DWTH Day 8: Sawtooth Mtns to a Wasteland

Daily Miles: 17.0, Total Miles: 124.1

The high voltage powerline I slept under was humming all night. I thought it may bother me but more like white noise.

A pretty sunrise from my tent and I was off once again. This time on a primitive road filled with deep, fine sand. I didn’t like it much but judging by the number of jackrabbits and roadrunners, they didn’t mind at all.

After leaving the Ironwood Forest National Monument late yesterday afternoon, I re-entered the IFNM this morning into the Sawtooth Mountains.

Not quite as good as Idaho’s Sawtooths, this desert mountain range was still quite impressive. Jagged rock formations and desert flora that just kept getting better and better.

Stopped for lunch and green water at a wildlife guzzler. I thought I may have to double treat this water haul. While there, a large group of ATVs drove by, the leader asking me if I was OK. I really hadn’t seen anyone for days and kind of at a loss for words. Should have at least asked for an ice-cold beverage!

Exited the Sawtooth Mountains and dropped down to a basin, exiting the IFNM. I entered what looked like a sandy wasteland, and judging by the large number of cattle and no greenery, overgrazed. Trudged through deep sand and put a bandana over my face for protection against the blowing sand. My thought was that I had discovered the source material for some of SE Arizona’s notorious haboobs, those massive dust storms that are characterized by a dense wall of dust.

I finally got through the “salt flats” to a bit of state land, marginally better with a few mesquite trees. Set up camp trying to get the most shade I could on a warm afternoon.

I really wanted to stream one of the Final 4 NCAA basketball games but didn’t have a strong enough phone signal. Just as well, I really needed to conserve what phone charge I have remaining. My battery packs are not holding the charge very well anymore and need to be replaced.

Then my air mattress deflated before I even had a chance to eat dinner. Pinholes are difficult to detect without submerging it in water which clearly wasn’t going to happen tonight. I blew the mattress back up and ran the mattress closely over my face thinking that maybe I could feel or hear the leak. This was no small feat in a small tent. After several minutes of wrestling with the pad, I gave up, exhausted and resolving to just lay on the hard ground. I blew it up one last time and collapsed back on pad after turning it over and swapping ends. My face hit the mattress and I could have sworn I felt a puff of air on my nose. Sure enough, I had found the pinhole! Not taking my eyes off of it, I groped around for my small repair kit. I got a patch on it, blew it back up and enjoyed a small victory. Until it slowly went flat again. I went through the whole process one more time with the same result – must be a larger group of pinholes. Now really tired and defeated.