so I gave her my name.

The calories had kicked in so we walked the .7 to the North Rim Campground. The campground was full and booked months in advanced unless you were a hiker. We got a campsite for 2 nights as we wanted a zero day to rest before we hiked again.

The hiker sites were located in the only area with cell reception and had the best views of the entire campground.

The general store at the North Rim was a stark contrast to the South Rim. It was so small and not much we could eat. They did have some bars, nuts and chips.

It was a sad state of affairs.

I got some money back so we could do laundry and take a shower. We had not been able to wash our clothes since Flagstaff.

Showers were hot and only $1.50 for 6 minutes.

Soon we were fresh and clean.

We both called family members and caught up, set up camp and then walked back to the lodge for dinner. We got there early so we could have a drink at the Rough Rider Saloon before dinner. The Lodge had quite a few items we could eat. Jamey had the trout and I had bison short ribs with extra vegetables since the potatoes and rice both had dairy. We each had a salad and shared bacon wrapped figs with blackberries. A solid, wonderful meal to celebrate our completion of the “rim to rim” section of the Arizona Trail.

We walked back to our camp and got ready for bed.

I turned my alarm off on my watch and we went to sleep and slept hard. We were up at 6am and were hungry so we got dressed and walked to the lodge for breakfast. Huge windows showcased the majestic view outside. They have a great breakfast buffet but when you can’t have wheat, dairy or eggs it’s not that doable. We ordered hash browns, bacon, sausage, fruit and coffee with almond milk.

We quickly devoured that and ordered a second round of everything. Finally full and satisfied we paid the bills and walked back to camp.

I needed a nap and Jamey needed to call patients so we both did what we needed to do. By noon the sun was directly over the tent so I got up and Jamey had finished his calls. We walked over to the laundry area and sat at the tables to charge our battery packs which took forever. We wrapped that up and decided to go get a late lunch/early dinner so we could crash out at a reasonable time. The deli had gluten free pizza so we ordered a veggie with no cheese and a side of pulled pork. It took 45 minutes but it was worth it. It was surprisingly delicious and piled high with lots of good vegetables. I enjoyed topping mine with the pulled pork, Jamey had a little bit but I had the lions share. We worked our way back to our camp as thunder clapped and black clouds formed. We got a little rain but by the time we got to camp it passed by.

We went to bed early as we were tired and needed to get an early start, we only had 77 miles to go to complete the trail.

The trail continued through the Grand Canyon Park, we could not see the Canyon as the path carried us through pine and aspen trees. In the morning dozens of helicopters flew overhead filled with tourist.

The trail was pretty flat and we hiked until about 4:30pm when we arrived at the next water source. Water was few and far between in this area. The water was snow runoff filtering through a grassy meadow surrounded by trees. While we were filtering water we saw 2 other hikers that were finishing up their last 100 miles. They were section hikers and had been working on completing the trail for 5 years.

We exchanged hellos and they went further ahead to set up camp.

We found a flat enough spot to put our tent, we were well over 9000 feet and it was getting cold. We were exhausted and went to bed while the sun was still up. When we woke in the morning our tent had a coat of ice on it and our sleeping bags were damp. Noticing the sun would not reach us for sometime and it was getting late we decided to carry everything to a sun patch across the meadow. We let everything dry so we did not have to carry wet gear. We made oatmeal, warmed up and then set out. The next water was 17 miles away and another one at 26 miles. We were aiming for the water 26 miles ahead, a big challenge for our sore feet but we wanted to wrap this hike up.

This section of trail took us through the park with a view of the East Rim. What a gorgeous hike, we saw many day hikers and people enjoying the view.

A nice couple asked us about our packs and joked noting the sign marking the path.

“Did you guys hike from Mexico?”

“We actually did” we replied

They were shocked and asked for more details.

We chatted for awhile, they gave us high fives and encouragement. They took our photo for us and we continued on our way.

We made it to the water source at 17 miles, filtered water, made some brown rice with packaged salmon and decided to push to the next water source which was now 9 miles ahead.

We left at 6pm and hiked through a burned out forest paralleling the highway for miles.

We could hear the cars and see the road through the thin stand of trees. When it got dark we put our headlamps on and continued. It started to get really windy and there was smoke in the air from a controlled burn. We reached the cement water trough around 10pm. The wind was extremely gusty and it was difficult putting the tent up.

When we finally crawled into the tent our feet started to let us know what they thought about the 26 mile push. We both moaned and whimpered as our bodies unwound from the day.

It was difficult to sleep as the strong wind whipped the tent all night long creating loud noise.

We got up early with the wind still going strong, at least it was warmer and dry, no wet tent or bags. We quickly got packed up and headed downhill, the wind was better once we were off the ridge. The trail was pine trees and flowers, the sky blue with puffy white clouds. It really was a perfect, gorgeous day. We made it to the next water source 20 miles away and we were exhausted and my feet felt completely broken.

We only had 20 miles to go to complete the trail and we did not want to do that all the following day. We made a dinner of mashed potatoes with beef bouillon and forced ourselves to hike a little longer. We walked for about 2 more hours covering almost 5 miles. By body had enough and was about to flatten out if my mind wanted to or not. We found a flat enough spot in an area clearly controlled by ravens. It was an interesting evening as they flew overhead doing their thing and landing on trees directly overhead letting us know exactly what they thought of us in their space. I made sure my pack was secure and not exposed outside the tent. It was a warm evening and we slept sound. I had my alarm set for 5am but I didn’t wake Jamey until 5:50. We packed up quickly as we knew this would be our last day on the trail.

It was Summer Solstice and I really wanted to finish on one of my favorite days of the year. This was not planned it just happened to work out that way.

We were both giddy with excitement as we realized we were actually going to complete this challenging trail. It was a great motivator and this section of trail was labeled easy.

We quickly covered 5 miles by 9am and sat to have some food before we began the last 10 miles.

I had learned finally from the many lessons of not having enough food at the end of sections. I stocked up at the expensive North Rim store with extra bars in addition to the food packages I mailed.

We ate the remaining bars and dried fruit. I truck pulled up and a man got out, he was caching water for his hike the next week. He was a section hiker who was almost done with the trail. He wanted to chat for awhile about the challenges of certain sections. He said he rarely encountered fellow hikers.

He had stashed public water at other locations that we benefited from. We thanked him for putting water out and told him our hike would not have been possible with out trail angels leaving water at the dry locations. He said he saw people do the trail on unicycles and showed us photos. We were flabbergasted that such a thing was possible but he said they had it balanced a certain way and could cruise at 4 miles an hour making quick work of the switchbacks.

My mind was blown a little pondering this. We said our goodbyes and with a new found pep in our step set out to complete the last 10 miles of this 800 mile journey.

We sang made up songs, shouted excitement into the air and ignored our broken feet telling them they were almost done.

The landscape changed from pine trees to sagebrush and a view of the massive Vermillion Cliffs & the Grand Staircase-Escalante. The trail switched backed down the last 3 miles towards the Northern Terminus Monument. The weather was pleasant, it was not too hot with a nice breeze.

We finished the trail around 2:30 in the afternoon at the Stateline Campground.

The Northern Terminus marker guided us to the finish line. The campground was fairly empty. We took off our packs, shouted with joy and took our photos marking the end of our 800 mile thru hike.

We completed the hike on June 21st, Summer Solstice. I was extremely happy that we ended on one of my favorite days of the year.

The end of the trail is 10 miles to the highway and another 15 miles to the town of Kanab, Utah where I had made reservations at the hiker friendly motel Sun n Sand.

We walked to the dirt road and after 25 minutes I realized that no one was driving passed us at this campsite. There was the Wire Pass Trailhead 1.5 miles ahead and it was the jumping off point for the famous “Wave Trail” that only allowed 20 people a day to enter and permits were awarded with a lottery system. Buckskin gulch and the famous slot canyons also have trailheads here.

We walked down and were happy to see there were over 20 cars in the parking lot. It was late in the afternoon and people were leaving.

We stood near the opening and I held up my AZT Hiker/ Kanab Please sign. Many cars passed us, some sped up. I realized a lot of people were not from the area and might not know what the Arizona Trail was. After an hour I noticed a young man getting into his car and pulling out. I waved at him and approached his car, he rolled down the window and I explained we had just finished the 800 mile AZT and we needed a ride.

He agreed and we got in the car. He had just finished riding through Buckskin Gulch and had some issues with his bike. Someone had given him a ride back to his car so he understood our position. We chatted during the 10 miles on the dirt road and stopped at the highway to pick up his biking partner.

I did not know if we needed to get out and find another ride or if they would take us all the way into Kanab. He asked his friend if they could give us a ride all the way and he agreed. Jamey and I squeezed into the small backseat with all their gear and our packs and we headed off down the road. We shared tales of the trail and they talked about their bike riding through the slot canyons. They dropped us off at our motel, we thanked them profusely and told them they were true trail angels.

The man I spoke to on the phone at the motel was sitting outside and recognized us immediately.

“Glad you finally made it!” He said. We agreed and went inside to register. He gave us a really great discount on the room which was good since we had 4 nights to go before we were scheduled to leave for Las Vegas via bus on Tuesday afternoon. He gave us the rundown on Kanab which is dubbed “Little Hollywood” because so many famous Western movies and tv shows were filmed here in this gorgeous locations. The Outlaw Josey Wales, Gunsmoke, The Adventures of a Grizzly Adams and countless others.

Kanab is also a gateway to Bryce, Zion, Lake Powell and many other famous outdoor destinations. The town was swarming with tourist pursuing outdoor adventures.

We went to our room and took a shower. We were hungry and very excited to see the town had a restaurant called Peekaboo Canyon Wood Fired Kitchen that offered gluten free pizza with vegan cheese and had many menu items we could eat.

We walked to the restaurant and sat outside. The place was popular and busy but we arrived early enough to get a great table in time for the live music. We ordered appetizers, 2 salads a pizza and drinks. By the time we finished we had 3 rounds of drinks and ordered a second pizza. The music was great, a very talented guitarist/singer named Mark Warbuton did original music and covers of some of our favorites including Bob Dylan and Cat Stevens.

I got a little emotional taking in the sights, sounds and delicious food reflecting on the amazing accomplishment we just achieved. I was so grateful for this life, being alive and the beauty of nature. We left with happy bellies and hearts full of gratitude.

We slept well and woke up pretty rested. Our feet still hurt and we needed more calories. We found coffee and then went into Best Friends information center. Best Friends is the largest no kill shelter in the United States for dogs, cats, pigs, horses, birds and other animals. We wanted to see it and volunteer. We went through the process of signing up and then to our disappointment we could not find any available slots to volunteer during our remaining 3 days in Kanab. We did not have a car and the facility was spread out throughout a large canyon 5 miles outside of town. We spoke to the coordinator on the phone and she suggested we sign up for the grand tour the following day at 10am. Realizing that was our only option we took the last remaining tour spots. We were happy that they had so many volunteers to help this amazing non profit.

There is one driver in Kanab and I contacted him. It cost $40 for a 10 mile round trip to the Sanctuary. Pretty steep but the only option. We did enjoy the tour and were able to stop and get out at the old dog area and the cats. We were taken through the entire park with each area pointed out and explained. It really is an excellent, well run program. You have to schedule separate tours to see the birds or pigs. I was kinda bummed about that as I wanted to see the birds if I could not volunteer with them. It was a massive, beautiful area with so much going on. When they first started this mission in the 80’s over 35 million animals were euthanized each year in the United States, thanks to their work the number is now below 1 million a year.They work with other cities and have satellite facilities throughout the nation. Their slogan is “Save Them All.”

We enjoyed the tour and information. The driver picked us up and we had him drop us off at a popular Mexican restaurant called Escobar’s on the way back. They were closed the day before and the reviews were top notch and we wanted to try it out. It did not disappoint and it literally was the best Mexican food I have had since I don’t know when. We came back to our room and continued to rest and heal for the remainder of the day. Jamey bought me a book I wanted to read “Death in the Grand Canyon” detailing the over 750 deaths in the last 100 years. I know it sounds morbid but it is completely fascinating. Yes I went between reading that and watching “Gentleman Jack” on my HBO app.

Monday morning we walked down to the Little Hollywood Museum that has many of the old movie sets from Western filmed in the area. The streets of Kanab are lined with signs with all the different actors that filmed there throughout the years.

It was pretty interesting history to explore.

We will be leaving tomorrow to start our journey home. I am excited to see our dog babies and family.

This hike had been life changing in many ways. I feel healthier, my mind is clear, I am more focused in what I want to do and how I want to spend my time. Life is short and it’s important to step outside your comfort zone and undertake new things.

Being outside is good medicine and I’m so grateful I was able to have this time to spend with Jamey. It is something I will never forget and it has had a huge impact on both of us.

