Apr 24 - 4 other hikers

Camped at 472.7 on top of a saddle with a great view. 

Yesterday evening we heard a new life bird calling from across the canyon : Flammulated Owl!

Great morning in town.  A social day all in all. 

Breakfast at The Early Bird with none other than Joerg who waltzed in shortly after we got our tea. We may see him off and on for the rest of the trip. 

Spent an hour at laundromat with 70 year old chatty Bob, MN farm-raised, lived in Pine for 30 years. Quite the fun fellow to launder clothes with!  Joined at the washing machines by fast-walking New Zealander Steven who is a very friendly and chipper solo thru-hiker.  He will pass us soon so we may get more time to visit with him again. 

On our way out of town we passed inbound Canadian Alex, a very cheerful solo thru-hiker who we met at our campsite last night. 

Back on the trail Nicole caught up to us and we spent the rest of the day hiking north with her, now camped together. Upbeat, interesting, social, Milwaukee native, veterinarian living in Tucson. Excellent company. 

Which is a long way of saying there are quite a few thru-hikers in our neighborhood and it's fun to cross paths. 

Happy and healthy.  Sleeping just below the Mogollon Rim which we will ascend tomorrow with great delight. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogollon_Rim

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=34.412333,-111.353516(I+Am+Here+Sunday+April+24+2016+08:16+PM)&iwloc=A&z=11

Apr 23 - cool weather, easy hiking

Camped at 459.7
Nice little grassy meadow next to a spring.

Tomorrow, Sunday morning, we reach Pine. We'll have breakfast, buy groceries, eat lunch at That Brewery, pick up our package, and carry on down the trail.

After we recharge the phone in Pine I'll write more.

Happy and healthy.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=34.350084,-111.472669(I+Am+Here+Saturday+April+23+2016+07:06+PM)&iwloc=A&z=11

Apr 22 - Gnatchatter

Camped at 440.1 next to East Verde River

Gnatcatchers are very common so far. Every day. They engage in enthusiastic colorful bird song. We call it Gnatchatter. It makes us happy.

First view of San Francisco Peaks. Woo hoo!

All healthy and happy.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=34.230045,-111.513165(I+Am+Here+Friday+April+22+2016+07:38+PM)&iwloc=A&z=11

Apr 21 - burn zone

Camped at beautiful open-view site at 419.6 mile marker. One of the nicest sites this trip. Not drop-dead beautiful like the southern Sierra or southern Utah, but the nicest place in recent days.

All day in Mazatzal Wilderness. Angle of repose like Big Sur range. Fire in 2012 killed almost all the conifers. Dry. Not as many birds as down in the Sonoran desert, but we're happy to be up at 6000' at 75 instead of the forecast high of 95 down at 2000'

I had a tired day. Jim is, as always, a bundle of energy.

Happy and healthy and looking forward to a brew and a burger in Pine on Sunday.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=34.084197,-111.491978(I+Am+Here+Thursday+April+21+2016+05:47+PM)&iwloc=A&z=11

Apr 20 - half way

Camped at mile marker 400.4. Half way!! In a little patch of pines with a few spruce trees. Reminiscent of Ventana wilderness in terms of vegetation structure and fire history/ecology.

Sharing camp with two gents.

Joerg is a thru-hiker we've been leapfrogging, haven't seen him since Superior. He walks more miles per day, but he stops in towns for a half or full day each, whereas we plod steadily forward.

Also at this camp is Doug, the trail steward for this segment. He's here for a couple days cutting brush off trail. Heroic. Retired from the NW to Phoenix area a year ago and this is his retirement passion.

Happy and healthy after a very nice day on the trail.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=33.968903,-111.507972(I+Am+Here+Wednesday+April+20+2016+07:30+PM)&iwloc=A&z=11

Apr 19 - lots of Poorwills

Camped at 382.1, next to a mostly dry stream bed with a couple pools of water and many frogs.

Poorwills calling now. We have heard lots of Poorwills on this walk, nearly every night. Nice birds. Not enough Roadrunners though, a grave disappointment.

Very nice day. Conserving battery, so won't write more now.

