The morning was cool and I didn't want to get out from the warmth of my sleeping bag. I would look out at the sunrise periodically through the screen in my tent since I had slept without the rainfly on. The hill I was on overlooked the town of Apache Junction, and just above the waking city along the horizon was a thick line of orange, like somebody had taken a broad tipped highlighter and swiped it across the sky. Although it was cool, the amazing sunrise was telling me to get out and seize the day. I rebelled as long as I could, but by 7:30 I was packing up camp.
On the agenda today was a hike that had been recommended to me by Kim, the woman whose property I had camped on. Somewhere along my adventure, maybe it was in Santa Barbara, I had decided that I should take the advice and suggestions of the locals...especially fellow cyclists. I was able to park my bike behind the house that was on the property and started to walk out to the trail. I wasn't quite sure where the trail was or where it was going to lead me, but I was hoping it was up to the top of a ridge that I could see off in the distance. I started walking east and when the pathway ended at the top of a hill I realized I had gone in the wrong direction. After taking a few moments to enjoy the view from the hill, I set back down in the other direction and eventually came to what was clearly marked as the trailhead.
There were a few people in the parking lot getting ready to hike as well, and I said hi and walked past them like I knew where I was going. I really had no idea, but the way had been briefly described to me and when the trail split I did my best to remember what was told to me. I'm not sure if the other hikers knew where they were going or if they had seen me looking deceivingly confident, but they were close on my heels for the first portion. When the trail split again, I chose the road less travelled, followed the trail down into a dried up ravine, then caught another trail on the other side, and it probably looked as if I did know where I was going. Once on the other side of the ravine I could tell I was heading straight toward the ridge.
The whole area was covered in Saguaro cacti. The Saguaro are protected in Arizona, and a special permit is needed if you plan to remove one. The Saguaro bloom is the state flower, and they are truly a symbol of Arizona. They grow slow and may live for hundreds of years. When I learned that it may take up to 75 years for a cactus to grow an arm, I looked at all the armed Saguaros in a whole new light. For some reason they resemble tall human like figures to me, especially as I was riding past them in the dark the night before. Even on the trail that day some of them looked to have distorted faces where elf owls had made homes in the upper portion of the cactus, where the head would be. I wondered if there were any native american stories about the origin of the Saguaro.
From the top of the ridge, I could see for miles in all directions. To my north were different mountain ranges and to my south I could just make out the area where I had camped and could see the city just past that. It was a gorgeous morning and promised to be a beautiful day. The hike was much welcomed as I had been itching to do some kind of outdoor activity off of the bike. I sat at the top of the ridge for a while just taking in the view and breathing in deep the dry desert air.
Back on my bike I was riding through Apache Junction and decided to stop for some coffee, charge my phone and update my blog before leaving town. As I was sitting in the comfy leather chair at the Starbucks something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. Out from behind the trash crawled a medium sized scorpion! Can you imagine my surprise?!?! I notified the staff and one of the baristas grabbed an empty cup and escorted the stingy insect outside. He said that they find them inside from time to time, but he wasn't sure where or how they get in.
Once I got out of the city, I really enjoyed the ride. The sun was powerful, but the temperature wasn't over 70F. The desert is beautiful in its own way. There's not necessarily a lot of biodiversity but it's pretty miraculous to me that all these plants and animals have evolved to survive in such a climate. Riding past all the different cactus types and desert brush, I was hard pressed to find one plant without thorns or some other type of defense system.
The climbing in Arizona is gradual. I didn't even realize I was going uphill, but before I knew it I had gained 1000ft elevation. I had gotten a late start on the day, and the sun soon set. I stopped in the town of Superior to get something to eat just as it was getting dark. I talked to some locals, and they warned me that the road ahead was steep and there wasn't much of a shoulder. After eating I set out on the road in the direction of a campground that was about 6 miles ahead, but all uphill. Sometimes it's easier to climb hills in the dark, because since I can't see much of the grade or even where the hill ends, I don't set limits on what it is I need to accomplish. I had been warned about a narrow tunnel and when I arrived at it, I was a little worried myself. I made sure I had all my lights on and that I was wearing my reflective vest covered in LEDs. I managed to time it just right so that no cars were coming in either direction while I was in the dark narrow tunnel. Just as I exited a semi followed by a line of cars all heading the same direction I was entered the tunnel, and I was glad that I hadn't taken any longer to get through.
The campground was very primitive. No water, no electricity, no anything. I was still warm from all the climbing I had done and as I looked for camp, I wondered what was sparkling all over the ground. I soon realized it was frost! I had failed to notice how cold it was up there, but by the time I found a spot and set up my hammock, I soon realized that it was really chilly. I think I was only at around 3800ft elevation, but there must have been a cold front coming in because it was easily becoming one of the colder nights I had encountered. My tent was set up like a hammock, in between two trees, but on this particular night I probably should have set it up like a tent. As I lay in my sleeping bag trying to stay warm, the wind began to whistle between the trees and my rainfly began whipping about as the wind swelled. I slept as best as I could, but the hammock sitting in the course of the wind didn't provide much insulation and I would wake up occasionally shivering from the cold.
Miles: 50 miles
RRD: A dead rattlesnake
-D
I forgot all about the scorpions. I used to find those in my kitchen sink and after finding one on the floor, I quit walking barefoot in my home at night.
ReplyDelete