25.5 miles
588.5 AZT mile marker
Only one pack of coyotes howled in the far distance last night. It sprinkled a couple times during the night, just enough to get everything damp. Tons of condensation inside my tent too. I’ve never had such a hard time keeping things dry inside of my tent as this trip.
I was camped next to a large wash and crossed it and climbed up to a ridge first thing. I could once again see some mountain ridges around me; I appear to have escaped the dead flat desert. It is still the same Sonoran Desert with the same vegetation, but it is nice to have some character in the land.
I traversed the ridge and refilled my water at a tank a few miles in. It was another huge tank and you had to climb a ladder and dip from the top of it. Looking at the trail ahead it didn’t look like there was any water for the rest of the day besides caches which I wouldn’t rely on, so I got 6 liters of water for the day and night. A little more than I thought I’d use especially since the day was slightly cloudy, but better safe than sorry with water out here.
The day went in fits and spurts. At times I was flying down the trail, and other times it seemed like I was going at a snail’s pace for no apparent reason. I bumped into a GET hiker who had heard about me and pumped me for questions about the Hayduke trail. He was carrying a full acoustic guitar in a case over his shoulder in addition to his pack.
I met Hiep a couple times as we leap frogged. He was heading directly through Oracle and would probably get ahead of me. We said goodbye since it’s possible it’s the last time this time.
It was winding around rolling hills and small ridges all day today. I crossed several roads into Oracle, but there was nothing for me there so I kept on walking.
I have a resupply package tomorrow that I mailed to a ranch. You have to give them a heads up the day before to confirm they will be around to pick up the package. Towards the end of the day, I couldn’t find any campsites at all. There were a couple washes I could have camped in, though I really try to avoid them, but the washes didn’t have cell signal. I needed to coordinate with the ranch and have a place to camp.
I ended up hiking miles longer than I had planned to just looking for a campsite. There was literally nothing which was surprising. Normally there are campsites quite regularly along this trail.
I hiked until after 6, which was after dark. Finding nothing, I eventually ended up camping directly on a 4×4 track. It looks like it is not regularly used so it should be fine but I’m definitely blocking the road. Seems like it will be a colder night tonight, but I got my gear dry during the day so it should be fine. I’m camped at the foot of Mt. Lemmon which I will climb tomorrow. Been walking towards it for a couple days.
