Full Moon Afternoons – The Trek

My body woke me EARLY the next morning. 5am time to get up time! It was chilly and I hurried thru my morning routine.

Clean face, brush teeth, take vitamins, put on sunscreen & chapstick. Check. Make snack bag for the day, put protein bar in phone pouch for brekky. Check. Pack up kit. Check.

Bubblehead wandered over to the bear box/water cache and started setting up his stove to boil water.

*I do not have a stove, I am a cold soaker. I actually prefer cold coffee & it totally suits my needs*

But that morning, having started my period the day before and needing a little pick me up, I asked if he would mind boiling some extra for me. He was very kind and said not at all. It put a little pep in my step for the day and I was so very grateful.

I suited up and hit the trail shortly after. I knew the next water source was Mountain View Tank about 15 miles ahead so I put my head down and got to work pumping out miles. They flew by.

When I got to the tank it was early-ish around 1pm and the sun was beating down. I sat in the shade of the tank for a minute or two snacking, and then prepared for takeoff.

Well, the ascent UP the ladder to get water.

There’s an old bleach bottle with a handle someone has rigged with a string and some rocks so that it’s weighted and you can lower it into the tank to tediously gather the amount of water you need.

It reminded me of going to the summer church fair as a child with my Great Aunt. You remember the fishing game? You threw a fishing pole (stick with string & clothespin attached) over a sheet and someone on the other side clipped a paper bag full of goodies on it for you. Felt like I was reeling in a prize-sized fish every time.

Anyways. As I ascended the ladder I realized how crusty and gross I felt. No shower in over a week and I hadn’t changed clothes or socks or anything.

This is when inspiration struck me: on the ladder.

I removed my shorts and while in mid air, bucket by bucket, I doused my shorts and wrung them out about 7 times. Yes. Had a fellow hiker approached the tank it would have been a full moon afternoon for them. But I honestly did not even care. I needed SOMETHING about me to be clean and my shorts were the winner.

Descending the ladder and putting them back on I really did feel like a new person. And with the Arizona heat and wind that day they were fully dry in about half an hour.

WORTH IT.

Sometime during the drying period a hiker ambled up. His name was Inspector Gadget and he looked like about I did when I rolled up. Dehydrated and overheated. After he gathered some water, and we had a random conversation about the state of the economy (see, we don’t always only talk about food, water and poop lol), we started talking about THE fish.

There are fish in the Mountain View Tank. The question is, How. The. Hell. Did. The. Fish. Get. In. There?

*At this point Bubblehead rolls up*

I’m waxing on about Jurassic Park and how “nature will find a way” And Inspector Gadget says how he’s read that birds can transport fish. At this point I start to feel like I’m in the middle of Monty Python where they argue about how coconuts ended up in England (carried by a bird) and all I can think is “it’s not a matter of where the bird grips it – it’s a matter of weight ratio! A 5 oz. bird cannot carry a 2 lb. coconut!”
Bubblehead is looking at us like we have absolutely both simultaneously lost our ever loving minds.

And I say “oh, the tank has fish in it. You’ll see them. I saw three.”

*If anyone reading this knows HOW the fish got in the Mountain View Tank around mile 221 on the AZT please leave a comment below. Thank you in advance*

Around 5pm I said goodbye to the boys with a mission to hike another 5 miles. I found a flat spot off a dirt road that the trail was following around sunset, set up camp & crawled in my sleeping bag falling asleep almost the moment my head touched my clothing bag pillow.

The next morning I didn’t want to get up. I was so tired. I was so feral. Day eight or nine with no shower. Feeling gross I packed up & set out for the next water source – my favorite kind on this trail – a rain collector.

The AZT Association actually has them built thru donations and they are truly a lifesaver.

It was at the rain collector that yet again a full Starfish moon made a brief appearance. Gotta do what ya gotta do sometimes.

Eating my lunch of sardines & crackers I crunched some numbers and figured out if I did a certain amount of miles more & then got up at 5am the next morning I could make it into Kearny, AZ – AND TAKE A SHOWER.

Inspired by the thought of cleanliness in less than 24 hours I set off down the trail. When I hit my mile mark for the day it was even still “early” and I considered a few more miles. But my body needed rest.

When I saw a cute little flat spot at the top of a small pass I knew it was quitting time.

Instead of eating 2 more cans of sardines and crackers for dinner I did what any pro thru hiker worth their salt does the day before they know they’re gonna be in town.

I ate every good thing left in my food bag: an entire box of cheez-its, 2 OCPs (oatmeal creme pies), a dark chocolate bar, and some chamoy gummy bears.

Healthy fuel for my body? Not really. Healthy fuel for my morale? ABSOLUTELY.

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

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