We are excited to be moving home to Oregon and being around family and friends.

Jamey will establish his practice in the Portland area while he continues to treat his patients in California once a month. I’m going to do some online teaching, continue to make and teach art, expand my cooking skills and help my mom. We are excited for this new chapter and proud of ourselves for our accomplishment of hiking the Arizona Trail. I turn 50 in July and I’m so happy I have reached this milestone with my mind, body and soul intact. I am excited to watch it all unfold. Life is adventure and may we never tire of trying new things.

Thank you all for following along, your words of encouragement and support. We are all in this together and I appreciate my family and friends more than words can express.

Blessings ❤️

Obstacles

On June 8, 2019June 8, 2019 By AnnaMeyrickKirkpatrickIn arizona trail, arizona trail 2019, desert hiking, eating well on the trail, Hiking, meal ideas for thru hiking, never slow down never grow old, resupply on the arizona trail, thru hiking, thru hiking with food allergies, trail food, vegan gluten free trail food, women hikers, women hiking, z packs2 Comments

We woke up in the morning and got ready to leave. There was coffee and oatmeal provided by the Airbnb host, we were pretty stoked. We woke up our host around 8 am and asked if we could get a ride to the trailhead.

He was ready in 10 minutes and we were on our way. He dropped us off and we headed up the trail.

The next few days would be serious elevation climbs. The weather was perfect, not too hot, white puffy clouds dotted the sky. Off in the distance we could see clouds building. A strong wind picked up part way through the day and the sky got cloudier. Our packs were very heavy due to the amount of food we were carrying for the 117 mile jump to Pine and all the water we needed for the day.

It was kind of slow going due to the steep grade. Around 4:30pm we made it to our water source and campsite for the evening.

Beautiful little spot with a fast, flowing, babbling creek. We put up our tent and then noticed a small scorpion making its way to our shelter. We dealt with that and kept our eyes peeled for more. It was a chilly night, we waited for the sun to peak over the ridge before we got up in the morning. The sun was short lived as big dark clouds began to fill the sky. The forecast called for clouds but these clouds looked like a storm.

I saw a post that a huge snowstorm/ rainstorm was hitting the Flagstaff and Grand Canyon area with multiple inches expected in some places.

We were right on the edge of that system. It was cold enough that we started hiking in our down jackets and we never took them off the rest of the day. It was around 44 degrees with the wind chill factor according to the weather report.

This day was again full of steep elevation gains, you are cold and need your jacket but then you are sweaty. The cold wind can be dangerous when your clothes are wet with perspiration. Hypothermia when you stop is a concern. We kept warm the best we could and kept moving.

The trail was absolutely gorgeous, high altitude flowers everywhere, oak, pine and other large trees. Flowering manzanita were everywhere along the trail. The high elevation provided breathtaking vistas of the lake and landscape below. A really incredible day to be on the trail.

I’ll take the cold and clouds over triple digits full sun any day.

We did have to pull out our rain jackets as it started to rain late in the afternoon. We arrived at our camp spot around 4:30pm and quickly got camp set up. A storm was coming and we did not want to be caught unprepared. We ate dinner and were in the tent laying down by 6:30pm. I was asleep before 7 and awoke to the sound of rain and wind raging outside. It rained hard all night and in the early morning the rain turned to snow.

We normally get up between 4:45-6:00am depending on the trail ahead but we had to wait for the rain to stop before we could get out of the tent. Around 7am the rain stopped and the sun peeked through once in awhile. The sky was still full of clouds,it was extremely cold and windy so we had to put our hiking clothes over our wool base layers we slept in. On top of that we needed our down jackets, wool gloves and hat. We have never started out a morning so bundled up. We had a late start and then we had to stop and filter enough water for the entire day.

We made our way along a ridge line battled by a strong, gusty wind the entire time.

We stopped for a rest and snack break around 2pm and took off our wool leggings but left the wool tops on. The trail was many miles of Forest Service roads that went up and down the ridge line. Around 3pm the clouds burned off and s solid blue sky appeared. We arrived at camp around 4:30pm, a small creek was still barely flowing and we got to work setting up camp and filtering water.

Same drill as the day before, I had dinner and was laying flat by 6:30pm.

The sky was completely clear and the half moon shone brightly. The cloud cover was gone and it was bitterly cold and in addition to that the condensation was the worst it has been this whole trip.

The inside of the tent dripped, our sleeping bags were covered in a film of water.

I got up at 6 am to find the logs and rocks were covered in frost.

We moved our sleeping bags to a patch of early morning sunlight to try and dry them off.

We dressed for the day leaving our leggings on and set out with our down jackets and gloves on.

There was not a cloud in the sky and the forecast said it would be about 77, a perfect temperature.

We shed our coats and wool a few hours in. We also decided to try something different by not eating a hot breakfast when we first got up but when we stopped for water around 11am.

We made a meal of brown rice, raisin cinnamon oatmeal, a turmeric ginger coconut milk latte mix and cranberries.

It is surprisingly delicious and powered us up. We cruised at a good rate on the pretty flat trail that afternoon.

We stopped for water at a large, fast creek where we took a few hour siesta during the heat of the day.

When it was time to continue I had to put my water/camp shoes on to cross the creek. We hiked the last 4.6 miles to the stock tank that was our camp site and next water source. Uneventful night sleeping in a cow area.

The water was pretty thick with mud so we decided to get water further up the trail that morning.

We found some wonderful, clean creeks flowing for many miles of this section.

The next few days were in the 70’s as we went up and down the Superstition Mountains.

It was incredibly beautiful with all the trees and flowers.

At one point there was a forest fire in one of the sections, the scorched pines were everywhere. In place of pines trees oaks had taken over the landscape. It was interesting to see the forest transformation as the opportunistic oaks claimed there spot.

I really enjoy this trail because of all the many birds you get to see and hear. I wish I knew my bird calls better so I could identify what I’m hearing. One thing I thought was really great were the numerous hummingbirds I encountered daily on the trail. Whenever I stopped for a rest a hummingbird always came to investigate my bright red backpack. They would check it out and then go land on a branch to study it longer.

Quite the variety of hummingbirds on this trail.

After the Superstitions we entered the Mazatzal Wilderness which was pretty much more of the same, up and down mountains, rocky terrain and beautiful scenery. During this section we woke up to some freezing temperatures and were bundled up the entire day even when the clouds went away it was still in the 30’s with a strong wind.

It did seem like these 117 miles dragged on especially when you run out of bars, almonds and pepperoni. I did pack freeze dried peas, broccoli, cauliflower and brown rice so we did have food just not quite enough calories. Hiking with a full pack all days burns about 5000 calories a day. You can only carry so much food so we get between 800-1750 calories a day depending on what’s left in our food bag.

The last part into Pine was complete madness as far as the trail was concerned. I’ve already mentioned how rocky and steep the whole trail has been. This section cranked it up to level 11😊. Slow and torturous is a good way to describe it with pretty much an empty food bag.

Towards the end of the section with town within striking distance by body started to rebel. My eyesight started wavering, I was literally on the verge of passing out. We made the last of our brown rice and sat for a bit then continued the remaining 2 miles into Pine.

I had a room I reserved and packages I had mailed to That! Brewery. Lucky for us the Brewery was just off the trail about .5 miles and on our way to our Cabin.

We sat outside and were happy to find out they had gluten free bread options. I was so hungry I ordered a nacho with no cheese, shared that with Jamey. Followed by a French dip with an order of tater tots, pickled vegetables and 2 glasses of house brewed kombucha.

After that gut bomb I was freezing and feverish.

I was not doing so great. We walked to our cabin and were delighted to find a jacuzzi tub in our room! Jamey went back out to get some supplies at the store, I quickly took a shower to get the grime off and then filled the tub with hot water. By the time Jamey returned I was soaking with the jets blasting.

I stayed in that blissed out state for as long as possible.

We slept well and in the morning actually found an almond milk latte. We took our lattes to go, picked up some more packages at the post office and then did laundry. We had breakfast after that, bacon, sausage, hash browns and fruit. I was pretty happy with the food options in this cute town.The little town of Pine looked like something you would find in Oregon. Not a cactus to be seen to give away the location as Arizona.

We enjoyed soaking more in the tub, found BBQ take out for dinner, organized our supplies and then vegged out watching the Food Network the rest of the evening

We left Pine on Friday, May 31 to start making the 75 mile trek to Mormon Lake.

The first day we took it easy and hiked about 13.5 miles that day.

I had run out of the dinners I prepped before I left. So I ordered some prepackaged vegan and gluten free meals, some had textured soy protein in them. I usually avoid that because I often have a reaction.

But I thought “Well it can’t be that bad, I’ll be ok if I eat those meals.”

WRONG- why I can never fully remember hard earned lessons is beyond me.

So for dinner we ate the meals with the textured soy protein and by 3 am I awoke with a completely splitting migraine, cluster headache, vomiting nightmare.

I usually keep Excedrin on hand, not that it stops the head trauma ,it just helps a little. I had run out and forgot to get more when I was in town.

The sun came up and I was in bad shape, I rested as long as possible and then got up to get ready.

I managed to walk close to 10,000 steps but had to have Jamey find a place to put the tent up so I could go back to bed.

Luckily there was a creek with a wonky spot big enough for the tent. The ground was uneven but I could have cared less.

I quickly got out my bedding and tried to wait out the horrid nightmare my body had become.

I was hoping I could get up later in the afternoon and move but that was not the case.

I was knocked down all day and could barely function.

I could not eat, I tried electrolytes in my water and managed to keep that down.

I got up around 5pm for some more water and to try and sit up, Jamey had been sitting by the creek pondering life all day.

“Hey, maybe we should stop hiking and fly out of Flagstaff ASAP” he said.

“Just because my head hurts? I’ll be better soon.” I answered

He said that was not the reason and had a list he rattled off.

This trail is tough, we are sore, he is a thin man to begin with and this trail has caused him to lose way too much weight.

The list went on.

My head was still broken and I could not really respond except for “ If that’s what you feel we need to do.”

My head actually hurt worse then earlier and was not easing up it was just growing more monstrous.

I went back to bed for the rest of the night whimpering and beside myself in pain.

Around 3am by head eased up a little, by morning it was still bad but I could stand up.

We packed up camp and headed out. Jamey was silent most of the morning, he was not feeling well. He suffers from Celiacs Disease and was reacting to something he ate. Somehow gluten made its way into his system.

It was a rough morning for both of us, neither of us felt well, we had miles to go to Mormon Lake and last I knew Jamey wanted to tap out.

I was texting my mom very bummed out that my hike might be over and I had yet to make it to the Grand Canyon. We had come so far and overcome so many challenges I did not want to stop the process. Not only did I not want to stop hiking, trying to get an affordable airline ticket out of the area we were in was quite expensive. The most affordable way home was to get to the end of the trail and fly to Portland from Las Vegas.

We arrived at a forest road and a place called Washington Park, still in the middle of nowhere but we knew people came there to hike and we could catch a ride somewhere if we wanted.

We sat down and assessed the situation. My headache was gone, Jamey was feeling better and we both wanted to continue hiking the trail.

We made the decision to keep going and see this trail to the end. We both felt better with that decision and hiked a 21 mile day to make up for my “sick day”.

This section of trail was high pine forest, open meadows, smoother paths and lots of forest roads. According to a local hiker we met it is the largest, continuous stand of Ponderosa pine trees in the world.

It was pretty flat compared to what we have been dealing with and we were able to go much faster. According to the map all the really difficult stuff is behind us except the hike up and down the Grand Canyon.

We made it to Blue Ridge Camp ground just before dark.

A real campground with graded, flat spot for the tent, a picnic table, pit toilet and clean water we did not have to filter.

It was very nice and welcoming.

We were on the trail by 6am and did about 23 miles that day. We put out headlamps on and walked into the night through a pretty scary forest with unfamiliar animal sounds. Mountain lions, bears and other things lurk in these parts so we moved as fast as we could through that area. As soon as the landscape opened up and we found a flat spot we made camp.

It was clear and cold that night with lots of condensation happening. I felt damp and cold all night. One of my worst night sleeps on the trail.

We were on the trail by 5:30am as we really wanted to make it to Mormon Lake before the scheduled thunder stormed arrived around 11am.

We made the 9 miles to Mormon Lake where we had resupply items sent before 11am. It is still early in the season so the restaurant was not open. We did find some snacks at the store which was similar to what we eat on the trail. All I can say is I am about done with Cliff bars and hiking with food allergies is far from easy.

Our food pack was really light and we were literally out of food since we were not able to eat many of the dinners I packed because of the soy textured protein. Jamey had “hiker hunger” that day we stopped early due to my head. He had eaten most of his food and I shared the rest of mine. We had oatmeal and ate that the last few days and I was grateful we had that.

