Towns, in some instances, are just a store. Regardless, I greatly appreciated towns for resupply, cold drinks, snacks, sit-down food, laundry, and shelter. I enjoyed the respite from eating trail food and always tried to take advantage of restaurants, cafes, and sandwich shops. The added benefit was the feeling that I supported the local economy. Besides, the food always tasted great. Granted, I might have been biased because I had not enjoyed fresh food for days. Most hikers, including me, are obsessed with fresh food and taking photos of our meals.
Parker Marina Store was my first AZT town where I got a cold drink, Snickers, injured, dinner, and a hot breakfast. I should explain injured.
The short version is that when Samwise and I were at Parker Marina Store, a 100-pound dog slid into me and knocked me down as it played. I landed on my elbow, which created a small gash that profusely bled. I stopped the bleeding, cleaned the wound, put antibiotic ointment on it, and wrapped it in gauze. The following day, I cleaned it again, applied more antibiotic ointment and some Steri-Strips, and bandaged the wound. It was sore but did not hinder me. The cut never became infected, nor did it keep bleeding.
I mailed a resupply box to the Patagonia Post Office. I stayed at Terra Sol with the tramily. We camped in the backyard, showered, did laundry, had pizza and beer, and had breakfast. Patagonia is somewhat of an artists’ haven. Patagonia schedules book readings and art exhibitions every week. There are plenty of small restaurants and a few stores to resupply. Patagonia is a big, small town.
Terra Sol is a haven thanks to the owner, Mary, a hiker herself. She charges a small fee to camp in her backyard and shower while laundry is at the nearby RV park. For a small price, she sells snacks and cold drinks. When I got to Terra Sol, I drank in succession a Coke, a root beer, and seltzer water before Mary showed me around. She has a camp kitchen with a sink and microwave. She has a hiker box and sells snacks and some resupply items. What else would I need? To top that off, Mary is a beautiful person being open, kind, understanding, and helpful.
Tucson was an unexpected stop. Ian offered his hospitality in his town and considering his helpfulness, desire to show off Tucson, and the weather would be hot in the 90s for a couple of days, I could not pass up his offer.
I stayed in a hotel near downtown. I did sink laundry, showered, and slept in a bed. I sometimes ate with the tramily, Whit and Sketch, and sometimes alone based on Ian’s suggestions. I ate ice cream with Kharen, my ice cream buddy.
There were so many great spots in Tucson, and I would never have realized them without Ian. The Scented Leaf (where Ian works) is fantastic, and I loved the iced teas and Ian’s suggestions. One of the best places to eat in Tuscan is the Drunken Chicken, which we ate for our last Tuscan meal before returning to the trail.
Viet and I stayed at High Jinx Ranch outside Oracle the previous night. High Jinx was a rip-off. Viet and I paid $45 to camp in a yard, $10 to do laundry without a drier, and $10 for a cold, rainwater shower. Furthermore, they did not have a shuttle to Oracle, even though their advert said otherwise. They did have potable water.
I was seething and thought about writing a scathing review. After an awful night’s sleep, I thought better of writing it. The place already had some bad reviews, and there might have been extenuating circumstances. What goes around comes around, and I don’t need to contribute to the bad karma; instead, I thought I’d go to Oracle, get my resupply box, try to do laundry, and eat.
It turns out I met Ann and Dave and then Josh.
My experience in Oracle was terrific due to trail angels Ann and Dave. They let me do laundry and shower, took me to the Post Office, and gave me a bed for the night. What made this even more special was that I met Josh in Oracle. The terrible experience at High Jinx ranch served to amplify Ann and Dave’s hospitality and niceness.
Next was Kearny. I got to Kearny with Josh early in the morning. I had coffee and a pastry at the supermarket and then went to the pizza place for lunch. I could not find a place to stay in Kearny, but I could find a place in Superior, so I got a ride there.
I considered waiting in Superior for the tramily, but they planned to go to Phoenix. Ian was going to see his parents; Kharen was going to see her family that traveled down from Flagstaff; Jada was going to see a friend. I did not want to spend more days in Phoenix or Superior. I ate, resupplied, and left the following day. I was tired, and my foot hurt. I did not realize it, but I had a deep blister on the ball of my foot. I ended up hitching to Roosevelt Marina, where I had a resupply box waiting.
Roosevelt Marina has a small store that doesn’t have much, so a resupply box is a good idea. There is a hiker box with lots of items. I was taking ibuprofen for my foot and using Leukotape to cover the ball of my foot. On the hike out of Roosevelt Marina, I met Missing Spoons. That day was the most climbing I had ever done over the rolling mountains. I did 18 miles, but the deep blister on my foot was painful.
