GET Day 21: Eagle Creek to Hwy 191, Morenci

Daily Miles: 15.8, Total Miles: 301.8

My NeoAir sprung a leak last night. Hopefully I can find the hole and patch it up one more time.

Another few miles up Eagle Creek, refreshing early in the morning with several more crossings, some thigh deep. Finally turned up dry Knight Creek and had to be on top of my game to pick the right trail. A stop at Cottonwood Spring was a must for me despite the cow activity all the way to the source.

The next leg was the scenic, but never ending, mostly uphill Painted Bluffs Trail, up and down through several canyons and views of the Morenci Copper Mine.

I got to Highway 191, known to be a lonely road with sparse traffic, about 5:30pm. First order of business was filtering a liter of water because I was dying of thirst after that last climb. Second order was making myself more presentable to the few vehicles expected to come down this road tonight.

I wasn’t quite ready when the first car came down – in fact, I was in the middle of changing shirts which didn’t help my chances any. About 20 minutes later, another car came down the hairpin turn and blew right by me. My heart sank – I may be spending a cold, windy night on this road. Wait, I can see the car that blew by me slowing down and stopping further down the mountain. I hustled down the road and they met me halfway. Many thanks to Jamie and Ashley, young school teachers in Morenci – you made my day and it was a pleasure meeting you!

No hikers today – just me and the cows.