After we got our packages, bought snacks and ate like wild animals I got us a basic cabin room. We did laundry, took showers and rested our tired, broken feeling bodies.

Since we decided to finish the trail we needed to come up with a plan to get home. Not an easy task when the trail ends in the middle of no where.

Kanab, Utah is 25 miles from the end of the trail.

I found a bus from there to Las Vegas and then flights to Portland for $66 each!

So now we have an extraction date, we need to be in Kanab by 4pm June 25 and fly home June 26.

We did not take a “zero” day in Mormon Lake. We got up, organized our packs, waited for the post office to open at 9am and mailed some food to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

That morning the little store for the first time stocked almond milk lattes from Starbucks. Needless to say we were very excited and bought 2 each. Caffeinated and happy we set off.

We paced ourselves the first day as there is a prescribed burn near one of the trail sections on Thursday and we didn’t want to breathe all the smoke.

The hike from Mormon Lake to Flagstaff was pretty great. The pine forest were full of elk and ravens. For much of the hike we followed an old railroad track build in the 1920’s. They hastily built it to remove the pine trees they were harvesting. Interesting signs along the trail explained the process. We work hard hiking but the lumberjacks needed 6000-9000 calories a day to do that kind of work. The food they needed each week to feed 30 men was staggering.

We arrived in Flagstaff on Friday, June 7th. It was not that easy finding a room as there were multiple events going on. I did find us a room at the Budget Host Inn. All the prices in town were jacked up due to the events. The room was recently updated and much nicer than I expected. We hit the Safeway and were surprised to find they did not have gluten free bread all the other Safeway carry. So we had to get corn chips, another item I’m pretty tired of eating.

We are heading out in the morning. The ground is pretty flat and “cruisy” from what we hear. We plan to cover about 100 miles in 4 days. When we get to the south rim of the Grand Canyon we will probably have to wait a day or two to get a permit to camp at the bottom of the canyon before we climb up the north rim. It’s about 33 miles to hike rim to rim and then about 66 miles to complete the trail.

We are in the home stretch!

This trail is tough, demanding, challenging and makes you doubt your abilities and sanity at many levels. It is also breathtaking, gorgeous, spectacular and wonderfully special.

I would not change a thing about this entire process. The weather even though cold at times has worked into our favor.

Everyone tells us we are “late on the trail” starting in early April is considered “late”

But we knew it was an especially cold, wintery season before we arrived and we were hoping and praying the weather would be manageable.

We should be hiking in triple digits most of the time. It has usually been in the 70s with a few 80 degree days scattered about. Once it was almost 90, that the hottest we have encountered. A small miracle some would say. I would like to think it’s because I’m on the trail and I don’t do well in the heat.I would like to believe that I brought my Oregon weather to the Arizona Trail. A stretch of the imagination for sure, but so far so good😊

We are going to make it to the Grand Canyon and we are going to complete this journey.

I can’t believe we have already hiked almost 600 miles. It was hard to imagine reaching this point.

I’m very excited to see the Grand Canyon. Neither Jamey or I have been there before. What a way to experience it together by hiking the Arizona Trail. I feel very humbled by this entire process we have been able to do together.

I am equally excited to be returning to my home state of Oregon with the man I love.

Life is a grand adventure and I look forward to continuing the journey.

Endurance

On May 21, 2019May 21, 2019 By AnnaMeyrickKirkpatrickIn arizona trail, arizona trail 2019, desert hiking, eating well on the trail, Hiking, hiking arizina, life begins at 50, never slow down never grow old, thru hiking with food allergies, trail food, women hikers, women hiking1 Comment

We left Oracle on Monday after we went to the post office in Mammoth. Marnie was kind enough to drive us there and back. She also gave us a ride to the Tiger Mine trailhead and told us where there was water stashed along the way.

It was a particularly dry section and usually in the triple digits this time of the year. We were lucky because it was unseasonably cooler in the high 70’s with cloud cover and a breeze.

The ocotillo were in full bloom, wildflowers still lined the path and countless butterflies fluttered from blossom to blossom.

Since Jamey was still without a sleeping pad we had to plan where we camped carefully. It was far between water resupply so we had to carry 4.5 liters each every time we found water.

We spend the first night in a sandy wash, much softer than the hard ground. A big brown tarantula scuttled past as a tarantula hawk buzzed around looking for it. Pretty cool to watch nature in action.

We were still among the giant Saguaro and many interesting birds kept us entertained that evening.

We did not have much water left so we got up extra early to make the 7 miles to a stock pond. We arrived there around noon and there was not much shade. Water was leaking up from the ground so the whole place was swarming with thirsty insects. Jamey climbed the latter and had access to water barely dribbling out of the spigot. It took a while to collect and filter the water. We had some snacks and tried to find shade the best we could.

We moved on around 2pm and made our way to another wash to spend the night, with no rain in the forecast it was a safe, soft area to camp.

We set an ambitious plan for ourselves to hike close to 25 miles that day so we could get to Kearny and pick up Jamey’s sleeping pad. It was warmer that day with cloud covering coming and going. Saguaros dotted the landscape along with wildflowers and butterflies. Beautiful, dramatic clouds filled the sky as we walked. Water was a huge issue on this section, we had to trust there was water stashed in certain areas. It was all there as we were told, thank goodness for Trail Angels making the trek to trail heads and placing water for hikers.

We hiked all day and then put on our headlamps so we could continue after dark. We walked as far as we could and managed to create an area to put our tent, no soft wash that evening, just the hard ground. My feet were ridiculously sore and I collapsed into bed.

We got up early to make the final 7 miles to Kearny. It always seems slow going because of the rocks and steep paths. We had some entertainment that morning as F-35 fighter planes practiced maneuvers, dog fights, and flying lower in elevation then we were on the hill. I’ve never seen a plane fly lower then where I was standing, they were weaving in between the hills. One plane went super sonic into Mach 1, holy cow what a shocking sound! I was not expecting that.

When we came to the end of the trail Kearny was still 7 miles away. I called the General Kearney Inn where we planned on staying and she said she would call a Trail Angel that volunteers to pick hikers up and bring them to town. Luckily the Trail Angel was home and in about 15 minutes we were in her car heading to Kearny.

Carol was wonderful, she had cold water for us to drink, she dropped us off at the Inn and we checked in.

The “town” of Kearny was incorporated in 1959 as a planned community for people working in the vast copper pit.

It seems nothing new has been built since that time. There are 2 restaurants, a post office, hardware store and super small IGA grocery store. All located on a 3 block stretch.

We were extremely hungry when we arrived but to our dismay all we could find to eat at either restaurant was a small salad bar.

The two restaurants were a pizza place and fried food burger joint.

No breakfast or coffee places.

The gluten free/alternative milk movement has yet to make its way to this small town. The grocery store had very few options for us. They did not even have an avocado 😢

We found some jerky, corn chips and salsa to eat for “dinner”.

I grabbed some hash browns and sausage at the store because thankfully the Inn had a small, communal kitchen I could make breakfast in the next day.

We had salad bar again for lunch and picked up our resupply box from the post office.

We spend our time resting in our room, I binge watched Veep & Barry on the HBO app on my phone. Clean, rested and electronics charged up we were ready to continue our hike.

Carol picked us up at 7am and drove us to the trailhead.

Jamey had his new closed cell sleeping mat we picked up at the post office, so no more sleeping on the ground thankfully.

The weather was great, not too hot. We have been so lucky the entire hike so far, temperatures were far below average and we were reaping the benefits of not having to hike in triple digits.

Water was scarce on this part of the trail as well, we had to be strategic where we camped and how much water we had to carry. Water is heavy and having to carry 5 liters adds up.

The weather was unpredictable on this stretch. It was pretty warm one day so we sat in the shade under a tree next to the river to wait out the direct sun.

We saw clouds moving in that covered the sun and got moving to continue our hike. Our plan was to hike into the evening since we took a long siesta. The clouds kept building and growing darker. Soon the wind picked up and thunder boomed in the distance. Lightening flashed, the clouds turned black and we were literally running ahead trying to find a flat enough spot to put our tent before the storm caught us.

We spotted an area but it was already pouring rain with a strong wind. We threw our packs under a tree and worked on the tent. As soon as it was up enough I crawled in with our backpacks. Jamey had to work on securing our tent and the gusty wind and rain was not helping. He finally made his way into the tent completely drenched. As soon as he sat down the wind ripped up the stakes and he had to go back out to secure it again. This time everything held tight and we waited out the storm crammed in the tent with our wet backpacks.

It stormed for over 2 hours and after it was over we were able to get better arranged before we went to sleep.

The following day started out sunny with some puffy clouds but as the day went on the clouds started to turn dark again. We could see lightning and hear the thunder as we walked the ridge line totally exposed. We expected a repeat from the day before but our trail went a different direction then the storm and it did not pass directly over us. We did endured some strong wind and a little rain. We were concerned about lightening but luckily it was high above us and did not seem to be striking the ground.

Even though we are enjoying the hike and the process there are days when your body is not too sure it wants to hike. It starts to rebel and then your mind jumps on board “ Hey what are you doing? When are we resting again? Don’t you miss your lounge chair? Why are you putting up with such drastic conditions willingly?”

I had a few days like that and every step seems heavy and uninspired.

I know at the point it is a mind game, that you have to ride that out and keep going even though all your cells are crying “Please stop, don’t you miss almond milk lattes and your dog babies?”

Strengthening your mind game is key, listening to music that inspires you helps.

We made it through the storms both mental and the weather.

The next day was sunny with barely a cloud in the sky.

We had to dry camp that night before we arrived at the next town of Superior. We put our trust in the fact there was supposedly a water stash at the next forest road that the trail went past.

As promised multiple gallons of water were stored in a bear box near the trail. A complete lifesaver, again we were so grateful people went out of their way to leave water for hikers. The trail would be impossible to hike without it.

We knew from the Arizona Trail Class of 2019 community group that there were trail angels in Superior that helped hikers.

When we were about 5 miles from completing the section I sent a message to Al and asked if he was able to pick us up at the trailhead and give us a ride into town.

He said he would meet us at Picketpost trailhead around 1:40pm. We got there a little early and rested in the shade under a small tree.

Al arrived in his Jeep, wearing tie dye and turquoise rings. My kind of person. I had called the Copper Mine motel to see if they had rooms and they did.

Al offered us a place to stay at his house, shower, laundry and the works. I did not want to impose but he was pretty persistent. We agreed and he took us to his house. He and his wife MJ had been hosting hikers all season. They had helped out over 100 people in the past 3 months. We were their first guest in May. They seemed happy we were there. They had just moved the previous year to the area from Minnesota to retire. This was their first season helping hikers and they were totally into making hikers feel welcomed and cared for.

As soon as we got there we were able to shower and do laundry.

The town of Superior is another dwindling mining town with a few open business and many closed down. After we were showered Al walked us to the store where we got a few items. There was a bar with food but all I could find were some fries and corn chips with some hamburger meat on top. I ordered those and shared with Jamey. Having food allergies in these small towns was rough.

He invited us to have dinner with them and we agreed. We made tacos together and Jamey

& I enjoyed some hard ciders we found at the store. We crashed out by 8 pm and got a good night sleep.

We got up in the morning to the smell of cooking bacon and coffee. Delightful to say the least. MJ made gluten free/vegan waffles with real maple syrup and blueberries. I had been craving waffles for a while and did not think I would get any until I was done hiking and home. I was in food heaven.

After breakfast Al drove us to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum, the largest and oldest botanical garden west of the Mississippi.

Founded in 1924 as a desert plant research facility and “living museum”, the Arboretum is located in the Sonoran Desert on 392 acres along Queen Creek and beneath the towering volcanic remnant, Picketpost Mountain. Over 2600 species of arid land plants from around the world grow at the Arboretum. Agaves, aloes, boojum trees,cork oaks, jujube trees, legume trees, and, in the Eucalyptus grove, one of the largest red gum Eucalyptus trees(“Mr. Big”) in the United States. Cacti and succulents grow extensively throughout the Arboretum.

It was a fascinating place to walk through, so many birds and animals lived there attracted to the water.

The original houses Boyce Thompson built were still there, one built into the side of a massive rock formation that kept the inside 64 degrees year round. I highly recommend a visit if you are near the area.

After the botanical garden we got some supplies at the grocery store, again very small and not much variety or food options for us. We found a few items to round out of food for the next section.

When we got back to the house I really needed to just rest and put my feet up. I went to the bedroom and stayed there for the afternoon. Jamey visited with our host and went along on errands to the town of Globe. He did manage to find some cliff bars and beef sticks for us.

We had found some fish at the market and Jamey cooked that up for everyone for dinner.

