The AZT: Section 5: Superior to Payson.

April 4th: Day 16, leaving Superior

Our vist to Superior was 10/10. We barely left the wonderful confines of MJ’s cat riddled property.

We woke, having slept on the porch around 7am to MJ coming to fill her bird feeders. She proclaimed “Coffee’s ready”. Music to my coffee snob ears. We took our sleeping bags to the swing chairs and sat drinking coffee (in le Cruset mugs, very important what you drink your coffee out of) watching the morning ritual of the 55 birds hammering away at MJ’s bird feeder. Complete with a pair of stunning Cardinals that she says “live over the road”. As if they have a house there.

A bit of a tragedy having both feline and fowl coexisting, as Danny the softcat ate one this morning.

After our second swing chair coffee we were called to breakfast. MJ made a fat cheesey vegetable fritatta and potatoes, followed by pudding toast with a prickly pear and saguaro jam. Bloody lovely.

From here we were deliberating hard on whether to stay or go back to trail today. We really want to let Camel and Tick Tock catch us (they’re 1.5 days behind) but we’re just getting into the swing of being on trail again and don’t feel we’ve earned another night. Plus they’re amazonian warriors and I have little feeble knees, so they’ll catch us.

MJ did well to lure us in with the proposal of Mac and Cheese, salad and freshly made bread for dinner, live music up the road, and, beds inside were available. (Though I prefer the porch).

We bopped about for some time, cleaning our kitchenware, backwashing our filter, we handwashed our pants and watched other hikers arrive in the glorious smelly sparkling eyed state which we all do.

Bier, who was flying back to Germany in a week, was giving away a lot of his stuff, including some turmeric tabs which he insists will help my knee. There’s not a lot of wouldn’t put in my mouth right now if someone said it would help my knee. Which, is sore now I’ve stopped walking for a bit. He also gave us some dehydrated backpacking meals, which, we thought would liven up our repeat menu of noodles on noodles on noodles.

We made the brave and difficult decision to leave and head back to trail. The next climb was mega and everyone ahead has absolutely hated it, or quit the trail after it. So we thought we could get 5 miles of it out the way this afternoon and get ahead. Otherwise tomorrow is at least 15 miles of climbing.

We ate a salad, MJ sliced us a fresh slice of bread to go, then drove us up to the trail. The temperature had dropped, the wind was up and the forecast said 5 degrees overnight. The sun was warm though.

The 5.2 miles came easily as we chatted away, mainly and oddly, about council tax.

Everyone said this next section is ‘dog s#*t’  aesthetically (this is actually what they all said) so I’m putting on my most annoying positive attitude as, dog s#*t hiking is better than not hiking. I think…

The creeks were flowing, water was clear, the magic stocking filter was not required and we found a suitable camp spot right on time. We decided to change things up tonight, and have ramen and instant mash for dinner. Just for a treat.

April 5th: Day 17: Dog sh#*t?

Last night wasn’t as cold as I’d thought it would be, though we did wake to frosty grass around us. My pillow is a constant let down, I have to blow him up at least 5 times throughout the night. No puncture found, I think its a valve issue. It’s most annoying.

We began our day of climbing, very gently following a valley and a surprisingly well stocked river which we crossed multiple times. The rocks on the trail generally prevent one from both looking at the view and walking at the same time.

We stopped at 6 miles to create the big breakfast spread, filter more water and dry our tent from this mornings dew.

Water was abundant, we repeatedly crossed streams and carried very little of it on our backs.

We entered the Superstition mountains in Tonto National Forest. In June of 2019 the Woodbury fire burned 123,000 acres of the Superstition wilderness and over 30 acres of the AZT. Incredibly the regeneration of younger shrubs was well underway. Hazards in burn areas are plentiful though. Trail finding became harder as the fire increases the instability of the soil, matched with increased risk of flash flooding (being that the flora is too dead to drink any of the water), huge parts of the trail were washed away. The path was rocky, steep and at times very hard to find. We picked our way through a beautiful canyon, following Revis creek, climbed our second hill of the day, then found a suitably beautiful spot for tea at 3.00.

We’re in a tricky spot. We’re trying to take it slowly, It’s only 4pm but we’ve already hiked beyond our expected mileage for the day (15.7). The day cools quickly after 5pm, and without the daytime warmth our extra curricular activities (like Snakes sketching or my dear diary time) become difficult. We’re getting a lot of sleep each night because of this. Or, I am, Snakes just lies awake listening to me snore. The solution? 2 more miles and a fire. (That’s not a solution to snoring by the way).

We kept walking beyond our goal in search of the perfect spot, which rarely works, except this time.

