Dear Trail Friends
Today was my first day back on the trail after a nice long rest at LF Ranch. Shawn (the "hired hand") made us coffee at 4 am and we started walking about 5:30 am. It wasn't particularly planned that we walk together but I seriously doubt if I would have found the trail, made my way to the river, crossed the river and continued to find the trail without Slo Bro (my roommate last night in the bunkhouse) and his much brighter flash light and much better navigational sense. We hiked together the first 5 miles and then he, being a much faster hiker than me and planning on hiking the full 22 miles to Pine today, went ahead.
As soon as we started the climb I could feel how much stronger and faster I was. Whatever was wrong with my heart is for now at least healed. Indeed, I hiked over 17 miles today and was not exhausted at the end. I just saw a good camp site and knew that there are a number of hikers planning to stop a few miles before Pine (where no lodging is available) and I knew I preferred to camp alone. (Though I did run into Larry and Marcella today and it was great to reconnect with them. Part of me would have loved to camp with them but part was definitely ready for solitude and just to be here with the trees and the sky.
Slo Bro is interesting man just a few years younger than me. Initially trained as an etymologist (sp? Scientist who studies bugs), he re-tooled as an engineer after his wife accepted a chemistry teaching position at a university in Texas. Then at 39 he went to medical school and spent the last 20 years of his working life as a family doctor.
We hiked through an area where the rocks looked like bones and skulls (photo 1).
We shared stories about what we loved about our work and I was very moved by his stories. When it was time for him to move on I missed both the conversation and his quickness at finding the trail.
I entered a section where there was no real trail tread. One just found ones way wandering among rocks and cacti and looking for the next cairn to indicate where the hypothetical trail lay. I found I enjoyed being alone doing this very much. It was like hiking through some very strange and alien environment, like another planet, scanning all around and then seeing a pile of rocks that led the way and also gave a sense of connection to others who had been here and been kind enough to build cairns. I hope photo 2 can give you a little feel for this.
This photo was supposed to have cairns in it but I will be darned if I can find them even after enlarging it. Sorry.
The new kid on the wildflower street was a tiny beautiful pink blossom. Photo 3 collages that with a more familiar orange flower and with the pale blue juniper berries strewn all over the ground under juniper tree/shrubs. They aren't exactly flowers but they are colorful.
Arizona is amazing for its contrasting environments. I was walking through pine today and am sleeping among pine trees. Totally different from desert. Also weather - one moment hot sun, the next moment clouds and chilling wind. I would diagnose the state as bipolar if it were a patient I were evaluating. Last night just before we went to bed it started to rain hard and the wind went thrashing around in a way that made me think of tornadoes. My friends Larry and Marcella who were camped higher up said there was lightning up here.
Photo 4 gives a glimpse of how green it became as I climbed higher and also of the mountains ahead.
Everything feels up in the air about my hike. Will I still limit myself to 15 miles per day or am I well enough now to enjoy a few more miles (as I did today). If so will I revise my plan again and hike from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon after all? What about the Grand Canyon itself? I learned while at LF Ranch that the bridge over Bright Canyon Creek is out and there is no plan yet to fix it and access to Ribbon Falls is closed until further notice. This means that the destination of my pilgrimage is not reachable. How do I rethink my pilgrimage? I had thought of spending several contemplative days in the canyon but also learned that the last minute walk-in permits are for a maximum of two nights. So everything is open and uncertain.
On the other hand, I have reconnected with a sense of health and well-being and simple happiness being on the trail. That is enough - more than enough - for now.
Tomorrow I go into the town of Pine, pick up a bunch of packages (new pouches to replace disintegrating ones on my pack, tent stakes to replace the ones I lost, a new pstyle to replace the one I lost, a mattress repair kit, a down beanie for the coming northern nights in the low 20s, etc.), do my laundry, have a couple hot meals, visit an ATM to replenish my dwindling supply of cash, and - unless I decide I no longer need it - but some food for the extra day if I walk only 15 mile days. Then I may spend the night (at SLO Bro's cottage) or I may hike a little way to a campsite beyond town.
Thank you for sharing my happiness.
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