I kept my food carry small from Roosevelt Marina, which meant I needed to get to Payson for my next resupply. I had read on Guthook that a hitch from Sunflower to Payson was easy. I met Annie on the path heading to Sunflower, and she was going to Payson too. We decide to hitch together and share a hotel in Payson. All women on the trail are courageous. I cannot imagine how nerve-racking being a solo woman and hitching and staying in small towns may be. Hiking is demanding enough physically and mentally, but being worried about crazy people taking advantage is a considerable burden.
Payson is a big town with chain hotels, a Walmart, and chain restaurants. Unfortunately, the easy hitch was an hour-long wait in the sun. Payson is about 30 miles from Sunflower. Annie and I got to Payson before lunch. Annie had been dreaming of Denny’s breakfast, so we went there. We found a hotel and a laundry across the street. For dinner, we went to the best Mexican restaurant in town, which was mediocre.
We both decided to do a zero the next day and got a hotel room for another night. We went to another Mexican place for brunch, which was much better. I resupplied, and Annie gave me a bunch of her food and a partial roll of Leukotape since she was going to get off the trail. That afternoon, I nursed my foot while Annie napped.
Pine is a perfect trail town that I should have done instead of Payson. I missed my resupply box there since I arrived sooner than it did. Pine is a significant milestone demarcating the trail’s flatter, higher northern section. I didn’t spend much time in Pine since I did a zero in Payson.
By the time I got to Flagstaff, I was ill. I had a sore throat, runny nose, and a slight fever. I got a hotel and found a Covid antigen test kit at Walgreens. My first test was inconclusive, but I felt awful. Oh, man.
The next day, I did another covid test, which returned negative for infection. I still felt terrible, with a sore throat and a slight fever. I did not sleep well. I wanted to recover at home instead of Flagstaff. I just wanted my bed, so I headed back to Boulder.
My fever spiked the day after returning to Boulder, but I started feeling better the next day. I got a PCR Covid test that came back negative for infection. I hunkered down for another day before doing a short hike. I did a longer hiker the day after and felt good. My flu was gone, I was feeling decent, and I wanted to return to the AZT.
I drove back to Flagstaff and returned to the trail with Kharen and Mr. Clean a couple of days later. I may have been able to catch Jada if I started as soon as I got to Flagstaff, but I felt I’d be the third wheel with her and Spoons. Besides, I wanted a couple of days to cache some water on the route to the Grand Canyon. Caching would take a couple of days because getting to the trail by car was not clear-cut or easy. I often ran into dead ends trying to get to caching spots.
On the south rim of the Grand Canyon is the Grand Canyon Village. The General Store has a plethora of resupply options, and restaurants abound. Maybe it was hiker hunger that made everything taste so good. The NPS does AZT hikers well. For $6/night, the NPS assigns AZT hikers to two sites where we camp in proximity. The Grand Canyon has laundry and shower facilities for a fee of around $2.50 for each and is a welcome respite before tackling the hike to the north rim.
The south rim has the most public visitors and is somewhat like a carnival compared to the north rim, which is closed to the public from mid-November to mid-May due to winter weather and lack of road maintenance. The closure did not impact other AZT hikers or me.
Phantom Ranch is open year-round at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. The bottom of the canyon is significantly warmer than the rims, and drinking an ice-cold lemonade at Phantom Ranch was refreshing. Since mule trains must haul all supplies down to the canyon bottom, everything at Phantom Ranch is expensive.
I would recommend the north rim over the south because the north rim is less crowded, more beautiful, and less developed. The downside is that it is harder to get to, which is why the north rim is less developed. The views are easier to get to in the south.
Jacob Lake is north of the Grand Canyon and was a decent spot to do an expensive resupply. The restaurant is good and has friendly staff. I did my last resupply at Jacob Lake. Even though from Jacob Lake to the state line campground is only two days, I did a resupply in Jacob Lake to lighten my carry up to the north rim.
The last trail town for me was Page, AZ. AZT hikers either head to Page or Kanab, UT. On my previous trip to the north rim, I stopped in Kanab, and Kanab is a good town for AZT hikers heading north and west.
Kharen was heading home to Flagstaff, and I was heading to Flagstaff for my car, so Kharen and I looked for shuttles and trail angels for a ride to Page while at Jacob Lake. Plan B would be to hitch. Kharen found a trail angel to get us to Page, and on top of that, her friend Sam would pick us up the next day from Page to drive to Flagstaff. Thank you!
Sam is amazing. The drive from Flagstaff is a little over 2-hours! Viet and I filled her gas tank. As it turned out, Kharen did more than me to get from the state line to Flagstaff. Sam also gave me some places to eat in Moab and Grand Junction. She knew that my hunger would take a week to be satiated. (I ate lunch #1 at the Moab Garage Company and lunch #2 at Taco Party in Grand Junction.)
Next: Water