I used two chits of toilet roll to light this fire. Which I likely didn’t even need. That’s why America’s Wildernesses are so commonly, sometimes sadly and sometimes deliberately on fire. We camped by water though, so I could be sure not to be responsible for the next great wildfire.

We ate Bier’s gifted freeze dried meals, and now fear being unable to go back to the crap we were eating before. They were divine. If only we had some wine.

18.5 miles on the day.

April 6th: day 18: Rocks

We had a terrible nights sleep, and as such, had a slow start. Not getting our usual 10/11 hours plays havoc with mental recovery. Our legs were tired from yesterday’s big climbs and the trail was so full of rocks and oftentimes boulders, negotiations around these with a fuzzy head proved difficult to the point of frequent outburst of ‘you bastard’ or… worse.

The wind was up and mass faff around the best layering system today was time consuming. We met Blink, briefly, perhaps this is why he’s called Blink, he was speeding through on to Lake Roosevelt, our next stop.

Up and over some lumps today and, a short but steep climb that many hikers were moaning about. US hikers like a switchback, UK hikers are more used to the straight up approach, which we both prefer. My knees are wincing at the steep descents of the day, and I’m now much slower downhill, but, short breaks frequently help this no end.

We lunched on a plateau before our last climb, 1 mile up, then it was all downhill to the Marina where we pick up a box.

We were planning to overnight 3 miles or so out, and hike in for breakfast, and as such had been very lethargic and moving very slowly given that today would only be a 15 mile or so day. However, we’d got word that our pals (Tick Tock, MBF and Camel, remember them?) had changed plans and decided to ‘flip flop’ (which means to stupidly move about the trail sometimes hiking North, sometimes South, usually to avoid snow, people, fires, or, in this case heat). For some ungodly reason they had decided to head 2hrs North and hike back south, as 90F days (or 32°c for you and me) were coming.

The good news is, that might melt some of this blasted snow thats preventing a lot of hikers from finishing. The bad news is, no more pals. However we demanded they come for breakfast on their way North and meet us at the Marina for breakfast.

Snakes decided this meant we may as well try and reach the Marina tonight as there would be beer there. This meant 20 miles on the day. I hadn’t done than in a bit due to old lady knees and, we’d been so casual about our morning, we still had 10 tough miles to do at 2pm.

We might have to skip tea at 3.00.

We picked up the pace and did well to motor the next 6 miles, before the trail turned to an utter boulder field of ankle breaking slippy marble filled bastard nightmare. It was the worst trail ever, for gaining any kind of rhythm or speed. We crossed continuous washes of boulders, following small cairns to try and find the way, losing time. That beer getting further and further out of reach.

Eventually, and thankfully we came out onto a dirt road, which we would follow 3.7 miles to the Marina. However that dirt road was like a roller coaster, but one you had to power yourself, having thrown a load of massive obstacles on it that would ensure it would derail and crash multiple times. It was continuously dipping almost vertically down and shooting straight back up again for no obvious reason other than it hated us and wished us to become gravely injured.

With much swearing, and with Snakes quitting the trail, we eventually made it to the marina, granted only 30 minutes later than we anticipated but that was 30 minutes less of beer time.

We agreed that we’d eat our usual noodle dinner and just go to the marina restaurant for beer (as wed be having breakfast tomorrow and wanted to save pennies). On arrival, we accidently ordered a lot of food and the noodles remained untouched in our bags. Oh well.

After a delicious feast of anything but trail food,  Snakes rejoined the trail. We set up our tent across from the bar in the dark and slept a solid 10 hours until 6.30am. Tough day.

April 7th: Day 19: NERO

We had a dreamy leisurely morning. With no showers or laundry options at the marina there was no other option than to feggel. (Like meggling but without a bed). Feggling involved chatting with the other surrounding hikers, including Blink from yesterday, scavenging through the hiker shed (a 1×2 shed full of all the glorious unwanted items left by hikers, which in any other life would be disgusting, but in this life, you’ll be elated to hear I found hot sauce and better coffee). We collected our resupply box from the store, purchased a large coffee, sorted and de-gunked gear, popped blisters (me), removed toenails (Snakes).

The bar didn’t open until 11.30 so we went to the marina visitor centre and unfolded all the maps to work out if a lower alternative route north was possible. With a plan brewing, we returned the hub to find our pals who had followed orders to meet us for breakfast. Their flip flop still didn’t make sense to me, hitching 2hrs North to hike back, but, if that’s the lengths they have to go to in order to avoid us, then so be it.

We gorged together briefly before their lift arrived, we said goodbyes and hoped to see them, unnecessarily walking the wrong way in a few days times.