Happy and healthy.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=33.827543,-111.403151(I+Am+Here+Tuesday+April+19+2016+08:02+PM)&iwloc=A&z=11

Apr 18 - bye-bye low elevation

Camped at 360.7, on a saddle top of ridge with big vistas. 5600 feet!

The marina where we got our package was at 2100 feet. I don't think we drop below 3500' again until bottom of Grand Canyon. Hurray. I'm happy to be at elevations with some Manzanitas and other non-thorny plants that generate shade to boot. Got tired of being unable to find a non-thorny place to sit in shade. Time for a change.

We are happy and healthy. Conserving battery, so no photos.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=33.667539,-111.288288(I+Am+Here+Monday+April+18+2016+07:45+PM)&iwloc=A&z=11

Apr 16 - The Mule Guys

Camped next to dry creek, mile 321.7, Superstition Wilderness. Saturday, pleasant weather, lots of Phoenoids out for day hikes and overnight trips. One young man was packing heat on his hip; perhaps he needed the weapon to protect himself from ISIS terrorists hiding in the Superstitions or maybe from carnivorous squirrels.

Award for most enthusiastic people we've met this trip goes to John and Kelli. They are traveling the whole AZ Trail in sections on mules. They are half done and preparing for the next leg. They deliver 55 gallon drums of water to their camps for the four mules they travel with, and we met them on a USFS road with a truckload of water. They love their mules and they're having a blast. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit with them.

We are happy, healthy, tired.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=33.440989,-111.186920(I+Am+Here+Saturday+April+16+2016+05:21+PM)&iwloc=A&z=11

Apr 17 - cool weather is the best

Camped in a lush spring fed cottonwood creek. Mile 341.2

We're a mountain range away from greater Tucson and greater Phoenix and may not have cell service again until we reach Pine AZ, April 24 or 25. Don't worry if there are no updates to blog.

Nice cool weather, probably <75 all day, good scenery, wilderness without cow damage. Tomorrow morning we pick up package at Roosevelt Marina, and then carry on north, 120 miles to Pine, primarily in Wilderness Area.

Jim twisted his back a bit today, otherwise happy and healthy.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=33.618326,-111.124364(I+Am+Here+Sunday+April+17+2016+06:42+PM)&iwloc=A&z=11

Apr 15 - perfect town stop

Camped in a wash near the first Sycamore of the trip. Mile 302.9

Great day. Cooler, maybe 80, and breezy.

Met hikers Salty Sue and Rob, our vintage. Nice chatting for an hour about cows, Sagebrush Rebellion, Edward Abby, John Wesley Powell, birds, flowers, canyon hiking destinations, and other things old backpackers like to talk about.

Arrived at PicketPost Trailhead hoping to hitch to Superior for town stuff just in time to catch a lift from a pair of brothers from Iowa and their wives. All retired, one from USFS based in Hood River. They took us to best burger bar in town and we dined with them. All nice people, as I expect of Iowans.

Next door to buy groceries and then over to the motel to use their coin-op laundry. 1940s motel, never remodeled, classic run-down western mining town place. Rob and Salty Sue arrived at the motel as we did, together with Joerg, a Swiss/Cincinnati hiker with whom we've been playing leapfrog for since we left Lee in Tucson. They got rooms, and we all chatted over the washing machines. Enjoyed hot showers in Joerg's 1940 shower.

Clean clothes, clean bodies, hours of good company, and still time to hitch back to the trailhead so we can sleep in a quiet dry wash.

Nice young couple drove us all the way to the trailhead, where we met a young man who we came to learn is Kurt Refsneider! That won't mean anything to most people, but it's a little like meeting pre-disgraced Lance Armstrong. Since biking the GDMBR in 2007 we've followed the TourDivide race, and Kurt regularly finishes in the top three in that race, the AZ Trail bike race, and the Colorado Trail bike race. All are unsupported multi day, no-fee, no-prize races ---- honest multi-day racing without the hype of the Tour de France. The leading riders in these races are some of the toughest athletes in the world. Meeting him was a hoot.

We are clean, cool, well fed, happy, healthy, and tickled pink that we got to visit with so many nice people.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=33.280934,-111.184726(I+Am+Here+Friday+April+15+2016+07:33+PM)&iwloc=A&z=11