Daily Miles: 18.1, Total Miles: 428.4 I had to blow up my air mattress last night – must have a pinhole leak. Next time I have access to a bathtub, I’ll find the leak and patch it. I headed mostly west the first half of the day, first on a series of primitive roads and then up and down canyons through washes. In the interests of time and running low on water, I passed up a side visit to the…
Daily Miles: 13.3, Total Miles: 410.3 The wild burros were noisily running amok this morning around Alamo Lake. So nice to have a picnic table and a nearby toilet with running water – a rare treat! I met a ranger this morning on my walk towards the Alamo Lake Dam – he said the Bill Williams River was running at 30cfs. He also mentioned a recent sighting of a mountain lion and cub. I also had a game of chicken…
Daily Miles: 22.1, Total Miles: 397.0 The moonlight was so bright I could have gotten an earlier start. All day was spent on a NW route on primitive roads and x-country across the desert with the saving grace of pretty good tread. My first attempt at water was a near dry guzzler but I found a good stock trough a few miles later with easy collection from a float valve. I picked up my next undisturbed food cache near the…
Daily Miles: 17.6, Total Miles: 374.9 Scott from Westward Inn got me from Salome to the trailhead off of Highway 60. The good weather continues with clear and sunny skies. I first headed NW to Cullin’s Well, established in 1868, a water source and stage stop between Wickenburg and Ehrenberg, but now bone dry. Then on to Miller’s Reservoir, a stock pond now but it looks like there were much bigger plans to capture water but apparently abandoned. I filled…
Daily Miles: 0.0, Total Miles: 357.3 Being an old man, I took two zero days for recovery and I’m glad I did. Blisters are finally calloused, aches and pains have diminished and I feel recharged once again. Breakfast and dinner at the Salome Restaurant – no complaints and good, friendly service. One word of caution at the bar next door – politics may not be a good topic of discussion with the patrons. Salome is historically a mining and railroad…
Daily Miles: 9.9, Total Miles: 357.3 I should have known better but the breeze last night on the ridge turned into whipping, gusty winds battering my tent all night, eventually collapsing it about 3am. I had even put large rocks over the tent stakes but I guess not large enough. Getting ready to go this morning was quite the challenging feat with limited mobility in a collapsed tent. After a thorough search, I found all but one tent stake. With…
Daily Miles: 15.1, Total Miles: 347.4 Lots of wildlife traffic by my tent last night. That’s what happens when you camp in a narrow wash. Some pitter patter and some heavier feet, I suspect deer or burros and/or coyotes. I did hear a coyote yipping very close to my tent last night. Washes and primitive roads got me to Tiger Well near Eagle Eye Road. The full storage tank was the best source of clear water and easily accessible, two…
Daily Miles: 17.9, Total Miles: 332.3 I got an early start entering the 21k-acre Big Horn Wilderness Area designated in 1990, which features nine miles of rocky ridgelines, steep canyons, fissures, and chimneys and also home for desert bighorns and desert tortoises. While walking up washes and x-country, I was surprised at how much greenery (grass, weeds and shrubs) I saw, not to mention early spring flowers including pestamins. Shades of Utah, I also saw two small arches, actually more…
Daily Miles: 17.9, Total Miles: 314.4 I enjoyed a gorgeous, colorful sunrise as I set out on my Saddle Mountain traverse. This area has been proposed as a wilderness area and I can see why. Saddle Mountain has rugged canyons, towering cliffs and rock spires in an obvious volcanic setting. While on a x-country stretch, I happened to look down and see a perfectly formed, small arrowhead, a reminder of past occupation in this area. In the old days I…
Daily Miles: 19.2, Total Miles: 296.5 Another headlamp-assisted start this morning heading north up a wash further into the Signal Mountain Wilderness. As it got lighter, the volcanic peaks, steep-canyon walls and craggy ridges came into full view. A cool, colorful panoramic view. I hiked in or near the wash all the way to a pass surrounded by impressive buttes, peaks and rock formations. I’m sure I had the whole wilderness to myself. Down the other side of the pass…
