Miles Hiked: 30.5
AZT Progress: Mile 795
Today I left the hotel room at Jacob Lake a bit later than I had planned. I fell asleep before 8pm last night and at 5am I still wanted to sleep in just a little bit more. I really needed a day to catch up on my sleep after not sleeping at all the night before. I packed up my things and walked down the road at 5:45am. I attempted to hitch with the first car that passed me near the intersection but quickly gave up and decided it would be faster and easier to road walk the 2.5 extra miles back to the trail where I hitched to town yesterday evening. Back on trail the day was so cruisey and mostly downhill. I had so much energy after getting some good sleep for once. I barely took any breaks until 20 miles in. The trail started in a ponderosa forest but then turned more deserty with red soil and lots of Juniper. I also saw pinyon pine for the first time on this trail today. The pine nuts on the ground are what caught my attention to the trees. I don’t think the trail has gone by them before but maybe I just didn’t notice them.
Martin caught up to me at mile 20 and we hiked the last ten miles of trail on and off together taking breaks every 4-6 miles. My energy from this morning was now gone but luckily the trail was still easy. My body felt pretty good today besides feeling a little fatigue here and there everytime I went up a small hill. Martin and I stopped at one last water source before the border. We took a short break before we took off again. My friends were scheduled to pick me up today. They were on a road trip in Utah and I forgot about the time difference between Arizona and Utah until this afternoon. Arizona doesn’t practice daylight savings time so for a few months it is a different time than everywhere else in the time zone. I was glad I realized the difference and had plenty of time for hiking today my breaks were just a little shorter than usual. About three miles from the border the view opened up and we could see beautiful red cliffs in the distance. What a treat! I believe they are the Vermillion Cliffs and Coyote Buttes. As the trail went downhill towards the dirt road, I could see a car occasionally go by but I couldn’t make out the terminus. I was so happy the end was literally in sight. Martin and I walked up to the terminus together that was tucked out of view in a really nice campground with pavilions and picnic tables. The terminus was a concrete and rock post with a plaque and poem by Dale Shelwater on it.
Martin and I took so many pictures of course. I celebred with a can of Arizona Ice Tea I got at Jacob Lake. We set up in the pavilion and started to cook our dinners right when my friends Ellie and Alex arrived. I was so happy to see them! They scooped both Martin and I up to go to a hotel in Page AZ tonight where we will all start a different adventure. Martin plans to hike the Tonto trail with his extra time before his flight back home to Czech and I’m joining Ellie and Alex to go back to the Grand Canyon as they have never been!
Keep an eye out for a total trail reflection post. It’s taken me quite a while to finish this AZT blog.
Happy Trails!
-Early Bird
Des Hikes Thru 