Burgers, Puppies, and Hiking Poles!

Yesterday was an absolute whirlwind.

I woke up early, had a double tea bag cuppa of earl gray & heated up some super nutritious leftovers from the burgerstravaganza I had with Golden & Scavenger.

I met these boys day 2 as they were breaking camp. They asked if I was hiking with the girl who had passed them awhile ago to which I proudly said “nope, but I’m sure I’ll meet her at some point!”

I ended up leap frogging with them for the rest of the day and we camped at the same spot that night.

The next morning I high-tailed it into Patagonia because 1, I was going to be reunited with my hiking poles, and 2, I made the unhappy and dangerous discovery that my water filter was not working. I had a bit of service that day and God bless Amazon – it was due to be there the same time as my hiking poles the following day.

not where I needed to find out my filter took a 💩 on me!

Fast forward to burgerstravaganza. Golden, Scavenger, and their wonderful friends gave us a ride to the saloon where our cravings were cured!

@ the Saloon in Patagonia, AZ

And now we’re back to the following morning where I’m drinking tea with Malachai (see doggo) and figuring out how to go about my day.

I had already showered the night before:

Outside.

In the freezing cold.

With a trickle of a showerhead.

But at least it was hot!

I just needed to do some laundry at the RV park next door (where a sign on the laundry room entrance said “please keep door closed due to snake season” – still kicking myself for not getting a photo), grab a few things from the market for resupply, acquire a breakfast burrito for that evening’s trail dinner, and blog & pack up.

I rode a loaner bike into town, got what I needed, and when I got back the mail was just arriving.

After an hour of breaking down my tent, packing up, fixing my insoles, putting my hand strap back on one of my hiking poles I was ready.

Mary, who runs TerraSol gave me a ride back to trail where I made the mistake of setting off at the hottest part of day on a winding, unforgiving, shade-less stretch of trail. I almost had a meltdown when I thought my earbuds weren’t working and after restarting my phone I realized – I didn’t have the volume turned up for the headset setting.

crazy twisty turny trail!

I should’ve known then I had already done too much that day and maybe it would’ve been the smarter choice to stay in town another evening. But hindsight is 20/20 and I’m here to hike, baby!

I met my mileage goal for the day just as the sun was setting. I threw up my tent, inflated my thermarest, and got cozy in my sleeping bag.

About an hour after I closed my eyes I heard noises and saw light from headlamps. There’s an insane endurance race going on right now along this section of the AZT. People are running 300 miles from Superior to Patagonia and it’s crazy to me. They’re running it thru – not stopping to sleep.

So after deciding the headlamps were runners passing by my little campsite for the evening, I slipped into Dreamland.

Never stop exploring. Embrace the suck. I. Believe. In. YOU. ily <3

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