A light, dry, westward breeze sprinkled dust all about during the night. The arid Santa Ana conditions made strung out night of tossing and turning, along with the pestering of large singular mosquitos that located me every ten minutes. After a night of little sleep, around 6am, I attempted to patch up a tear in my shoes with super glue and fabric repair tape, only to have that fail a mere mile into hiking today. The shoes will make it to Roosevelt Lake, where serious repairs will be needed to head further south.
| 🗓️ Date | November 4th |
| ⇢ Mileage | 27.7 |
| 📍 Trip Mileage | 442.8 |
| ⛅️ Weather | High of 85°F, pretty exposed today; very dry at lower elevation but more manageable in themountains |
| 🏞️ Trail Conditions | ATV road to overgrown single track traverse |
I finished up the more significant climbing towards Four Peaks Wilderness. Through the wilderness, the elevation looks like bumps around 6,000 feet, with a large 3,500 foot drop into Roosevelt Lake. I followed ATV road for a large portion of the day, headed towards the wilderness boundary. I filtered water from a game source, only to find that water tasting seriously unhealthy — metallic with a hint of decay. I carried a liter out for safe measure for a 10-mile haul to the next water, making a parched arrival to Pigeon Spring.
After lunch at Pigeon Spring, trail formally entered the Four Peaks Wilderness. A long steep traverse ensued towards my next water cache at Mills Ridge Trailhead. The trail was quite a bit overgrown, and my legs with scabs from pinpricks and dry scrapes. I arrived late to Mills Ridge Trailhead, walking a desperately slow last few miles down steep, slippery slopes littered with cactus. In the night, I came across a kit fox staring me down in the trail.
At Mills Ridge Trailhead, I grabbed a gallon of water from a cache. A group of ASU boys made an awkward campsite of tents and cars around a campfire in the parking lot of the trailhead. We all know camping at trailhead parking lots is exclusively allowed for trashy hikers like myself. But, I didn’t mind — they threw me an Arnold Palmer and I walked off to find rocky spot on the neighbor hong hillside in the shrubbery and cactus.
After Lake Roosevelt tomorrow, there will be a couple more town stops before I make plans to get into Tucson. I’ll be targeting to get off trail at either Mt. Lemmon or, preferably, Colossal Cave. But, there are a few things that I foresee could happen that might force an even earlier exit:
- Shoe disintegration.
- Giardiasis infection.
- Ankle implosion.
- Big toe explosion.
Place your bets, folks. After a dinner of ramen, I cuddled up next to jutted rock did my best to pass out.
Signing off,
Zeppelin
“Freak on a Leash”
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