20.8 miles
372.7 AZT mile marker
It was a warm night relatively speaking. It definitely cooled off overnight, but nowhere near the other nights out here. After some last conversation with Rob and Jill, I set off towards the second river crossing of the entire trail, the East Verde River. Turns out the river wasn’t too big, and I barely managed to rock hop it and stay dry. I was assuming I would have to ford it, but it was nice not to first thing in the morning.
I then started my long climb of the day. The river was low, just over 3000 feet, and I had to climb to almost 6000. I was glad I was hitting the climb first thing in the morning when it was cooler, and some of it was even shaded since the sun wasn’t yet high enough in the sky. The climb was nicely graded, and I plugged away at it until I got to a pass that signaled the end of it. I took a nice break there and enjoyed the view of the trail behind, where I could trace my path over part of the last 4 days. I don’t know if it’s a good or bad thing that I can see 4 days’ worth of progress; it seems like maybe I should have progressed further in that time, but the route was not in any way straight, and I had a town stop in there.
I turned my back on the trail behind and charged forward into the Mazatzals. At first the range was like high rolling mountains. The trail danced between peaks and passes and canyons, winding its way through the mountains. It was a wilderness area, and there were really no signs of man besides the cuts for the trails; I was surprised and expected to see more old roads or ranches or something. Maybe the area had never been that developed.
I took many pictures today since the terrain was constantly changing as I moved around and got different views of the area. The scenery was fantastic, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I haven’t actually done much research on the trail itself, so I don’t know what to expect when I’m coming to it, but this must be one of the trail’s highlights.
The day got warm and the trail was rocky, so my pace was slower than normal, but that was fine. I took plenty of stops for pictures, and a good lunch break next to a pool of water.
I will let the pictures speak for themselves, though the lighting was challenging at times. Truly fantastic trail.
I had a couple places I could stop for the day, and I opted for the furthest since that would set me up better in the long run. Since my progress was slower, I got water and to the nearby camp with not much daylight left. The camp is a nice spot with a great view of the iconic Mt. Mazatzal. It was perfectly lit in the last glow of the setting sun.
After it got dark when I was making dinner, I heard some hooved animal running; I presume a javalina (wild pig). I couldn’t see it, but it ran away quickly when I shone my light in its direction. Hopefully that is enough of a hint to stay away for the night. It was quite loud.
I didn’t see anyone today, apart from Rob and Jill in the morning. This was one of my best days on trail so far, and I still have a lot more of this wilderness area to traverse before I come to the end of it. I’m excited to see what else is in store.
It was a tiring day with more than 6000 feet total of climbing.