We stayed on with new pals, Octane, who Snakes named ‘Spreadsheet Steve’, and ‘Always’, who inspired us with talk of having a wash every single night using biodegradable soap and a collapsible dog bowl. We ordered pie and feggled a while longer before the inevitable departure.

We got chatting to a couple of couples, who, before long were so disgusted and impressed with the unthinkable journey we had made, they offered us a bed and a shower at their house. We declined, on account of us not wanting to and, nice as they were, they were evidently Trump lovers.

Off we went, Snakes a little hysterical from the beer in the sun, up the sweltering highway at pretty much the hottest time of day. We crossed Roosevelt bridge and  Roosevelt damn having had a stonking view of Roosevelt Lake. The couple of couples soon drove past us waving and giving us a second chance to jump in their cars. Both convertibles. One red. One blue.

We soon turned off the beautifully hoovered, rock free tarmac and on to rocky, steep exposed terrain for a sweltering but satisfying climb.

Having vanished for a couple of days, the Saguaro cactus friends were back, a happy sight they are.

My feet were not recovered from the pounding they took entering the marina, and while Snakes has lost a toenail, I have blisters forming in various places…. on my feet.

We made Camp by 5pm, Snakes went down to the rain collector to fetch water like the maiden she is, while I set up Camp and made the beds like the maid I am.

We were sticky, disgusting salty messes, so wanting to try out the Always dog bowl body wash trick, but sans dog bowl, we filled my 900ml pot with water, soaked our bandanas and had the most satisfying on trail bath ever. We donned thermals and for once this was not a grim task as we felt so, so much cleaner than we actually were. 

We then cooked and ate dinner out of the same pot.

Always and Spreadsheet Steve arrived. The night was warm and social. I tell you, the next pet shop we stroll past, I’m buying a collapsible dog bowl.

7.2 miles on the day.

April 8th: Day 20.

We woke before our 5.30 alarm. Speadsheet Steve and Always were shuffling quietly about having risen to a 4.45 alarm. They left at 5.30, we were up and out by 6. The morning was gorgeous, wild flowers aplenty and a big red sun lit the mountains ahead of us as we walked North. Uphill was the name of the game today, with over 1700m of ascent we were in for a big one.

The ascent was steep and relentless for 4.6 miles which we did in a oner, save to stop for water at a sweet waterfall where we both rinsed our salty rigid shirts, which at this point can stand up on their own, we bravely put them back on again, soaking, to cool off.

By 8.30 just under half the days ascent was done and we splayed out for breakfast. I found Starbucks Via sachets (their take on instant coffee) in the hiker box at the lake, and as a consequence my morning had become a whole lot better for it.

From here the trail became very hard work. Never up or down for a particularly long time which meant relentless physical gear changing and posture changing, never really finding a rhythm. We wound in an out of ravines, traversing the mountainside which I found monotonous. The decor was burned after a recent fire and though the rocks were fewer, they weren’t absent. I began to get yet another blister on the base of my foot (that’s 4 now, too many) and the exposure and elevation was draining. Time for new shoes. And maybe a foot rub.

Eventually, after seemingly the longest 6 miles ever, we came across a running river with pools galore. We soaked our feet until they were numb, ate lunch, drank water and taped up our sores. This rejuvenating break couldn’t have come any sooner. I mean, it could have and I would have liked it to, but it didn’t, so, that’s that.

With fuller bellies and fresher legs, we plodded on in moderately higher spirits. The trail continued to be monotonous. 3.6 long miles to the next water and the last water of the day. This meant it would be our first dry camp, meaning we’d have to carry water for dinner, overnight, and tomorrow’s 3.5 miles before the next water.

We saw Spreadsheet Steve and Always at the water. We learned Always has a comprehensive spreadsheet for logging all the homemade dehydrated meals he makes, so now they’re just the Spreadsheet Twins. We drank tea and filtered water so we we’re at full capacity out of a grim looking trough with bugs in, this amounted to 2.7 litres for me.

The ascent never yet relented but soon we popped out onto a rock free dirt road. I never thought I’d be so elated to road walk our remaining 5.5 miles. The views were spectacular East and West and, to curb the pain in our feet we listened to music for the first time on trail yet. It was a perfect distraction. We passed the Spreadsheet Twins who stopped to make dinner, and ploughed on the find a camp spot.

Before long, it was tub time (bandana body wash) and camp time. I’m not sure I’ve ever been so hungry for instant mash. (I definitely have).

19.8 miles and 5646’/ 1720m on the day what a whop.

April 9th: Day 21. Payson

Another early start, and, amazingly our legs and feet (and knees) were feeling ok after yesterday’s ridiculousness. The dirt road continued for another 5 miles or so, but became less easy going, the rocks returned to mess us up again.