We had a good night sleep and got up early to get ready to start hiking again. I was grateful we were able to get breakfast before we left. MJ had sausage and was planning on biscuits and gravy. I modified some of the gravy for us and made some waffles to put it on. There was an extra waffle so I packed it up for later.

Al drove us back to the trailhead and we said thank you and goodbye.

It was sunny and the hottest day we had so far this hike, around 90. This part of the trail was overgrown and full of tall dried foxtails and other grasses. No wildflowers as the invasive grasses were choking off other plants. As soon as we started this section we ran into rattlesnake after rattlesnake hiding in the grass next to the trail.

Towards the end of the day we found some water, our GPS said there was more water up ahead so we did not fill up all our water bags when we left the creek.

It was getting dark and we arrived at the next noted water site to find there was no water. We only had 3 liters, not enough to make it through the night and hike 6 miles in the morning to the next water source. So we had to turn around and go back towards the last water we found.

The grass was really bad and so were the rattlesnakes, when we came to the dry creek bed we decided to walk in that giving us some clearance. Luckily after 0.4 miles some water came up from the ground and trickled into the creek bed. At this point the rattlesnakes were openly cruising around and aggressively coming after us.

We filtered some water but finding a place to pitch a tent looked grim. Rocks, tall grass and hiding snakes made it extremely difficult.

Jamey scouted ahead in the creek and found a semi flat spot.

We quickly removed the rocks, pulled up grass and carved out a place just big enough for our tent hemmed in on all sides with tall grass that providing hiding places for scary desert creatures. On the plus side the moon was gorgeous and shining through a large saguaro.

We got up really early, filtered more water and headed out. We had another long day before we got to the next water source.

Again the trail was over grown, and right off the bat we ran into rattlesnake after rattlesnake hiding on both sides of the trail in the waist high grass.

At one point we could barely continue because there were active snakes on every side.

I did feel a serious panic rise up, there was literally no where to go.

Going back not an option, no way to go around and moving forward was dangerous.

After throwing huge rocks towards an aggressive snake it was quite for a few minutes and we darted past.

We spent the majority of the day wading through tall grass often as high as our chest, stopping every few minutes to pull foxtails out of our socks and shoes. Such sharp things that quickly make their way to your flesh making walking next to impossible.

The good news was we were climbing in elevation and about to enter the Superstition Wilderness.

That evening that grasses and over abundance of snakes had cleared away to tall trees and forest landscape. It felt so good to leave behind the “valley of death” the name we dubbed the last section.

We camped that night under a picture perfect old sycamore tree next to a flowing creek. A wonderful reward for making it through that horrific section of trail.

The Superstition Mountains are like an oasis, it’s hard to believe you are in Arizona, the prickly pear cactus give away your location. We hiked along Reavis Creek most of the day. This section was named after a man named Elilsha Reavis that put a ranch in the middle of this incredible terrain. He singlehandedly farmed the area with vegetables, planted apple and walnut trees, and had a scattering of livestock. He was know as the hermit of the Superstition Mountains. The Apache thought he had magical powers, the white people though he was a lunatic. He sold his produce in town to make money.

He was supposedly an educated man with an up to date library and rumored he went to college back East. A friend went to check on him one day as he was in his 70s and still did all the many farm chores alone. Reavis was not home so his friend followed the trail until he found him. He had died and fell forward into the fire pit, a nearly starved burro and his hungry dogs were still there. Very interesting history and just a beautiful, magical spot.

We camped that night high up the mountain next to a creek. Before dusk a large group of cowboys came through on their horses. About 12 men in total with many horses that were just packing gear. They were friendly and the leaders first question was to see if everyone was ok and if we needed anything.

We said we were all good and they went on their way.

We slept in a little bit that morning as we only had 7 miles to our next stop of Roosevelt.

We had run out of food and were eager to get there for our resupply and hopefully food.

Roosevelt is just an extremely small lake community. We made our way to the marina where I had packages sent. Since there seemed to be no motel or places to stay we had to camp at the lake. Which sounds amazing until you realize there are no real campsites just tons of RVs pulled along the lake shore. No clean water, no shower, no laundry or real store.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s extremely beautiful and it’s the largest lake in central Arizona. It’s a wonderful spot to enjoy if you had a car and supplies.

We did manage to find a nacho on the menu which we ordered with no cheese. There were only 5 menu items in total so we were grateful. We knew from reading comments on our hiking app that the marina is not very friendly to hikers and often hostile.

We were careful to sit away from other guest, we put our packs and packages out of the way. We waited patiently for someone to give us a menu and even longer for someone to take our order. We were thankful for a meal and a Moscow Mule. We bought a bag of ruffles at the store for a snack later.

We pitched our tent in the one open spot, literally across from 2 outhouses, the garbage and next to the boat dock with lots of loud boat noise and idling car engines. It was hot and humid, the bugs were all over. Someone was blasting loud country music across from us, all of a sudden my senses were overloaded and I could feel myself slipping into serious irritation mode. Jamey reminded me I packed earplugs, so I fished those out, put them in my ears and read a book on my phone while Jamey napped.

It was Sunday afternoon so people started to clear out.

It was getting close to dinner time and the last I checked the marina restaurant was open until 9. We walked up around 6 to find it closed and the store almost closed. We found 2 cans of Dinty Moore beef stew that were free of gluten or dairy. We bought those and ate that for dinner with the rest of the chips. I cannot remember the last time I ate stew out of a can. I was hungry, it was tasty enough and I was grateful for the food.

The sunset was absolutely stunning and we watched that for quite awhile before we went to bed.

The weather said a storm was coming the next day but it arrived in the middle of the night. The strong wind blew tons of fine dust into our tent covering our faces and sleeping bags, we covered our heads while the rain and wind just howled.

Jamey had seen some info on our hiking app about a man named Bobby that helped out hikers in the area, I called that afternoon and no one answered so I left a message that we were looking for a place to shower, do laundry and a possible ride to the trailhead.

We got up early so we could go sit at outside the visitors center and charge our electronics and battery packs. There was still a big storm forecasted for the day and we didn’t know if we should start to hike. Hanging out next to the lake in our tent while a storm raged with no amenities did not sound fun nor did starting a 117.3 mile jump to Pine with dirty clothes and bodies sound doable either.

Luckily I kept my phone on and as we were sitting in the cold morning air charging our stuff my phone rang.

It was Bobby who I called the day before, he had just got back into town and got my message.

He said he had an Airbnb 5th wheel available with beds, heat, shower and we could do our laundry! He said he was going to turn on the propane to heat the water and then he would come and pick us up.

We were in a cozy spot and showered by 8:30am.

Jamey did our laundry and then Bobby gave us a ride to get something to eat. We were able to find a steak salad and an order or fries on the menu. We were pretty happy.

As I write this a major storm is happening outside, heavy rain, hail and wind. I have never been so happy to be inside! We could be caught on the trail in this storm or cold and wet huddled next to the windy lake.

Pretty magical how things have been working out for us on this trip. Everything is unfolding as it should.

We leave for Pine in the morning, our longest stretch between towns and resupply yet. Our longest so far as been about 60 miles. Our packs are already super heavy with the food we need for this stretch and we have not added water weight into the situation.

We are continuing into the Superstition Wilderness which is better than lower elevations.

Many mountains to climb and go down. The weather is usually cold for this time of year. The temperature in Pine today was supposed to be 47 but it only made it to 38!!

We will we higher in elevation then Pine for much of this section, good thing we have warm clothes. Temps seem to be in between high 40s and 60s for the next stretch. It’s almost the end of May, in Arizona! It’s currently snowing again at the north rim of the Grand Canyon.

None of the locals we talk to can remember a spring like this one.

This trail is full of surprises and challenges both physically and mentally.

Our bodies are feeling great and they are slowly adapting to what we ask them to do each day.

We feel more fit physically and we have learned to let a lot of things go. We can stress and worry about things but time and time again things work out just fine in the end.

I have more patience with myself and situations I can’t control.

I have a renewed faith in people after meeting so many wonderful people willing to help strangers with no strings attached.

Having to deal with food and water insecurities helps me better understand what migrants and other displaced people have to struggle with at a deeper level.

Being able to experience wild places and absorb the plant and wildlife makes me feel grateful I can see such things in person before they disappear.

Being able to experience this adventure with Jamey has been priceless and I value the time together. The daily struggles and triumphs have brought us even closer together. They is still no one else I would want to do this with.

When we arrive in Pine we will be at mile 460, over half way done with the trail. I’m looking forward to the northern section of the trail as it gets flatter and the Grand Canyon is waiting.

How many people can say they walked to the Grand Canyon from the Mexican border? I hope I get to be one of those people.

Just one foot in front of the other and to remember that this adventure will sadly be over soon.

I saw this quote and feel it sums everything up wonderfully.

“Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.”

-Jack Kerouac

Head Space

On May 5, 2019May 5, 2019 By AnnaMeyrickKirkpatrickIn arizona trail, arizona trail 2019, desert hiking, eating well on the trail, Hiking, hiking arizina, life begins at 50, meal ideas for thru hiking, naturopathic medicine, never slow down never grow old, resupply on the arizona trail, Senior Hiking, thru hiking with food allergies, trail food, women hikers, women hikingLeave a comment

Tucson was an interesting place, a huge spread out city with only one freeway exit. It makes for long rides anywhere and the REI we needed to go to was on the other side of town located in the Tucson Mall. After a long Uber ride, mission accomplished as we found the items we needed; Sleeping pad, head lights and Jamey exchanged his shoes for a bigger size.

We did enjoy our down time at the La Quinta Inn, they had laundry facilities on site so that was a huge bonus. We were also really close to Sweet Tomatoes Restaurant, we ate there 2 nights in a row. We are allergic to all their sides, bread and other items which is okay, we just needed lots of fresh produce and the huge salad bar did not disappoint.

We were hanging out all weekend in Tucson because we needed to go to the post office Monday to get the resupply box I mailed ahead. We got up early, walked the mile to Starbucks for cold brew and sat outside to call the post office to see which location my resupply ended up. First of all no one answered the phone at any of the post offices which was frustrating. We called the 800 number with the tracking number and were informed my box was being returned and the system could not tell me exactly where it was. I still had no luck with the local post offices answering the phone so I called our hometown post office where I mailed it from. It was not returned there and the system could not say exactly where it was. We had to give up hope that we would get our resupply box in Tucson and went to Safeway to get some food.

If we would have known my box was “lost” we would not have spent so much time and energy hanging around Tucson. We shook off the upset and focused on the trail ahead of us.

We needed a ride back to the trailhead Tuesday morning so I posted on the Arizona Trail Class of 2019 on Facebook asking for help. A trail angel named Pat answered the post and agreed to meet us at Le Buzz and drop us off on her way to work. Le Buzz was the first place we stopped when we got to Tucson and it was a great way to leave as we ordered an iced almond milk latte before we hit the trail.

Pat was super friendly and had a trail register in her car for all the hikers she helped out. She was working on section hiking 400 miles of the trail. We arrived at the trailhead, grabbed our backpacks and said goodbye to Pat.

We headed into the Sabino Canyon area, absolutely gorgeous. Wildflowers blooming and cactuses lined the path as we made our way higher in elevation the trees got bigger, everything was green and lush.

We made our way up the trail crossing the creek at many points. It was a great water day! The creek that worked it’s way through Sabino Canyon was fast flowing and had carved out the granite as it flowed through the landscape.

This was a very popular area for day hikers and we passed many on our way.

We got to Hutch’s Pool around 4 pm and sat and enjoyed the incredible scenery. We pitched our tent on the soft sandy beach next to the deep pool surrounded by pine trees and large granite boulders.

We got a good night sleep as we knew the next day was one of the most challenging elevation gains we would have to tackle on this journey.

We got up around 5:30 and were on the trail by 6:30am. The trail was mostly granite rock we scrambled up most of the day. Luckily there was the flowing creek we had access to multiple times that day so we did not have to carry as much water as we hiked up, a blessing because multiple liters of water gets heavy.

It was a strenuous day and as we got closer to the top the trail description went from difficult to extreme. Holy cow, what a challenging climb literally straight up the granite rocks to the top.

The altitude was around 8000 ft and my brain has a hard time functioning that high up.

We got a little discombobulated and missed the Arizona Trail marker and instead continued to climb straight up to the summit.

Luckily after 0.3 miles we realized we were supposed to be going down in elevation, checked our GPS, said a few choice words and retraced our way back down.

This area is called Wilderness of Rocks 🤣

The descent was crazy and my legs and feet were protesting loudly. We worked our way down to Lemmon Creek and found a sweet campsite near the water.

A beautiful pine forest surrounded us and we slept hard that night.

We got up at our usual 5:30 and were on the trail by 6:30am.

