Wednesday, March 22, 2023
Miles: 25.3 (+1.25 for Collossal Cave back to trail)
Elevation gain/loss: 6946′ gain, 4684′ loss (corrected)
I was awake by around 6am, and packed up by 6:45am. I was very hopeful that someone might be arriving earlier than 8am, so I quickly had a Sprite and muffin for breakfast and then sat around impatiently, wanting to be making miles. I was still surprised when a park employee shuffled in at 7:45am. He walked past me before I realized, and I called after him. He laconically nodded and said he’d see if he could find my package and would bring it out if he found it. I hoped that meant he’d be back soon, and not in an hour. He was back in 10 minutes with my package! I let him know that I’d eaten food, and asked how much I should pay. He shrugged and said $10 should be close enough. I eagerly paid, used the bathrooms he’d just unlocked (where I saw my only scorpion of the entire trip), and then headed back out to trail by 8am as quick as I could go.
It was dark and overcast for most of the day as I hiked the 10 miles towards the Saguaro National Park boundary. A little before the boundary, I had to wade across Rincon Creek; I stopped to take off my ankle braces, socks, and shoes. It was icy cold but only shin deep, so I was back on trail quickly. I passed by at least a dozen and a half hikers over the course of the day, including a family with 3 kids who are hiking the AZT. Maybe halfway through my day, I saw a giant turkey crossing the trail, and that made me smile.
The forecast had been for 93% chance of rain, though it didn’t rain in any traditional sense. When my long climb into the sky island reached ~6,000′, I hiked into the thick clouds I’d been seeing all day. Visibility was greatly reduced, and I put my pack cover on to protect my gear from the trees dripping with moisture. As I climbed, it got colder and windier so I added my rain shell to my layers and put on my mitten shells. I passed by the park’s 3 campsites, and pushed on towards Mica Mountain (8,668′); the trail came within 0.3mi of the summit.
While there were endless shallow streams to cross, I didn’t have to deal with snow on trail until the summit intersection. From there, I had a bit more than 2 miles of solid snow to descend. Wayfinding was a bit challenging due to the snow and melted footprints, but I was able to find my way using my navigation app. I made it out of the park by 6:45pm, and decided to descend in the dark for a while to get myself below the clouds. I didn’t relish the idea of sleeping in the damp – it would feel colder than it actually was and would soak my gear.
I descended until 7:15pm, when I found a flat spot just big enough for a one-person tent. I set up my tent, glad there was no wind, and hoped to be warmer and sleep deeper than the past few nights.
Transcending Mountains 