We charged 7 miles at speed to breakfast. The road became trail again, or a line of rocks we were precariously balancing on trying not to lose the pace or break our ankles.

Just as we were saying we were not impressed with the aesthetics of this section, at once the rocks all but disappeared and we came out into a rolling flower lined meadow with a creek running beside us. I feel this trail is just laughing at our struggles.

We did the next 6.6 miles at speed, so much speed I almost stepped on a rare, Gila Monster. The only native venomous lizard in the US, about which Dr Ward said “I have never been called to attend a case of Gila monster bite, and I don’t want to be. I think a man who is fool enough to get bitten by a Gila monster ought to die.” Unphased by me and my cartoon shock jump-back reaction, the 20 inch monster slowly waded off into the brush.

After a short delay, meeting a day hiker who gave us homemade banana muffins, we were storming the last mile to the highway.

On arrival, we met Rambo and his girlfriend Ellen who’d set up ‘trail magic’. They could have just offered us chairs (which they did) and I’d have been elated, there was cold drinks, grilled cheese, snacks galore and a big box of ‘things hikers might need’. We sat in the shade of their tent and refuelled before trying to hitch off the busy highway into the town of Payson. 

This would be our first hitch on this trail, and hitching on a highway is always tricky as the traffic moves faster. Picking a good spot where cars have both the distance to see you and the distance and space to pull in, is key. This was a bit of a notorious hitch, it often took a while for hikers to get a car to stop. I joked with the Spreadsheet Twins that the first car we saw would take us.

We bid farewell to our hosts and pals and turned onto the the highway, we stuck a lucky thumb out and, no joke, the first car we saw pulled in. 

Unfortunately it was the law, letting us know hitching was both dangerous, and illegal in Arizona. Who knew? We asked him if he’d like to take us to Payson. Turns out he would.

Not only could the timing not have been more perfect, but the back of a police car is a sealed cell. So as well as not have to make small talk, our kind driver didn’t have to smell our 6 days of unwashed filth. Which I could barely stand myself, and I’m me.

On arrival, we noticed we’d been dropped right outside the Goodwill. We just couldn’t resist. Besides which, the only laundromat in town was a mile walk, so I’d need a fetching outfit to transfer into while we walked to the laundromat. Or, that was the excuse I used.

$9.00 outfit purchased, shorts, shirt and sandals, we moved over to the homeware section on the off chance there would be a lightweight, red Ruffware dog bowl just like the one ‘Always’ carries for tub time.

Well, it wasn’t red but…. Possibly the most excited we’ve been on trail.

We left the Goodwill and went to Safeway for vegetable vitamins, which should be injected intravenously into us for the duration of our stay. We walked to the Payson Inn, possibility the cheapest in town and most agreeable. The owner offered us a beer on arrival. We booked a cheap room for two nights. Mass pack clean down began as we entered the room. I had an extremely long shower and then we snacked on food that wasn’t white.

Blink arrived in town, and booked a room across from us, we three went to the Thai restaurant and had the very best meal on trail yet.

April 10: Day 22: Zero

The only issue with the Payson Inn, no coffee. Blink, who was up at dawns sweaty 90° crack, was up and about and volunteered to bring us coffee to our room. He’s a keeper. Though today is a zero, there were chores to be done. Like breakfast, and, I will walk for breakfast. 0.7 miles up the road was the highly recommended Pinon cafe.

We returned via the Rim runners shoe shop, where I bought new shoes, the bottom of my current pair were like crepes. The VERY Nice lady in the shop, who’s running a 250 mile Ultra this summer and is about the size of my forearm, agreed to take us to the teailhead tomorrow, a notoriously hard hitch (and illegal, apparently) so that solved a problem we weren’t yet even trying to fix.

Blink, who just gets better and better, offered to do our laundry. Snakes grimaced and sort of ignored the offer until the third time he mentioned it, and Snakes relented. It would save us 2 miles of walking and a lot of time, but, as we know it’s one of Snakes favourite pastimes. She made Blink agree not to smell her clothes, which reluctantly, he agreed not to do.

A swift resupply for more food than we need, again and we were back at the motel, ready to meggle. I fixed a new buckle on to my pack, Snakes did some painting and we chewed the fat with vegetables and beer., which is how zeros should be had.

Tomorrow we’ll meet Margaret and will return to trail. Four days to the town of Pine where most hikers this year will end their trail due to snow. We’ll see what happens when we get there, we have a plan B to sidestep West, and a plan A to carry on North.. And a plan 1 to go to the brewery there.