We had another long day of steep elevation gain and brutal descents. The rocky trail was starting to wear on me, my feet were still sore and I was really tired. It was the first time I did not want to hike, I just wanted to sleep some more and rest. It was cold in the morning and I had to start out hiking with my down jacket on.

We made our way to Summer Haven, a little mountain town that was literally on the trail.

The trail became the road to town and we continued on that, at least it was a flat surface with no rocks.

We stopped and had lunch and a drink at the Sawmill Run Restaurant at 11 am. We sat on the deck and enjoyed the view.

After that we filled up 8 liters of water at the community center and continued up the trail. I was really dragging at this point, I was tired, my belly was too full of food and I was second guessing my choice of a prickly pear margarita at lunch. I really just wanted a nap, I felt sluggish and done for the day.

But no time to rest and a Grateful Dead line kept running through my head “You can’t go back and you can’t stand still” so I continued. We had to hike Oracle Ridge and were happy there was cloud cover that day as we made our way over an incredibly rocky trail. We saw a cool lizard and a horny toad on this trail. Awesome.

We made it to the top around 4pm and the trail turned into a steep rocky old road (no cars) that was difficult to walk without fear of slipping on the loose rocks.

Miles of sharp rocks wreck havoc on the bottoms of your feet. Mine were screaming and I relied heavily on my poles for support. Right before it got dark we found a flat campsite someone marked on the GPS app.

We were happy as there were not many flat spots without rocks in the area. I had been nauseous all day and I did not want anything for dinner, just water and to lie flat.

Jamey put up the tent and we assembled our beds.

Just as a was about to drift off I heard

Psssssssssssssssss and in shock noticed my sleeping mat was deflating!!

There was a small rock under our tent that managed to slice my mat through the tent floor.

It was devastating. We got out the repair kit and did the best we could but the tear was large.

The patch did not work and I soon found myself on the hard, cold ground.

Jamey said he would take the flat mat and I resisted for about 10 minutes as I did not want him to suffer. He insisted and I gratefully switched mats. I felt really bad he was on the ground, it was cold but we were glad it was not any colder or it would have been a more devastating night.

We were on the trail the next morning by 6:30am. We had to dry camp the previous night so we did not have much water when we left, about a liter of water between us.

We knew there was a cow tank 3.5 miles a head so we hiked at a quick pace. Luckily the trail left the rocky old road and we were on a softer path as we made our way to water.

We got there around 9:30am,

I was having some issues with resupply items I had ordered from Amazon. The packages were suppose to have arrived Wednesday, it was Friday and they still had not arrived. According to UPS the package was lost and they were going to start an “investigation”. I then had to call Amazon and tell them they needed to resend my food but I was hiking and not at the same location. So frustrating as it was my resupply food for the next week and I know the town Oracle only has a Circle K.

I had them mail my package to my mom and asked my mom to mail it to the next town. I am hoping this works as towns with resupply options are getting slim on the trail ahead.

Soon we have between 75-115 miles in between resupply towns, sketchy.

After Jamey got water out of the cow tank (luckily we arrived as it was being pumped straight out of the well), it was clean but we filtered it anyway.

With water resupplied and phone calls made about our packages we headed off.

We had 12 miles to go to reach Mammoth where I did have a few resupply packages waiting at the post office but they close at 4:30pm and it was obvious we would not make it in time.

The trail was a real treat that day, relatively flat with soft dirt for most of it. We made good time, stopping for an hour long break during the heat of the day.

We could see Biodome 2 out in the distance for part of the trail.

Pretty cool.

We were back at around 2000 ft elevation quiet the change from the 8000 ft the day before.

The landscape was flat and filled with cactus, wildflowers and butterflies everywhere.

We stopped by High Jinx Ranch for water that was available out of the spigot, cool historic place.

Buffalo Bill Cody made a gold mine claim there that never panned out and after he died his adopted son turned it into a homestead. It is now a registered historical landmark.

When we were 2 miles from the end of the section we realized we could be in town for the evening, we were going to go to Mammoth because that is where the post office is that has my packages.(7 miles from the trailhead) We called the one motel in the area and they were booked all weekend, my heart sank a little.

Then we called the Chalet Motel in Oracle, not only did they have a room for us they said they would pick us up at the trailhead!

Wonderful!

The people that run the Chalet Motel are “Trail Angels”, they pick hikers up, help them resupply, stash water at places along the trail when water is scarce, they let you use the laundry and have a huge “hike box” they maintain. Hikers are always taking stuff out of their packs and other hikers can take what they want.

They even gave us a ride to the breakfast spot in the morning.

We can’t say enough wonderful things about these people, we were glad Mammoth motel was full as this is definitely where we needed to be.

After a delicious breakfast at The Oracle Patio Cafe we came back to our room to make a game plan for the upcoming trail.

Water is scarce for this next section and towns with resupply options are few and far between.

Jamey is making a detailed agenda for water and resupply, not the easiest.

I have learned a lot on this trail already, I already knew I would have to be flexible with a sense of humor but when your resupply boxes are lost and packages don’t get delivered it can be mildly frustrating.

I will say we have taken it all in stride and adjusted as needed to maintain a good attitude.

This is a voluntary adventure we are on, we knew obstacles would arise and they have.

It’s all about your mental headspace and how you deal with issues that matter. We are still in love with this trail and the process of hiking it. We are welcoming all personal growth opportunities that come our way.

We have grown individually and together as a couple as we sort out each day and challenges that arise.

There is a lot of time for daily personal reflection as you hike.

Memories I have not revisited in years pop up, fragments of songs play that I did not think I liked, all random and out of the blue. I find it interesting that with no daily “busy stuff” your mind roams around and does it’s own thing. I am fascinated by this and surrender to the flow.

There are no errands to do, houses to clean or jobs to do.

Our only “job” right now is hiking, surviving and hopefully making it to the end of the trail.

We know we have some hard sections ahead and rough terrain to cover, but we are optimistic about our prospects to complete this hike. We do have to up our milage from now on if we are going to make it by our deadline. I need to shake down my pack and send stuff home like my full size feather pillow, blue lights and extra battery packs. (I’m pretty sad about my pillow but it’s so necessary.)

I want to complete this trail and I need to shed pack weight in order to hike more miles a day.

We are enjoying each moment, each day, our time out here on the trail. It’s such a blessing to be able to attempt such a hike. We don’t take any of it for granted nor get too upset about the setbacks.

It’s all about the journey, not the destination.

“And if life is a blessing

That brushes the tops of the trees

Well it’s a short walk, in a sweet breeze.”- Paul Simon

Trail Legs

On April 29, 2019April 29, 2019 By AnnaMeyrickKirkpatrickIn arizona trail, arizona trail 2019, eating well on the trail, Hiking, life begins at 50, meal ideas for thru hiking, naturopathic medicine, never slow down never grow old, Senior Hiking, thru hiking, trail food, ultra light hiking, vegan gluten free trail food, women hiking1 Comment

We had a great time exploring Patagonia waiting for my shoes to arrive. It is amazing what a pair of properly sized shoes can do on a thru hike, I went with the Salomon XA Pro 3D. Just perfect!!

Patagonia is one of the oldest towns in Arizona. It started out as a mining town and is still one today. New mines are being created now on Native America land without proper mitigation. The population is 900 and one of the most art forward small towns I have ever visited. Galleries, performing art centers, community art center and a place called Grayce’s Gift. Her son bought Grayce one of the original mining houses in the 70’s and they restored it. She spent her life building up the art community in Patagonia. The shop has treasures from all over the world, including an extensive Day of the Dead collection.

They are only opened on the weekend and we were able to stop in on our way to dinner at the Wagon Wheel Saloon, established in 1937. Great enchiladas and Moscow Mules.

I have to give a big thank you to Gathering Grounds Cafe, we ate breakfast there everyday. Almond milk lattes, gluten free bread and on our last day in town they made a special gluten free, vegan chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting. So delicious and filling we were satisfied with that for dinner.

We hit the trail again on Wednesday, April 17. Our Airbnb hosts joined us for the first 3 miles that morning. Wonderful retired couple. They have different houses next to each other, like Frida & Diego they explained.

She is a wonderful artist with a charming house, amazing garden and spacious art studio. We stayed in her spare room and felt very welcomed.

On the trail we came across another thru hiker that was just finishing a packet of tuna fish for breakfast. He wanted to join our group as we were still with our Airbnb hosts. After our hosts turned back towards their home he hiked with us. He was also having a “shoe issue” but he was going to Vail to pick up shoes he ordered (60 miles ahead).

He soon realized we are not in a big hurry on this trail. When we came to a rest spot he declined to join us. We checked our GPS before we starting hiking again and realized he was walking the wrong way. It was too late to tell him. We just hoped he checked his position soon. He was not well prepared for the AZT, really small hat with very little brim, he tried to use a small, black, compact rain umbrella for the sun. It was not working and he left it with our hosts. We did not see his name of the next trail register.

It was a full on day with huge elevation gains. We came to “Cement Dam” around 4 pm and decided to camp there for the night. Great little spot and anytime we can camp near water it is a huge bonus.

The next day was another huge elevation gain so we started early. Lots of creeks and water along the way. Half way through our day we followed an old water system that supplied water to Kentucky camp for gold mining. The trail sparkled with gold dust as we walked.

In that area there is no gold next to water and no water next to gold. Quite the innovative, expensive project for its time.

As we were making our way to Kentucky Camp for the night we were passed by a few dozen mountain biker riders. We would have to quickly jump off the trail to let them pass. They were all on a time trial to race the 800 mile Arizona Trail. They often ride 15-20 hours a day. I can’t imagine riding a bike on this trail, it’s hard enough to hike it.

We rolled into Kentucky Camp just as it was getting dark. The camp host met us, told us we could camp anywhere and pointed us to the clean, filtered running water.

Kentucky Camp is an old mining camp with preserved adobe buildings and the inside showcasing what it looked like back in the day.

We pitched our tents a little way up on the hill, close but far enough away from the water that we would not be bothered by the night time bike riders. When I got up at 5 am they were still filtering in taking advantage of the nearly full moon.

We left Kentucky Camp with only 2 liters of water each because according to our map there was water up ahead. I don’t know what happened but we must of missed it. By the time we checked our map we had passed it a long way back and realized our next water source was still 8 miles a way.

We go through A TON of water each day, hydration is key and hiking in Arizona on such a hot, rugged trail it makes you sweat profusely.

We made it to a cattle trough around 2pm and decided to call it a day. We sat in the shade of the water tank that fed the trough and Jamey worked on filtering our water. He soon realized that our filter was having serious issues and not working properly. It was taking almost an hour to get a liter of water. Not good.

It was a scenic spot on a ridge, we watched a glorious sunset and then saw the full moon rise.

Jamey stayed up until 12:30 am trying to filter water for the next day and was only able to filter 2 liters for each of us.

I passed out around 9:30pm.

We got up at 5am so we could try and reach our next water source which was 14 miles away.

We did see an incredible sunrise and moon set as we packed up camp.

The day was hot and we were lucky to find water in a creek that was not on the map. Jamey filtered 3 more liters and then we were on the trail again. The sun climbed high with no clouds in the sky as we made our way through breathtaking wildflowers and blooming cactuses. It was a long, hot beautiful day and we were happy to make it to our next water source and spot for the night.

Our water spot was a large cow pond with dozens of cows enjoying the area.

We sat in the shade and Jamey worked on getting us some water. Still a very difficult situation. We realized it would be impossible to continue with the condition of our

filters.

We put up our tent away from the cows but some curious ones followed us over. They are gentle but big and we got a little concerned when they started head butting each other 10 feet from our tent. Luckily a bike rider came through and their attention was diverted and they wandered away.

We got up early and walked to the highway which was close by. It was Easter Sunday and we did not know if anyone would pick us up. Not everyone knows about the Arizona Trail and there is a large homeless population around. We did not know if people would see us as thru hikers or as homeless people.

We tried to get a ride for about 45 minutes with no luck and then a car going the other direction did a u-turn and pulled up next to us.

A “Trail Angel” had appeared, her wife was doing the trail in sections and she was shadowing her with supplies. She gave us a ride to where we wanted to go, the new Safeway store that had just opened up in Vail 19 days earlier.

We were very grateful and happy for the ride and the new store in the area. (Vail does not have a motel or laundry mat.) According to our Guthook app there was just a Circle K in the area so this was a wonderful surprise.

We were able to get supplies for an Easter Feast, gluten free bread, Turkey, avocado, fresh blueberries, apples and grapefruit juice I was craving.

Jamey got 2 gallons of water and back flushed our filters getting all the algae out. With the filters back in action and since there are no motels or Airbnb’s in the area we decided to camp at Colossal Cave Campground.

