AZT: Payson to Pine – The Walk

Day 24: 4.10

I texted a local trail angel to help me get my shoes back from Pine, which is 15 miles north of Payson and 47 miles north of where I left the trail two days ago. She happily offers to help me and I give her some money for gas even though she doesn’t ask for it. It saves me the trouble of having 2 or 3 problems dealing with my shoe drama.

I get back on the trail around noon and my new shoes feel like walking clouds. I think I made the right decision. When I pass through the first door I find, I manage to trip and fall to the ground. My shin is raw and bleeding. Haha karma I guess? One last fall even with new shoes.

I enter the Mazatzal Desert, which is notoriously rugged and rocky. There are many more trees and bushes and many fewer cacti in this section. There is also a lot more water! And shadow! And did I mention rocks? Lots of rocks.

I see for the first time the red rocks that the northern part of the state is known for. I am in love and very excited to be back here.

I camp with two section hikers and another hiker. We sat in a circle, had dinner and talked. This is the first time this has happened to me on this path. It feels good. The AZT offers much more solitude and isolation than most other long-distance trails. This time I really love solo camping! It has been a wonderful experience to not have crippling anxiety at night. I can see how much I have grown and I am very proud of myself. But still, I’m enjoying the time I spend with others tonight.

Day 25: 4.11

I wake up to pee and it’s drizzling outside at 4:45am. Thinking it would be a quick trip, I didn’t grab my raincoat. It ends up not being a quick trip and halfway through poop it starts to pour down rain! I finish the writing and run back to my tent. I’m wondering if I should pack in the rain since I’m hoping to ride 25 miles today. I decide to make coffee and read my book until the rain turns to drizzle again. I’m lucky and in 30 minutes there is a short break in the rain that gives me enough time to take down the tent and pack my bags.

As soon as I start walking, the rain falls again and continues for a couple of hours. I look behind me and begin to see a blue sky and a sun. The clearing grows and I shout over my shoulder, «Come on, Sol!» It continues to rain on me as the blue sky forms right behind me. Finally, it catches up to me and the rain ends for the day.

I hit the 400 mile mark and celebrate with an “Oooh, I’m halfway there… ooooo Oh!”

I think about the water fountain that made my mouth go numb and I remember that I was eating a PB and an omelet right before my mouth went numb. I’m suddenly afraid I’ve developed a new peanut allergy since listening to a podcast the other day about how new allergies can form after heavy resistance training. All I have for lunch this time is PB. I take a Benadryl and slowly, very slowly, eat my PB and my omelet while imagining that I will need an epi pen but I don’t have one. What’s wrong with my brain that it needs to find something to worry about? Something so strangely improbable! I work on my anxiety coping mechanisms and avoid any real panic attacks. I notice that my mouth is not numb and I force myself to believe that it was the water that was contaminated with something that made my mouth numb (and probably took a year off my life).

I stop early at 5:30 pm where there is an excellent water source and a campsite. The next stretch of trail is said to be very rocky and there is only one halfway decent campsite about an hour away, according to FarOut. I can camp early in a good spot or take a chance and maybe not be able to camp for an hour. I decide that worry and anxiety are not necessary tonight, since I already had enough at lunch and stopped early. I agree with myself that tomorrow I will wake up at 4 in the morning to give myself a head start. I only did 22 miles today.

A comment on FarOut says there was a cougar at this campground about ten days ago. I intentionally make a lot of noise during dinner time since I am camping alone. I remind myself that there are mountain lions here all the time, even if we don’t see them, so everything will be okay at camp tonight. I’m not having a panic attack. As far as I know, no pumas are coming. And, in fact, everything was fine.

Day 26: 4.12

My alarm went off at 4:03 as that was the commitment to stop early last night and start early today. I reached the top of the first big climb at 11:15, which was 13 miles, and dropped in for lunch and even a coffee. I wanted to get as close to the city as possible with the goal of a 25 mile day which then became the goal of a marathon which then became 27+ miles.

After lunch, we descended 5 miles to a river, a river! Two years ago, the East Verde River was up to my thighs, and today it’s up to my ankles. I find made rocks and jump off keeping my feet dry. This drought is crazy.

Another rise and another fall. In the middle is a place called White Mesa, which is a nice flat couple of miles where I can walk a little faster. The descent to the creek is crazy as it starts out very rocky and quickly becomes overgrown. It’s actually hard to tell where the curves go and I’m glad I’m not trying to do this in the dark.

FarOut described a spot 1.8 miles uphill from the creek that had two nice campsites that have been difficult to find in this rocky terrain. I drink 2.5 liters of water, about 5.5 pounds, and begin the climb as the sun approaches the horizon. I hope to get to camp before dark and I do. While I’m getting ready, Eric walks by and I offer him the other spot. We chatted a little and got to know each other a little more as we got ready for the night. Then we both went up to our tents and had dinner separately. We both plan to get up early because tomorrow is a city day!

Day 27: 4.13

I wake up 45 minutes before my alarm goes off because it’s a city day!

I had 10.5 miles to go and planned to do it as quickly as possible. As I approached the road, I realized that in 2024 there had been a small detour that was no longer necessary. Now I would have to go another half mile to the trailhead, which made more sense than the highway since it was closer to town. I had a problem 2 minutes after getting on. A nice Ukrainian family and the driver recently read “Wild” after having it translated. She was happy to help me. Her elderly mother only spoke Ukrainian and I found she couldn’t believe I had walked here from Mexico as she kept repeating a word as a question that I assume was «walk.»

Once in town, I went for a great breakfast and unlimited coffee refills. Then I tried to wash the clothes but I had a lot of problems. First, the coin machine ate my $5 bill and then it was out of service. I had to walk to the supermarket to get coins. After changing out of my hiking clothes for my puffer jacket and windproof pants, I realized that they didn’t have detergent for sale, only oxyclean. I wasn’t wearing a bra or underwear and I didn’t want to walk all the way back to the supermarket. I rinsed them as best I could in the sink and then put them in the washing machine. If anything, they should be a little cleaner than they were.

I rented a camper on AirBnB and the host was kind enough to let me check in a few hours early. I went to bed and immediately tried to do all my homework on the Internet.

Around 2:30, I went to the grocery store to pick up supplies and some vegetables for dinner. Several restaurants were not open because it was Monday and the one that was did not have anything vegetarian.

The grocery store was small and very expensive. I bought a can of vegetarian chili and a bag of frozen vegetables for dinner and of course, a pint of ice cream!

I was very tired and cold and stayed in bed the rest of the night. I wasn’t going to stay in the town of Pine, but the weather forecast looked bad. It was going to rain all night and possibly snow. I was happy to be bundled up in the city tonight.

Creatures I’ve seen in the last 4 days and 71.9 miles

24 people, 2 squirrels, 9 cows and 30 lizards. New plants: aspen, wyethia, poppies, rattlesnakes, California flannel bush, lots of pines, and lots of ferns.

Water sources I have drunk from

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