Miles Hiked: 26.1
AZT Progress: 161.4
Grass Shack to Molino Basin Campground
I got the best sleep I’ve had on the whole trail at Grass Shack campsite last night. I was the first person awake and left camp at 6:30am without talking to anyone. I started the last half of the massive climb up Mica Mountain. I’m so glad I broke the hike up in to two days. The large stone steps continued until I got so high the terrain transitioned from stone, sand and cactus, to an alpine ponderosa forest. The pine needles felt great under my feet. I had to take one break between camp and the top of the mountain and I chose to do it right before all the snow started near Manning Camp, the other AZT thru hiker campsite. Once the snow started it wasn’t bad at all. It was always less than an inch and it was easy for me to follow all the footsteps in the snow ahead of me. I relied a little more on my trekking poles for extra balance when it was slippery. The top of the mountain was unremarkable just a wooded ponderosa summit. Honestly I wouldn’t even know it was the top if it were not for the sign.
The north side of the mountain had a bit more snow but still nothing crazy. I did have to go a bit slower than anticipated until the snow disappeared. I was glad there wasn’t much of it. I wouldn’t want to traverse some of the steeper sections if there was more snow as I could already tell that some of the snow was sliding down the hill it was so steep. The snow stopped before I got to the border of the park which was sooner than I had anticipated based on recent reports. It must be melting fast. The decent from the top of Mica was steep and rocky. There were little pieces of shiny Mica in all the rocks as well. The day was getting hot and I liberally applied sunscreen. I must have dropped it at some point because the only person I ended up meeting on trail today aptly named “Finder” found my sunscreen on the side of the trail. He returned it to me very excitedly at a water source. Apparently it is the first thing he has found of somebody’s on trail this year. After officially completing The descent down Mica Mountain, The trail went through a bunch of farmland with mesquite plants and lots of cow poop. I did not enjoy this part of the day. I listened to a ton of music and podcasts today as I had no cell service and was feeling pretty lonely. I only saw Finder one other time today, he set up camp at 4pm and I was continuing on.
The day ended with a 1,000 foot climb up and over a rocky pass as the sun was setting. Honestly it was a really tough climb to end an already really long day. There were some mountain bikers coming down as I was going up and I couldn’t get over how difficult the terrain they were riding was. Straight downhill over giant rock steps and lots of slippery gravel. I’ve never seen anyone mountain bike anything like it and I thought their flow with it was surprisingly beautiful. Nothing I would ever normally say about mountain biking. Once at the top of the pass, I turned around and looked at snowy Mica Mountain far in the distance. It’s crazy to think I woke up on the other side of it this morning. Then I booked it down to the campground I was planning on staying at a mile away. I was so happy I didn’t end up night hiking today. I met another hiker named “Girly Girl” and we both set up in our own campsites. The camp host Wally graciously let’s AZT hikers camp for free at a really nice campground you normally have to pay just to use a table at. Yep, you read that right. I pitched my tarp, drank a protein shake for dinner and fell asleep. Tomorrow will be a big day.
Happy Trails!
-Early Bird
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