13 miles
208.2 AZT mile marker
I got off to a leisurely start this morning since I was close to town and I probably couldn’t get into a motel until 3.
The trail was easy flat to downhill and rocky through ponderosa forest. There wasn’t much to see and it wasn’t very eventful.
I did see several groups of deer though, and an Albert’s squirrel with their huge ears and white tail. I’d seen a few of them and they are only in this region.
I had a few options to get into town. The AZT splits into an equestrian bypass trail to go around the ciry, which is the old AZT, or there is a newer urban trail that goes through it. That was logistically much easier since I wouldn’t have to get a hitch into town, so I opted for the urban route.
On the urban route, I found and booked the cheapest motel I could find in downtown, typical hiker style, and opted to further deviate to a bike path down a main road that would save me some distance in going straight towards my motel.
I stopped by the Museum of Northern Arizona since I had time and do enjoy some history and the geology of the region is interesting. Then I stopped for lunch and bought my food resupply at a grocery store before making my way to my motel.
Then I did all the typical hiker town stuff, laundry, eat, drink, spread my gear to every corner of my room, etc. The motel is very run down, but it will work just fine.