Statistics:
Miles: 163.6- 230.6
Days: 4- 9
A big storm is approaching.
I’ll start where I left off last time.
Two more days until we reach Flagstaff, or so we had planned, but the weather had other plans.
Nature is a powerful thing.
In civilization, it is easy to think that money rules the world. But along the way, walking through miles of wildfires or landslides, you remember that with just a strike of lightning or a change of a few degrees, nature can turn you into a pile of ashes before you can say the word «money,» and it doesn’t matter how much of it you have in your bank account. The more you fight nature, the more reminders you will receive.
The last time I tried to escape a storm cloud, it surprised me right at the top and reminded me (loudly and with ground-shaking authority) that you don’t compete with nature.
Enter Wednesday…
Somewhere about six miles from our planned overnight camp, I see two hikers sitting under a juniper tree, so I stop to say hello.
They tell me that someone will pick them up to wait out a big storm and that there is room in the car for us too.
I knew a storm was coming, but I hoped it would come Friday night; by then we would be near Flagstaff. Ten minutes into scrolling through the weather page, I realize it’s coming early. This time I don’t even intend to leave it behind. We have a car in Flagstaff; We will wait for him in relative comfort.
The driver texts saying she’s making dinner and we can spend the night.
In the last three months, we have slept in a real bed several times. A bed, a conversation with a local and food sound divine.
Since I didn’t ask if I could use their real names on the blog, I’ll just call them «Flagstaff’s nicest couple.»
Flagstaff’s friendliest couple lives in a cozy house with a fireplace, two friendly dogs, and stunning views. We like them both instantly. We chat while helping with dinner. Lightning flashes on the horizon. A flood watch has been issued for the entire state of Arizona and parts of Utah. Everyone seems to think this storm will be big. We showered and went to bed waiting for chaos. The night passes suspiciously silent, but the bed is so soft that I probably wouldn’t have noticed if an orchestra was playing “The Entry of the Gladiators” next to my bed.
Thursday…
We woke up to cloudy peaks, but no rain, no thunder, nothing. Hurricane Priscilla appears to have skipped the city’s day. We check the forecast: rain in the afternoon, and Friday and Saturday will continue to look terrible.
Before the storm hits, we do laundry, go to REI, walk around downtown, and visit the Museum of Northern Arizona. When we leave, the sky looks dramatic enough to warrant a disaster movie. Still, nothing. By now, the “terrible storm” has become a running joke. At night it rains lightly, just enough to cause a storm.
Friday…
It’s raining in the morning. Sort of peacefully. A little annoying too, because we could be walking miles right now in that drizzle. We check the time. Saturday still looks pretty bad. Then on Sunday it is sunny and on Monday it rains again. The nicest couple in Flagstaff insists we can stay as long as we want. We already feel like we’re staying too long, but their stories are so good that I secretly want to hand them the adoption papers and stay forever.
We spent the day by the fire, playing with the dogs. In the afternoon, the forecast for Saturday improves, so we plan to walk.
Saturday…
Two days to Flagstaff, then one more around. The nicest couple offers to keep our car so we can resupply later; They will even pick us up on the road. Deal.
Saturday ends up being very sunny. In the afternoon we reached the poplar forests and set up our tent. It is quite windy and rains a little at night.
Sunday…
We’ve finally gotten to those golden patches we’ve been seeing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen trees that are so uniformly golden. The morning sun filters through golden leaves that sound like a river and fall to the ground with each gust of wind. It’s lovely!
At the end of the day, we will be able to see Flagstaff from the hills. We get picked up on the highway by (you guessed it) the nicest couple in Flagstaff and stay another night.
Monday…
I scroll through Facebook. It gives me an alert: «Coconino County Tornado Watch.» Excuse me and now what??? I decide this is fake news. Scroll again: same alert, different source. No, it’s still false. I go downstairs and find out that a friend of the nicest couple in Flagstaff called them about it too. Naaahhh. We are walking. Today is the day to see Walnut Canyon, the reason we did this route around Flagstaff instead of going through it on the urban route. Angry clouds hang low, so we take a shortcut down the road, passing an impressive collection of discarded bedding and empty alcohol bottles. We finally reached the canyon and guess what? It is closed due to the government shutdown. In case anyone has any doubts that it is closed, there is a large flashing closed sign, orange plastic barriers, cones, and a stern-looking security guard. We pretend we don’t see any of it and still approach the guard and ask if it’s “really locked.”
«Yes,» he says. So there you have it. All that travel through the canyon that wasn’t open.
The rain starts as we reach south of Flagstaff. Our friends from Peaches (Canada’s orchards) are in town, they pick us up, take us to our car and we all go camping in the woods. In true Peaches style, we have frozen pizza for dinner. We make a fire, drink some beer and sleep in the car for the last time.
Goodbye flag…
In the morning, we take you back to your parking spot, drop you off at the trailhead, and continue walking.
It seems like it took me forever to walk around Flagstaff, but now this section is finally finished.
Additionally, about three different strangers in and around Flagstaff have given us their numbers, telling us to call in case of emergency or if we just want company. As eager as I was to get back on the trail, Flag had a really good vibe. I have my new favorite trail town.
Things I learned along the way.
I decided to add this part to the end of my blog posts because I like to learn about the places I walk. I’m not a local, so if you notice I misunderstood or missed something, feel free to point it out in the comments.
- The Navajo language was used as a secret code during World War II and was indecipherable to enemy forces. It was primarily a spoken language and very few people outside the Navajo community could understand it. Navajo men were recruited to “send” and “receive” coded messages.
- Pack rats, the petty thieves who sometimes steal hikers’ things, turned out to be surprisingly useful to researchers. They have a habit of collecting all kinds of things, piling them up and using their urine to crystallize the piles in what they call garbage dumps. In Arizona’s dry climate, these middens can last up to 50,000 years. Because pack rats collect seeds, bones, twigs and other bits within about 100 meters of their nests, researchers can use them to understand what vegetation and climate were like in the past.
- Wildflowers! There were so many along the way that I ended up photographing most of them.
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