No showers, just pit toilets, water out of the spigot and a picnic table (exciting as we usually eat sitting on the ground) perfect for what we needed, a spot to stay so we could go to the post office Monday and get our resupply boxes.

The campground was beautiful and in the Saguaro cactus area. Stunning scenery and we literally had the entire campground to ourselves.

Monday we got our resupply from the post office and went to a nearby restaurant where they let us sit outside and organize our resupply and gear.

We went to Safeway after that, got lattes, plugged in our electronics and battery banks and bought a few more items we needed.

The next morning we walked up to the actual Colossal Cave to do the cave tour before heading back out on the trail. Interesting, unique cave with cool history including the CCC doing the work to make the cave a proper tourist attraction and also building the campground. Too much information for this blog but I recommend researching this place.

We headed back out after the tour around 11 am, luckily the trail continued next to our camp site. We had wonderful clouds that day as we walked through the giant Saguaros, wild flowers, and other blooming cactuses.

We ran into 2 rattlesnakes and were thankful they give you advanced warning they are there.

We stop, back up and go way around them. They don’t want to bite you unless they are very threatened. Jamey walks ahead making noise with his poles so they have plenty of advanced warning. We don’t want to sneak up on them.

Because we had a late start we decided to camp near a creek about 7 miles from Colossal Cave.

We slept well that night, waking up a little later then usual and were not on the trail until about 9 am. We had plenty of water with us and our trail for the day had a massive elevation gain before we reached our camp for the evening.

Since we entered Saguaro National Park we had to camp in designated camp areas. I called the day before to get the necessary permits. Because we are thru-hikers they let us do it over the phone and just kept the permits on file in their office.

It was a hot day and we did not want to hike when it was the heat of the day so we decided to stop for a long break in the shade of a saguaro until around 3 pm. We reached Grass Shack Campground 5 minutes before it was completely dark. Jamey put the tent up, we ate dinner and went to bed.

We got up the next morning early and got all packed up. It was Jamey’s birthday and our goal was Manning Camp just 4 miles away but 3000 ft straight up. It was a serious climb and interesting to watch the cactus get smaller and the pine trees get bigger. Saguaros are very particular where they like to grow and at the high elevation they disappeared.

The high pine forest was a treat as the needles made for a softer hiking surface. The wild flowers disappeared as did most of the other cactuses.

Manning Camp was founded in 1903 by the mayor of Tucson, he used it as a summer place for his family to escape the summer heat. In the 30’s the area was purchased by the National Forest Service. We saw about 8 Forest Service employees that live there in tents doing research like placing audio recording devices in tress to capture owl sounds.

Wonderful water from a fast flowing creek that we filtered. Campsite had a log split in half for a bench and a pit toilet.

Pretty sweet spot with an outstanding view from the granite rocks.

Jamey getting water to filter at Manning Camp

The next morning we hiked down Mica Mountain, so steep, so rocky, so sparklingly with silver mica flakes. It looked like the entire trail and rocks were covered in glitter. We had lunch break at Tanque Verde, a lush spot with a glorious flowing little creek.

We spent a few hours filtering water and watching the butterflies flutter about.

We knew we would have to dry camp that evening (no water source) so we made our hot meal for the day, drank lots of water and filtered 8 liters of water for the rest of the day and the morning. We left about 2:30pm and hiked until the sun went down.

Looking for a suitable camp spot- the grass covers the many rocks

We were in a very rocky part of the trail that was starting a 3 mile descent. Camping spots were slim and it was getting dark. We had to turn around and hike back up the trail looking for a suitable place to pitch the tent.

We saw a semi flat area in the knick of time. We quickly moved the rocks out of the way and cleared the area. We each had 2 liters of water left, no need for a hot dinner as we had it earlier.

Jamey put the tent up, we ate a few bars in our tent and passed out.

We only had 9 miles to go to get to the end of that section so we got up at 5 am and were on the trail by 5:45 am. We knew it was going to be really hot and we wanted to be done hiking by noon.

We made it to our next water source 4 miles away from where we camped and filtered 2 liters each. Our water from the day before was already gone.

It was only 9 miles but it had huge descents and another massive climb before we reached the end.

It was very challenging and my feet were sore from the many rocks on the trail. The rocks are sharp and rarely do you get to put your foot down on a flat surface. You just pick and dance your way over rocks of every size and shape. My new shoes are great but nothing can protect your feet from the rocks.

We made it to the end of the trail section, a primitive camp area and the Catalina Hwy greeted us. I had made a sign at Colossal Cave that said “AZT Thru Hiker – Town Please” hoping that would help identify us as safe passengers.

We stepped on to the side of the highway and I got my sign out.

The first van that passed us pulled over and offered us a ride. We had been there maybe 30 seconds. An older lady in a new camper van gave us a ride exactly where we wanted to go, the coffee shop La Buzz next to a Safeway. We enjoyed an iced almond milk latte and then picked up supplies at the store before calling an Uber to take us to a motel.

We had a motel in mind but our driver informed us that it was in a sketchy part of town full of drugged out zombies. He recommended La Quinta Inn located in safer area with plenty of restaurants and shops close by.

We agreed and in a short amount of time had a room. We had our first shower in 11 days, a comfortable bed, AC and a fridge for our snacks.

We have been on the trail 16 days and hiked 161 miles of rocky terrain. We still have a ways to go to reach the end but we are excited for the rest of the adventure.

I am in such awe of this trail, the endless varieties of wildflowers in every color, blooming cactuses, fluttering butterflies everywhere, new varieties of birds and bird songs we have never seen or heard before.

Although we have encountered 5 rattlesnakes and a Gila Monster we feel pretty safe out here. Paying close attention to our surroundings, making sure we are protected from the sun and properly hydrated is of course key.

Gila Monster

The terrain of this trail is so varied. Huge sky islands to go up and down, hot desert floors to survive.

We have our trail legs now and adjust each day according to what the trail is going to be like. As we go through the hot basins we will get up really early and be on the trail around 5 am, stopping during the heat of the day and then continuing until dark.

I wear a Fitbit Versa and I like looking at the data which breakdowns my nightly sleep, steps, heart rate, floors climbed, miles and calories burned.

I’ve noticed I sleep more soundly outside and the Fitbit confirms this.

I have to admit I did not take the lightweight, blow up hiking pillow. I brought my full size feather pillow that weighs as much as my sleeping bag, luckily I can fit it in the compression bag with my sleeping bag. I know I should send it home to save weight, but I NEED it😊

I enjoy the sounds of the trail, the silence, the wind, the birds. I have music on my phone and earbuds but I’m not interested.

I like the quiet.

My food taste have also changed and I have found it hard to eat certain foods I packed. The first 2 weeks I was pretty nauseated a lot of the time. The nausea is getting better but I currently cannot stomach the thought of eating chia seed mix for breakfast. That is very unfortunate because it is such a good way to start the day. I have to find a good replacement for breakfast while I’m in Tucson.

Jamey loves the chia seed breakfast so he can have all of mine. I also packed a lot of mochas for the morning, I do not want those either. I’ve been sending the food and drinks I don’t want home.

I’ve replaced my morning & afternoon coffee with Nuuns, an effervescent electrolytes with caffeine tabs that dissolve in water. I take electrolytes capsules as well.

Sorting our supplements

Besides sore feet from rocks, my body is adjusting and feeling great at the end of each day. The climbs are getting easier and my heart rate is more controlled. My gut is generally happy, my mood is great and I look forward to each day. I also find I don’t get splitting migraines on the trail which is nice. I am having some serious allergy issues so I need to take Benadryl and use a nose spray in order to breathe but it is all manageable.

Jamey is a great hiking partner and we enjoy each other’s company which is good considering we go days without seeing another person.

While we are in Tucson we are going to REI to find better, bigger water filters, replace a Therma-rest sleeping pad and Jamey needs to exchange his shoes for a bigger size. Tomorrow is Monday and we will go to the Post Office to pick up our resupply box and mail items we don’t need or want back home.

Luckily Tuscan has health food stores so I can find what I need to replace the chia breakfast.

We have completed 10 passages of the AZT, we start the Santa Catalina passage Tuesday and will be done with the southern part of the trail by Thursday. Pretty exciting to see the progress on the map.

With our trail legs fully kicked in we should be able to crank out more miles each day. Water is a huge motivator for more miles and getting off the valley floor into the mountains is another.

I’m still excited to see how this journey will unfold and how this experience will shape us both individually and as a unit.

It’s a blessing to be able to be here in this beautiful state on this spectacular trail with one of my favorite people.

Thank you all for your good thoughts and prayers.

I’m humbled.

Assumptions, Adjustments, Acclimation & Awe

On April 13, 2019April 13, 2019 By AnnaMeyrickKirkpatrickIn arizona trail, arizona trail 2019, eating well on the trail, Hiking, life begins at 50, naturopathic medicine, never slow down never grow old, thru hiking, thru hiking with food allergies, trail food, women hiking, z packs5 Comments

Leaving the house to begin this journey I hoisted my backpack on to my shoulders and attempted to get it in a comfortable position, I quickly realized that was not going to happen. Panic started to rise up, what am I thinking?! I can’t carry this pack a few hundred yards let alone 800 miles. I was filled with dread. I just”assumed” the pack I was using for overnight hikes would work for a long thru hike. I had a ULA Catalyst, a very wonderful pack.

I was mad at myself for making such an unfounded conclusion and not really walking around with it fully loaded until I was headed out the door. Jamey assessed the situation and assured me I would be ok.

“When we reach LA we will find a sporting good store and I will buy you a new pack. I think yours is too small for your long back and you need a better hip belt so the weight will be better distributed.”

That made me feel better, I enjoyed the rest of the train ride. We had a nearly 10 hour wait before our evening train. Plenty of time to find a pack.

We arrived in LA around 12:30 pm and ordered a Lyft to take us the sporting goods store. It was vast and had a large assortment of packs. A helpful salesman measured my back and picked out one he thought would work.

I transferred all of my gear into the new pack and put it on. Immediately I could feel the difference of a well fitted pack, no pain anywhere and the hip belt was spectacular and the weight was not all on my shoulders.

My backpack- I’ve nicknamed “Pinchy La Rue” because it’s lobster red, and the hip belt is like a claw. Reminded me of a particular Simpson Episode

With my new backpack we took a Lyft to the Hollywood area and walked around, ate food, had coffee and people watched. My backpack was like magic and I could not help but beam while we walked around.

We boarded our overnight train to Tucson around 9:30pm. We had a sleeper car and quickly put our beds down, we were tired.

We slept well and noticed in the middle of the night that the train stopped for a long while, we did not think anything of it.

Our sleeper before we made the beds

We woke up about 6am and slowly started getting ready. We were scheduled to arrive in Tucson around 7:30.

I received a phone call from Scott, an Arizona Trail Angel who was picking us up at the train station to take us to the trail. He wanted to know if the train was on time. I said I would check in with the conductor and let him know.

Moments later the conductor walked passed and informed me we were about an hour and a half late. I informed Scott.

Jamey returned from getting water and overheard another passenger say that the train was delayed because there was a stabbing in coach! It took a while for the police to come and arrested the perpetrator, the victim escaped with slashed hands and was taken to a local hospital. I’ve been on numerous Amtraks and always felt safe.

This time I was very grateful we had a sleeper car and were able to rest and not be involved with the craziness in coach.

Scott picked us up and took us to his truck. I climbed in the backseat and Jamey took the front.

“Hope you guys like George Clinton because I’m going to blast it.”

We do and he did, while driving fast and getting upset at fellow drivers.

“Hey do you mind if I smoke a cigarette?” He said

Jamey and I paused, we both dislike smoke and it makes my allergies act up and they were already wrecking havoc on me.

“ I guess you can do whatever you feel you need to do.” I replied

He decided not smoke in the truck thankfully.

Scott was a colorful character and shared about his life and hiking adventures. He had retired from the military 2 years ago when he was 40, he completed the AZT in 38 days he said when he left the Army.

Impressive.

We had to pick up one more person, an older gentleman who at 62 was going to bike the AZT.

With us all in the truck we made a stop at a local Mexican food place Scott really liked.

We needed a good luck burrito he said, he takes all AZT thru hikers he picks up there to start the journey.

We are allergies to flour so we went with tacos.

“ Everyone that has stopped for a burrito is still on the trail. Those that did not have one have quit the trail.” He told us.

He did not look so sure about our taco choice, but we were happy with the meal.

With full bellies we loaded back into the truck.

It was about another 20 minutes to where he was dropping us off.

We arrived at the Coronado Visitor Center,got out of the truck and grabbed our backpacks. I gave him over $60 as a donation for gas and his time

Coronado Memorial Visitor Center

He pointed down a path across from the parking lot.

“You two go that way to the trail head,” he pointed to another path for the biker.

