Daily Miles: 4.1, Total Miles: 51.9 The wind died down immediately after I got my tent set up last night. Then quiet and still except for a hooting owl. No ill effects from the lagoon water, at least so far. All downhill from Brin Mesa to Sedona. Walked straight to Coffee Pot restaurant in West Sedona near my motel. Big pitchers of water and coffee without asking – my kind of place. I was first told I couldn’t check-in to…
Daily Miles: 17.6, Total Miles: 47.8 The wind howled all night long – and most of the day too. I started rummaging around for my earplugs this morning but looked at my watch. Time to get an early start. A bit of cross-country this morning – I now expect this from the MRT route creator! Tighter GPS control and keen observation (if I don’t say so myself) prevented me from having to climb any fences. I carefully nursed the last…
Daily Miles: 15.5, Total Miles: 30.2 I should really know better but the sandbar was too sloped and I was sliding up and down all night. Other than that, not a bad rest and nice, cool sleeping temperature. I remember the Sycamore River rock walk from 50 years ago – hasn’t gotten any better! There were four or five good water pools in the first mile and a half heading upstream. I also recalled this morning an old friend from…
Daily Miles: 14.7, Total Miles: 14.7 Mrs. Haze and I drove to Sedona on Thursday to drop off my resupply box at the motel where I’ll be staying. We then continued on to Cottonwood – the Sedona traffic was crazy and already seemed to be in weekend mode. Cottonwood was a bit slower paced but has grown a lot in the last ten years. Cottonwood was on one of my early lists of potential places to retire to. Mrs. Haze…
I wanted to get some elevation work in and another ankle “test”. What better way than to climb over the Rincons! Last weekend I joined the AZT near Hope Camp and Saguaro National Park and hiked to backcountry Grass Shack CG. Springtime may be getting an early start – water flowing and ocotillos are starting to green up and bloom. The next day, I climbed up to Manning Camp and over snow-covered Mica Mountain, down past frozen Italian Springs to…
The big news is Mrs. Haze and I got our first COVID vaccine shot a few weeks ago after volunteering at a local hospital. I assisted in traffic control and Mrs. Haze was an “observer”. Everyone was in good hands with her nursing background. We have an appointment for our second shot at the end of the month. Hopefully the recent supply issues get worked out and the vaccine works on all the new variants out there. Always something to…
We finally got some much needed moisture this week and even some snow! We essentially had no monsoon season last summer and this put us about 8 inches behind for the year. This storm will help but we need more. Even the cactus are in survival mode, shrinking and looking haggard but I think I detect a slight improvement. I am still hopeful I can pull off the MRT hike this year. As is the case in most of the…
COVID willing, I’m hoping to start the MRT around mid-April, somewhat weather dependent. On the AZT, I got dumped on with snow and freezing temps in the Mazatzals in mid-April. On the GET, I was in the Pinaleno Mountains – not much snow but very chilly above 9,000 ft. My boys are going to try to join me on a leg of the MRT, maybe Pine to Forest Lakes. That would be cool! They attempted to hike with me on…
My most comfortable but heavier ULA Catalyst pack was worn out and then absolutely destroyed by the Hayduke. Happy with the 4,000+ miles especially considering it was dropped from heights and pulled up over rocks and canyon walls. My more delicate Zpacks Arc Blast lasted through the CDT despite being chewed up by rodents. I then heavily patched it up and used it on the GET – pretty much shredded fiber by the end. But still, not a bad life…
The Mogollon Rim is a topographical and geologic feature cutting across northern Arizona starting in Yavapai County and trending eastward., ending near the New Mexico border. The Rim also defines the southern edge of the Colorado Plateau. North of the uplifted sandstone and limestone escarpment is forest, canyon and lake country, while to the south, a transition to high desert. The 500-mile Mogollon Rim Trail’s (MRT) western terminus is Sycamore Canyn near Cottonwood AZ. The MRT then points east through…
