24.1 miles
488.1 AZT mile marker
It definitely got cold last night. Not the coldest night of the trip, but cold. It was also very humid and damp out which I knew would lead to condensation in my tent. When I woke during the night, it was building up thick, so I opened one door to try to ventilate. When I woke up in the morning, my entire tent was coated in a layer of frost, and there was some on my quilt as well.
I slept well, but it was hard to get out of my bag, looking at my rock hard frozen socks and shoes. They were absolutely solid. I put my socks in my pockets a bit to melt them, and beat on my shoes to loosen them up a bit. I did everything I could from my sleeping bag, but there came the point where I had to give it up and commit to cold feet.
It took some work to get my feet into my shoes. I had to stand up and work my feet for a bit just to get them in. Then I raced to pack up my frozen tent, just putting it in its stuff sack laden with frost. The key to get warm is to get moving, so I set off as quickly as I could.
The trail was going up a valley that was pretty lush and thick with grasses and reeds. All of these were coated in a thick layer of frost that was quite beautiful and also cold as I pushed my way through them and got more and more ice on me. All I could do was keep moving.
Moving kept me warm enough, though I was continually rewetted with all of the ice I was pushing through.
I went up the valley for a while before coming to a saddle. The temperature was increasing, and enough to let me start delayering. It is always hard to get started on the cold mornings, but if you just do it, it gets better soon enough.
Down and up again to the last ridge in the Superstitions and I took a break before starting the long gradual descent. My shoes were still soaked at this point since they kept getting rewetted by the vegetation. Heading down though, the slope was facing the sun and had already dried, letting me finally start drying my lower half.
It was a nice descent through mesquite and then following a desert wash. It was not particularly dramatic, but just pleasant. I got back into cactus country with loads of saguaro.
I got to a trailhead and saw I could walk a dirt road to save a couple trail miles, but opted for the trail since I had the time and I was hiking the trail, not the road. The trail was actually nice and easy, flatly winding its way through the hills with tons of colorful rocks and cactus.
I also had to decide what to do about water for the night. I could either go a bit off trail to get some water and carry it until I camped, or I could hike 10 miles to a water cache. Obviously I decided to hike 10 miles because who wants to carry water if they don’t have to.
This put me in a slight daylight crunch, so I had to keep moving to get to the cache by dark. I had the energy though.
I passed through a tight canyon and wash which has been rare on this trail. I expected a lot more of that. Then it was rolling hills for the rest of the day with some dramatic mountains in the distance. The whole afternoon was very pleasant scenery.
I crossed US-60 and shortly came to the cache which had plenty of water and a trailhead. The trailhead was empty and there were a couple picnic pavilions. I had been planning to camp around there, and the pavilions made the decision for me. I just spread out my gear beneath one and I’ll camp without my tent. I’ve got a picnic table, water, and a privy. Nice setup. There is road noise in the distance, but I have ear plugs so it should be fine. The pavilion should keep out some of the super bright moonlight too.