Jamey filled up 4 liters of water each. The sky looked like rain and it was kind of chilly.

We went into the Coronado Visitor Center, the lady at the counter asked if we were hiking the AZT, we confirmed we were and she handed us a cute colorful souvenir map of the route.

In the back of my mind I was beginning to wonder if this was where we should start our hike.

I thought we started at the Montezuma Monument, we are suppose to walk down the trail 0.9 miles and take our “start of the trail” photo and then hike back, cross the road and continue on the AZT.

We had not factored hiking “Joe’s Canyon Trail” to get to the AZT trail head.

As soon as we started hiking it began to rain so we pulled out our rain jackets and continued on. Then it started to hail and the wind picked up. It was an uphill trail with 1360 feet of elevation change.

We stopped,had a snack and continued on.

View of visitor center from high up on Joe’s Trail

The afternoon was slipping by, not the early start we had hoped for.

We finally reached the parking lot for Montezuma’s Monument and I was really wondering why our “Trail Angel” did not just take us here, it was not that much further up the road from where he dropped us.

It was a beautiful trail, and the hike was not the problem. The problem was the late start to begin with and the fact that it was 8 difficult miles to the next water source. Our plan was to make it to Bathtub Springs the first day. Now there was no way that was going to happen.

Joe’s Canyon Trail

We hiked down toward the very steep trail to the monument.

Jamey suggested we leave our packs on the side of the trail and do a quick up and back.

We did take our I.D & money with us.

We made it down and took our photos. The vista was impressive at the Mexico/Arizona border. Only a small barbed wire fence separated the 2 countries. Not a soul to be seen anywhere.

The beginning of the AZT- Mexico/Arizona border

We walked back up the trail and retrieved our undisturbed packs.

By this time it was late afternoon and the sun was low on the horizon. A woman who was just starting out with her husband on bikes offered to take our photo before we started our hike.

The beginning of the AZT goes up to Miller’s Peak. It is a 3500 ft elevation change in 4 miles. The uphill starts as soon as you put your foot on the trail.

Warning Indeed! Miller’s Peak is a beast

We quickly realized there was no way we could make it to Bathtub Springs that evening. We were hoping to make it to a flat spot we saw on the map to make camp for the night but the fading light was making that difficult. With the light almost gone and huge rocks on the steep path the going was slow.

I was starting to panic as there was no place to stop and put up our tent and it was past dusk.

We rounded a bend and just in the nick of time the trail gave way to a flat spot, still on the trail but big enough to camp for the evening.

I was relieved and grateful.

I was really having a hard time adjusting to the quick altitude change since we just came from sea level. My head was pounding, I was nauseated and my heart rate would not settle down.

Lucky for me my love and hiking partner is a medical doctor and veteran hiker.

He quickly got the tent up, my bed ready and got me out of the wind. I drank water and had to fight to keep it down. Jamey was prepared for altitude sickness on my part and gave me some supplements he packed.

We did not feel like cooking a hot meal and I was still struggling to keep water down.

Jamey prepped our cold soak chia seed breakfast so we would have food in the morning.

As darkness spread across the sky the stars came out and we could see the lights in the valley below from a little Mexican town.

It was a gorgeous view.

I feel into a restless sleep with my head pounding, heart racing and stomach churning.

We woke with the sun, packed up camp and continued up the steep trail.

We stopped about a mile up and sat down for our chia seed breakfast (chia seed, hemp seed, freeze dried berries, coconut milk and protein powder) I created this nutritional dense breakfast so we would be powered up for the day. It has over 800 calories, plenty of protein, carbs and fat.

We ate our breakfast and drank the rest of our remaining water, assuming it would not take us that long to reach Bathtub Springs to refill our water supply.

Stopping for breakfast on Miller’s Peak Trail

Miller’s Peak Trail is no joke and we soon realized the elevation gain and very rocky path made us slow down in order to prevent injury. We picked our way over rocks, ankle biters and scaled large boulders.

The Rocky Miller’s Peak Trail

We passed a few day hikers huffing up the trail, nobody stopped to chat. We were all focused on the trail. We did run into another thru hiker and we exchanged trail names and kept moving.

Hours later we reached the summit of over 9090 ft.

No water for hours but thankfully the chia seed breakfast was slowly releasing water and we still felt pretty good.

We started our descent to Bathtub Springs, the trail was slow going in parts because there was still snow on the path along with huge rocks. I carefully placed one foot in front of the other grateful for my sturdy hiking poles and well fitted back pack. I was starting to adjust to the altitude and going down in elevation was helpful.

Making my way to Bathtub Springs

We had been hiking for 5 strenuous hours with no water and then Bathtub Springs came into view around 2 pm. I have never been so grateful to see a bathtub!

A fresh spring was piped to fill the tub. We put our packs down and Jamey quickly began filtering our water.

Bathtub Springs- first water source on the AZT

It was rest and lunch time.

The Thru hiker we met earlier showed up along with a day hiker. We chatted a bit and then they both moved on.

After the other hikers left Jamey noticed a gigantic, colorful moth on the ground warming up in a small patch of sunlight. It was not concerned when we took pictures and admired it’s beauty. It hung out on the ground for about 10 minutes and then fluttered up to a pine tree. We had never seen anything like it so I googled it.

It was a Cecropia Silk Moth, the largest silk moth in North America. They have no mandibles and only live 1-3 weeks just enough time to mate.

Incredible to see such a beauty.

Cecropia Silk Moth

We knew there was a camp site a few hundred meters away and we decided to stay for the night.

Around 4 pm we packed up and walked the short distance to the camp site.

It was really lovely and picturesque.

We made camp, there was a fire ring and lots of dried wood so I made a fire while Jamey completed our tent set up.

I brought a string of blue lights weighing(2oz) and strung them on our tent. The steady blue glow gave a homey feel in the middle of the remote wilderness. We both quickly agreed we should put them up every night. We have battery packs with us to charge our electronics and the blue lights plug into a USB port.

Perfect!

Our campsite near Bathtub Springs

We drank as much water as we could and had our first hot meal.

Black bean, sweet potato, brown rice stew that I put together.

We prepped our cold soak breakfast for the morning and then crashed out and slept solid until the sun came up.

We packed up camp and walked back to the spring to filter more water, eat breakfast and have coffee.

Once we were sorted we put our packs on and headed down the trail. Slight uphill and then it was a descent of extremely steep switchbacks littered with ankle breaking rocks as we went down 3000 ft in at a pace of 550 ft a mile.

Working my way down Miller’s Peak Trail

Uphills are one thing, steep descents are a completely different animal. With every step my toes were smashed into the front of my shoes. My toes started to scream in protest.

I began to think maybe my shoes were not big enough to handle the stress of big down hills.

We made it down to the next water source called “Cement Trough”. There was no water in the trough but plenty in the flowing creek.

We set up camp, filtered water and had a great dinner, cheesy potato broccoli soup and went to bed.

We awoke in the morning by the sound of wild turkeys, we could not see them but enjoyed waking up to the sounds of nature.

As we were breaking camp we met a day hiker making his way up to Bathtub Springs and a thru hiker names “Honey Legs”

Honey Legs told us he had a late start the day before and did Miller’s Peak with only one liter of water in the heat of the day! The website about Miller’s Peak trail says you should have at least 3 liters per person. He was happy that was behind him and he continued down the trail.

We loaded up our packs and set out. It was a flatter trail and we made good time, we were heading towards the Parker Canyon Creek to rest and resupply our water. On our way there we ran into armed border patrol packing a semi automatic rifle in his arms and a pistol on his belt. We chatted for a few minutes and he told us the water was up ahead.

We made it to the creek, flung our packs off and sat in the shade. It was sunny with no tree cover the entire hike that day. We even broke out our sun umbrellas to use. I was happy to discover I could tuck the handle under my chest straps leaving my hands free for my poles.

My sun umbrella-One of my best investments

I took off my shoes and soaked my feet in the cool water. My shoes were definitely not big enough now and they were not happy. We took a few hours to sit in the shade, drink water, started our cold soaks and made our dinner to eat. We knew we would be dry camping that night with no water source around for miles so we utilized our time and water wisely.

Parker Canyon Creek- such a delightful afternoon

The afternoon hike was beautiful with side light filtering through the trees as we climbed up the hill. We made camp off the trail when we came to a flat spot around 7pm, we hiked 16 miles that day. We were glad we had already had dinner and had filtered water. We had 30 minutes of light to complete our camp set up and get situated.

The blue lights are like magic and provide us with a sense of security.

We arose with the sun, packed up, ate our chia seed breakfast and headed out. We hiked 18 miles that day, beautiful scenery and not overly hot. The uphills were getting easier as we we’re lower in elevation but the down hills made me wince with pain as I could feel my feet swelling inside my shoes and my toes bearing the brunt of the impact with no extra wiggle room.

We made it to the Down Under Tank to camp for the night and refill our water. We arrived 15 minutes before it was dark.

We were with striking distance of our first town stop and resupply box which we mailed ahead to the post office. Our food rationing was off due to the delayed start of the trail. I was running low of the important chia seed breakfast meal.

The day before we just split one and I had another for our last day before town.

When we stopped for the night my feet were howling in pain and I forgot to prep our breakfast for the morning or to remind Jamey I still had one in my food bag.

I slept hard that night and we got up early so we could make it to Patagonia for our resupply. I also reserved a room for Thursday and Friday at the Stage Stop Inn so we could shower and change clothes, it had been 6 days since I had done either.

With no chia seed breakfast I ate a few bars, I was already tired of them and also realized I no longer wanted the coffee mochas I had packed. My taste was already changing and I was finding it difficult to eat the bars I brought . I started out with a calorie deficit and had not yet realized the important role that chia seed breakfast had on me successfully completing each day.

My feet were very uncomfortable at this point as I shoved them into my too small shoes. The day was full of climbs and rocky steep descents, each step painful and I whimpered under my breath with each tortured step.

Every time I stopped I had to take my shoes off

I was anxious to reach town and we did not stop during the heat of the day. An important part of our success so far. My lunch supplies were light and I ran out of meat sticks and nuts. Leaving only bars. I should have eaten more, forced them down, but I could not bring myself to do it. Already my thinking was faulty and I was making bad decisions.

We reached the end of the trail and the trail became the road to Patagonia still over 3 miles away.

I was suffering, low blood sugar and out in the strong high noon sun too long with no rest.

It was not a good combination.

I have “camp shoes” light weight Viva barefoot( not the kind with individual toes) I took off my trail shoes and slipped those on. My toes were relived but the bottoms of the shoes makes me feel any rocks. We had to walk on the rocky shoulder of the road as dozens of border patrol vehicles and huge mining equipment trucks roared by.

I was on the verge of a complete meltdown, I could feel it coming.

Jamey said I should eat and rest.

That did not sound good to me, and I refused. The side of the road was hot and I just wanted to check in to our room. Town was close but it seemed so far. I pressed on slowly on my protesting feet.

Jamey again suggested I should stop and again I refused. I was not thinking clearly and choked back a sob.

This time he insisted, took off my pack and set it against the guard rail. Pulled out a bar and told me to eat it.

Just as I started to unwrap it a car pulled over.

An elderly couple in hiking clothes said they saw us earlier when they were going the other way. They asked us if we were ok, we asked if they could give us a ride to town, about a mile.

They were happy to help, loaded our packs in the car and in a blink of an eye we were at the Stage Stop Inn.

We quickly checked in, made our way to the room.

Stripped and jumped in the shower.

I have one pair of light weight clothes for town and doing trail laundry.

I put that on and with a damp head of hair hobbled to the restaurant next door for food.

The place was empty because it was in between lunch and dinner time, around 3:30pm.

I was happy to see they had food I could eat. I ordered beef faitas, chips with guacamole and a hard ginger brew.

Wild Horse restaurant with food we could eat

With a belly full of food I hobbled back to the room.

I knew I needed new shoes, I was going to get them in Tucson after another 5 days on the trail but that was no longer possible.

It is cost prohibitive to get a shuttle to Tucson and back to Patagonia. Jamey suggested that I look online to find shoes and have them mailed here to the post office in Patagonia

I found a pair on Amazon, I wear a women’s 10 so it’s hard to find shoes that are 1-1.5 sizes bigger.

I looked at the conversion for men’s shoes and found the type that Jamey is wearing, Solomons, and ordered a pair of those. They will arrive on Monday. We have this room until tomorrow and then we are going to a more affordable Airbnb that is right down the road.

Everything is working out and lessons have been learned.

Having a good breakfast to start the day for one, eating even if you don’t like it, stopping during the heat of the day even if you want to get to town ”fast”.

This little, quaint mountain town is welcoming, with food I can eat, almond milk for my latte and I even found my favorite Yerba Mate drink at the small market.

