We were up at 4:55 and on the trail after monument photos at 5:30. Ken almost left our last cheeseburger on the monument as an accidental offering.

Bird calls woke us to a pretty red dawn. A quadad of noisy crows joined us for a short time. The Sierra Madre mountains, in Mexico, were mist swathed. Green and gold alternate across the dessert. Green defines the ravines and gold grass colors the hills.

Border Patrol met us near the parking lot, walked out with us and wished us a safe journey. He said that his night had been quiet. He was in a heavy green uniform while we wore long pants and t-shirts.

During the night we heard calls and groups counting off. It sounded like they were trying to regroup in the dark. We didn't see anyone for the rest of the day. We thought we heard voices many times but always decided that it was just the wind or birds.

This was a challenging day with a tremendous climb and a long rough decent. It was hard on socks, too. Ken has a hole-in-the-heel and my toe is worn through. It wasn't until later that we figured out that flying from sea level, sleeping at 5910' and climbing to 9050' was part of the challenge as we panted upward.

We saw deer, wild turkeys and scores of birds including rapters. Cactus, lupine and daisies were infrequent but made up for the dearth with saturated color.

As we came down in elevation we walked through, then camped in grasslands with small oak trees. I wish cows were taller so they would break out low hanging branches over their cow trails.

Birds at daybreak are such a pleasant alarm. We ate our usual Pop Tarts on the rough rocky trail. Terrain seems to be flatter today so the challenge now is to hike the hard to walk trail.

We have more wind today which again kept temperatures down.

Ken filtered water out of Parker Lake, a steep bushwhack steeply down and off trail, so he had extra distance today. I read the guide while I enjoyed the lake view dotted with red-branched manzanita, sparse golden grass and juniper.

We're watching for javalina (native pig-like mammal) that should be in the area. We've seen small scat and yesterday, one very large, fresh pile of bear-type scat.

Clouds built all day and just as we were on new trail before Canelo Pass drops started falling faster than they could evaporate in the gusty wind.

The storm made dramatic views, abated for a short while while we made camp and rained again. Ants make such good coarse level sand piles. We found a vacated pile and it was our real estate for a comfortable night.

Howling coyotes woke the birds; twittering birds woke us; the sun slept in late.

Every direction was a 100 photos opportunity. The colors were intensified by the night rain. Plants were brightly colored and perky, buds just opening.

We walked on gentle two track but no jeep had used it recently. Ken's track had the huge turkey roadway, my track was the small coyote raceway. I also walked over the tiny bird tracks...coyote trail food?

How fortunate we are to walk on the desert after a rain! Ken's red bandana was buzzed by two hummingbirds but they were too fast for us to see if they were some of the rare violet headed ones.

A brilliant rough wall in the distance caught my eye. It was easy to guess where our next water opportunity, called Red Bank Well, would be. Once we got there though there were so many tanks and pumps that it was a treasure hunt to find the tank that had the good tasting cool water. It was farthest back by the corral. The huge wild turkeys left the well on the trail ahead of us. We tried to get a picture but they were too coy.

We squeezed past countless green mimosa trees. The leaves shut when touched but they have thorns.

The walk into Patagonia was the first time that the sun felt hot. Patagonia is a small town with all services within a block. The market was good, the library was across the alley from the hotel. The restaurant ajoins the hotel.

Last night in the rain my camera lens cover fell off. Two screws are missing. We tried to fix it this afternoon and the high tech fix turned out to be a rubberband. I looked at new cameras online but don't want to change cards and rechargeable batteries. I'll order later if the rubberband doesn't work.

The AZT seems to be an Over the Ridge and Through the Wash kind of a trail. Grandmother was at the Patagonia PO speaking another language trying to break a $100 bill. Fun trail is why I...GottaWalk at dawn tomorrow.