Day 27. Monday March 27. From Mile 345.3 (Roosevelt Lake), elevation 2206, to Mile 355.8, elev. 4319. Walked 10.5 miles, up 3699 ft, down 1664 ft, total grade 513.9 ft/mile.
Dear Trail Friends,
I slept late and had the pleasure of waking up in daylight. My tent was wet from condensation but it dried quickly as the sun rose over the hills.
I walked to the visitor center for the Tonto Basin and not only replenished my water with drinkable water from the fountain, but also used their bathroom to rinse and squeeze out dirty socks and underpants. I used their wifi to upload my blog, their electric outlet (shared with a soda machine) to recharge my iPhone, reconnected with Chris by FaceTime and in the end decided to head back to the trail from there about 10:30am.
I really didn't feel very excited about walking or being shuttled in the little golf cart shuttle over to the Marina and try to put together a microwaved breakfast. Chances are the choices were various kinds of breakfast burrito, not ideal since I'm trying to minimize gluten by avoiding most all wheat stuff that is not organic or European. The gmo wheat seems very high in gluten and I tend to get tummy aches from it.
Photo 1 is our tentsite this morning and photo 2 is Larry and Marcella at the tentsite. They took off before I did but we have ended up camping (at the only water and tentsites around as far as I could tell) together again. I enjoy running into them and talking about the trail. Marcella noticed I left my jacket in the women's restroom this morning. I might well have forgotten it and I am very grateful to her.
I hear raindrops beginning to fall on my tent as I write. I am thankful this tent does such a good job of keeping me dry in the rain.
When I began my hike this morning (it was 11am by the time I hiked back to the trail and corrected my usual tendency to go the wrong way) it was hot and a lot of steep ascent which exhausts me. Partly I think very steep hiking requires whole different muscle groups and coordination from hiking a mountain like our Mt Constitution at home. And I haven't trained, I haven't built coordination for that activity. Anyway, I got a chance to try out my new sun umbrella in handsfree mode and I do think it helped.
I got worried I was hiking too slowly to make it to water and a tentsite and that took care of the illusion of perfect harmony between my body and me. I realized my new 15-mile a day plan might prove too much for me. I was mad at my body for not being faster and more energetic and my body was mad at me for not being more accepting and appreciative.
Nevertheless there were moments, particularly after a rest stop and as the day cooled, when I was aware of the immensity of the space I was hiking through and experienced myself as a (small) part of all that surrounded me. Photos 3 and 4 are about those kind of moments.
I also wanted to show you a view looking back at the Marina so you could see the little ramp the shuttle took when it brought us to the Marina bar. Photo 5. We camped in that parking area in the spot of land just beyond the Marina.
Chris found the poem I was thinking about in yesterday's post. She sent it around to our email list but I know some of you aren't on that list so here is the poem.
The thistle, the nettle, the burdock, and belladonna
Have a future. Theirs are wastelands
And rusty railroad tracks, the sky, silence.
Who shall I be for men many generations later?
When, after the clamor of tongues, the award goes to silence?
I was to be redeemed by the gift of arranging words
But must be prepared for an earth without a grammar,
For the thistle, the nettle, the burdock, the belladonna,
And a small wind above them, a sleepy cloud, silence.
Czesław Miłosz (1911-2004)
Our friend Adria recognized the essay I was referring to: from Rebecca Solnit's Wanderlust the essay "Walking after midnight: Women, Sex, and Private Space." If you google it I am pretty sure you will find the essay online.
Looking ahead to tomorrow I see a lot of steep ascents, but water and tentsites should be fairly manageable. I hope I can relax and listen to music and slip into harmony with my body and the surroundings as I did some this afternoon in the second part of the hike. And I hope that you can share that experience.
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