I love the raven icon for the town paper

We picked up our resupply boxes at the post office, did laundry, bought some postcards and are snuggled in our room. It’s cold out today with rain in the forecast. Great night to be inside and not on the trail.

The town laundry mat- Tiny Bubbles

I have plenty of time to prepare and process the last week while I wait for my new shoes to arrive.

I am thankful, blessed and happy!

My feet feel better after a good night rest and I’m excited about the rest of the adventure.

It most definitely has been a week of adjustments and dealing with the consequences of assuming. The biggest lesson is not assuming anything and adjusting as things change. Even with the difficulties of the slow start and shoes that are too small it has been an absolutely wonderful, beautiful, glorious week.

My week was made even better after I got a phone call from my daughter that our dog babies have adjusted and have found their place in the household.

Wiener dogs love being in bed with their pack

You never know how things are going to shake out and I’m grateful I have such a loving and supportive partner to help me along on this journey.

I also have to add that the only discomfort I have had was a result of my ill fitting shoes. Jamey is a very talented Naturopathic Doctor and created a custom supplement protocol for me for this hike. Anti inflammatory, gut health, blood builders and so on. I know a large part of my success so far is because we are so pro active with our health.

I’m in complete awe of this trail, scenery and the process of hiking it. I am far from done but so excited to continue.

As soon as my shoes arrive 🥾

Disentanglement & Departure

On April 4, 2019April 5, 2019 By AnnaMeyrickKirkpatrickIn arizona trail 2019, Hiking, life begins at 50, never slow down never grow old, thru hiking, thru hiking with food allergies, trail food, Uncategorized, women hiking3 Comments

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”-Lao Tzu

In my case the proposed journey will be roughly 800 miles and it will also begin with a single step. But before I can depart on this journey and take the “first step” I have had to disentangle myself from daily obligations. I have not only been planning and getting ready for this hike, I have also been getting prepared to move back to Oregon after I’m done. A very freeing process with hints of sadness and other complex emotions all mixed together in an unfamiliar sea.

I wrapped up my art classes, gave 2 weeks notice and said goodbye. I changed my permanent address to Oregon. I sorted my mountains of art supplies and stained glass. I packed my altar and special papers. I took many trips to Goodwill and a few to the dump. I had lunch with friends in the area to say farewell. I took time to appreciate the place I have been fortunate enough to live the past 6 years. The beautiful landscape, the acres of old almond trees, the hills, the sky, the birds, the sounds of nature and the pacific ocean 25 minutes away. I have been blessed with an amazing art studio space and a peaceful surrounding in which to create and be. This place has been like a personal artist retreat, an artist in residence location, a place for me to heal and restore my health. It has proven to be all that and so much more. I am leaving this place in great health with a revived spirit and rested soul. I am ready to end this chapter and move on to the next.

I just returned from Oregon yesterday, We had to drive the dogs to Oregon City so my daughter can watch them while we hike. We spent a few days there so we could help get the dogs acclimated and get some supplies at REI. The dogs have know my daughter since they were puppies and we know that it will be the best place for them. Still they are older and very, very attached to us. They have not been away from Jamey or I for 7 years. We always take them on adventures with us or one of us stays back while the other travels. We have 2 wiener dogs, their names are Albert and Lucy Bell, they are very much our dog babies. I am having mild seperation anxiety and started crying on the phone when my daughter told me my Albert had a rough night looking for me all over the house and not eating his dinner. I know they are “just dogs” and that they will adjust as the days go on but it is still difficult to disentangle from them. We will miss them but we know they are in good hands.

We had 24 hours after returning from dropping the dogs off to do all last minute errands, sort and pack all the boxes we need to ship ahead, make sure our backpacks had everything we needed.

Until next time🥾🌵🌈

Eating Well on the Trail

On March 20, 2019March 20, 2019 By AnnaMeyrickKirkpatrickIn arizona trail, arizona trail 2019, eating well on the trail, Hiking, life begins at 50, meal ideas for thru hiking, never slow down never grow old, thru hiking, thru hiking with food allergies, trail food, Uncategorized, vegan gluten free trail food, women hiking1 Comment

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” – Hippocrates

It is almost time to leave for Arizona! We have Amtrak tickets to Los Angles on April 5 and then an overnight train in a sleeper car to Tucson. A trail angel will meet us at the train station and take us to the Mexico border. My trail “home” is in order so I have been putting all my time and energy into creating our daily meals. Food on the trail is something I have to take seriously. I know that some hikers approach a thru like with a child like abandonment regarding nutrition. The thinking is one can basically eat whatever junk food you want because you use so many calories hiking. I get it, that sounds easy to just pick up junk food snacks/prepackaged meals and hit the trail. But that approach will not work for me.

I know from personal experience that if I do not eat well I don’t feel well. It has taken me over 6 years to heal my gut and get my health under control. It is a daily work in progress and I still have rough days.

In order to successfully complete and survive this hike I have to be very organized and proactive or my body will rebel. I used to be able to override my body with my brain but that is no longer the case. My body will flatten me out until I listen and do what it says. I am now trained to listen to the whisper, not just the loud shouting. I have serious food allergies to wheat, milk and eggs. I also do not like to eat soy or rely on corn. That really narrows down what premade food I can eat.

Although I do eat meat, I have to find dairy/egg/wheat free foods. Usually anything with meat has something in it I cannot have. It is always a food adventure trying to feed myself away from my own kitchen.

I am very lucky that my partner is a licensed Naturopathic Doctor and that we are doing this hike together. He has Celiac Disease and food sensitivities to milk and egg as well, we are a perfect pair in many ways and food is one of them. Although I am in charge of creating and packing all of our meals, I do consult him about what foods and supplements to include. In addition to the food we are adding heat stable Fish Oil, Electrolyte capsules, Boswellia, Magnesium Citrate, Taurine and a Multi Vitamin. We will add more on the trail as needed.

It is almost impossible to find vegan, trail ready meals that do not use soy protein, I have spent hours pouring over ingredient list and there are not many options. The ones I found that would work cost more than I want to spend.

Since premade meals won’t work, I am committed to making my own. My main focus on creating meals is the number of calories, carbohydrates, protein and fat per ounce, per person, per day. I also want the meals to taste good and have all the vitamins, minerals and nutrients we need. Not an easy task to balance all those variables.

I found many recipe ideas on line that would work but you need a good food dehydrator. I know that would be the best way to go, I “have” an awesome dehydrator but someone borrowed it and left the area. GRRRR…

I don’t want to spend more money on something I “have” when I am trying to save money for this hike.

I almost broke down and bought one but then I found a few wonderful companies that sell wholesome, non-GMO, freeze dried and dehydrated bulk whole foods.

Mother Earth Products (https://motherearthproducts.com)

Outdoor Herbivore (https://outdoorherbivore.com)

After weeks of collecting supplies I have what I need

Amazon has been my go to for powdered coconut milk, powder vegan cheese and other food odds and ends.

Trader Joes and Grocery Outlet helped me complete my shopping list.

I created a list of recipes to use while I created our meals.

With my massive stockpile of bulk ingredients I made over 21 different dinners for two, 14 completed lunch/snack bags, 40 individual breakfast, 40 morning mochas, 20 Hot Turmeric drink and dessert bars and 20 breakfast snack bags. ( I still have to get more ingredients to round out each day)

I completely nerded out and wrote the nutrition facts on each bag.

Now I can calculate the calorie, carbohydrate, protein & fat for each day per person.

I know this is a work in progress and I do not have it all “figured out”

I will be adjusting as we travel.

Everything we need for each day is packaged and labeled for each of us.

We will each start out with 5 days worth on food in our backpacks.

We will use priority mail shipping boxes to send the rest of the meals to specific post offices along the trail. I will reuse the plastic bags when I create more meals along the way.

I know our taste will change so I am only creating about 25 days of meals to start.

We will supplement our prepackaged food with fresh fruits & vegetable and other food as often as we can when we stop in a town.

In town is also the time to use the laundry mat, charge the electronics and perhaps get a motel room and take a zero day.

I am already excited about eating a meal off the trail in a restaurant. Restaurants can be a challenge but there is usually a local Mexican restaurant that has something I can eat. (Corn Splurge)

Now that I have my trail home and kitchen in order I am focusing on last minute details and wrapping up work and art obligations.

I am currently obsessed with Instagram and everything I can find on the Arizona Trail. SO much snow, rain, and wind currently in Arizona, I really hoping things dry up before we arrive. I have read some harrowing accounts on people on the trail battling the weather and elements.

I am ready to have this experience and I know even with all my planning and research, I am not in charge of how this all unfolds. All I can do is be prepared, flexible and have a fine tuned sense of humor.

The countdown has began, the rollercoaster adventure awaits-

Below are the dinners I created and a sample of our daily food bag.

Dinner

Each dinner includes olive oil packets

Curry vegetable with rice

Black bean quinoa stew with beef

Sweet potato black bean stew with beef

Thai coconut noodle soup with turkey

Thai coconut vegetable noodles with turkey

Maharajah curry garlic pea coconut noodles with beef

Vindaloo curry turkey pea coconut rice

Northern white bean cauliflower brown rice cheesy stew with turkey

Turkey rice vegetable soup

Cheesy potato broccoli turkey soup

Cheesy cauliflower potato turkey soup

Coconut vegetable curry rice

Sweet potato bean stew

Mexican stew

Sweet potato pea brown rice black cherry BBQ pork

Chili lime beans sweet potato rice

Basil potato vegetable white bean quinoa stew

Curry pea and coconut rice

Black bean quinoa chili lime stew

Beans rice vegetable stew

Loaded cheesy mashed potatoes

DAILY MENU SAMPLE

BREAKFAST

Breakfast Pudding

-Chia seed, hemp seed, protein powder, coconut milk, freeze dried berries

(Cold soak-the night before add pudding mix and water in container-let soak overnight)

Hot cocoa with espresso

2 fish oil, 2 electrolytes, taurine, multi vitamin, boswellia

Breakfast snack- 2 dates, 3 TBSP pumpkin seeds, 3 pieces dried mango

LUNCH/SNACKS

½ cup mixed nuts- per person

1 oz dried mango- per person

1/2 cup dried coconut flakes per person

1/4 cup pumpkin seeds per person

1 Clif Bar-per person

1 Lara Bar-per person

1 Kind Bar-per person

Hummus mix and gluten free crackers to share

2 electrolyte capsules

Citrus crystals for water

DINNER

Cheesy cauliflower potato turkey soup for two

Hot Turmeric Ginger Coconut Milk Drink

Fig Pomegranate Cookie

Banana Chocolate Chip Lara Bar

2 fish oil, 2 magnesium citrate, 2 boswellia, 1 electrolytes

Assembling my “Home” on the Trail

On March 6, 2019March 7, 2019 By AnnaMeyrickKirkpatrickIn arizona trail, Hiking, life begins at 50, thru hiking, ultra light hiking, women hiking, z packsLeave a comment

Our Z-Pack Duplex Tent weighing 19 ounces

I leave for the Arizona Trail in exactly one month from today! I have been busy collecting my gear and I am happy to say that I am just about done. Part of the fun of assembling a light weight pack is the research and gear comparison, every gram and ounce matters. My light weight pack base weight with everything I need (not including food, water & the clothes I will be wearing) weights a little over 13 pounds! (That includes my backpack)

Z-packs has been a great source for so many needed items at incredibly low weights, they use Dyneema (formerly know as Cuban Fiber) to make everything from clothes to shelters. We ordered all of our stuff sacks, umbrellas, seats, emergency sewing kit, toothbrushes, eye glasses/wallet pouch and duplex tent from Z-Packs

I replaced longer cords with really short cords to shave off ounces. My trail running shoes, clothes, stove and cook wear are some of the lightest on the market. I feel like the seemingly, endless hours researching has paid off. I am happy with the “home” I have assembled for myself, including a few luxury items like a pillow, power bank, one pair of extra clothes and comfy camp shoes. My luxury items are what makes my pack “light weight” and not “Ultra Light Weight”(ULW is base weight of 10 pounds and under)

I plan on carrying 5 days of food at a time, rule of thumb is 2 pounds of food per day.

10 pounds of food to start out and I would like to have the ability to carry 4 liters of water if I am feeling insecure about water sources.

I did download the Guthook App, it will help us navigate the trail, find water sources, know what businesses are in each town and provide other useful information.

Now that I have my pack under control my next project is planning and creating our meals for each day. Our food allergies prevent us from being able to buy many premade backpacking meals or other quick food options. After weeks or research and finding what I need I am almost ready to tackle the food portion of this adventure. More of that in detail in the next post, below is the breakdown of my current pack.

ANNA’S LIGHT WEIGHT PACK BREAKDOWN

Each item is listed including brand name and weight. If you have any questions about any of my gear please contact me