Tenzing is driving us back to the trail tomorrow morning. He is on the AZTA board and just finished his AZT thru hike. I'm really looking forward to trail talk with him. Ken says I ask too many questions...

Hwy 88 near Sunflower to Thicket Spring, High elevation 5660' 

Tenzing, in a John Muir tee-shirt, picked us up at our hotel this morning. We enjoyed our talks, stories and trail comparisons as he drove us back to Sunflower. He already finished his AZT thru (Congratulations, Tenzing!), maintains a section of trail and serves on the AZT association board. The drive went by too quickly to get answers to all our questions. He was driving away before we thought to get a photo of the three of us. Now that is another reason to meet up with him again.

We left desert plants behind as we climbed upward into Manzanita. As we gained more elevation we left the Manzanita behind and hiked into pin oaks and Ponderosa pines. We saw small scat of red berries and seeds but are not sure what animal is responsible. Later we saw bear prints in the trail but the size differential of the prints and scat means that the bear wasn't responsible for both. The bear prints were so clear in the trail that we could see the creases on the sole of the foot. 

We had to climb up and over to get to the spring. I think the final climb was the steepest grind up that we've done. At the spring tonight we heard a frog chorus of several different frog voices. One even sounded like a lamb's bleat for it's mother. There was fresh bear scat near the water so we wanted to camp far enough away to give the bear room to return to the water tonight. Ken's stomach rumbled as dinner cooked and I thought it was the bear growling! We had an uneventful night's sleep at our campsite.

Thicket Spring to Ridge before Chisholm Springs, High elevation 7170' 

We are in Mazatzal Wilderness which suffered a forest fire in 2004. After a fire three changes obscure the trail: rain unchecked by forest can erode or wash out sections of trail especially in steep areas, burned and dead trees fall across the trail, and bushes grow back on the forest floor where sunlight now reaches with the trees gone. We hiked slowly with all of those conditions impeding our progress. We did enjoy the birds that were back and singing. We also enjoyed the views that were opened up with the trees gone. But this section is lasting too long and I want to get through all these obstacles! We worked so hard for so few miles and are exhausted.

After sunset there was a glow in the sky. We guessed that it was the distant lights of Phoenix.

To get out of this Wilderness we

We got up this morning to crawl back into bushes. Ken's philosophical question for me (who wishes every cow off the face of the earth) was, "Would I rather hike with bushes or cows?" That's the first time I have voted for cows.

Along with bushes I did spider web sweep this morning which is clearing webs stretched across the trail. I only notice the ones that hit my face and Ken, behind me, wishes I were taller. This is the first time on the AZT that I've had webs, and I think it's a sign that that the terrain and environment are changing.

Our bear prints from two days ago are still with us. We make enough noise that he'll hear us if he's in the area. Our hiker friend's boot prints that we found in the mud at Reavis Ranch are also on the trail. We've dubbed him Mr Reavis and he's become quite a hiker friend in our minds and conversation.

Ridge before City Creek TH to Saddle Pasture

We walked down to the East Verde River. Our GPS said 5.25 miles and the guide said it was 4 miles but measuring off a map always shorts the distance.

Our guide also said we had an easy passage after we got to the East Verde River but we had climbing in 100* heat.....all day. First climb was onto Pollo Mesa, climbing on rough black rocks.

We followed cairns to White Rock Spring. That was a wonderful stop. The water was cold, we were shaded by a monstrous juniper tree and there was a rock to sit on. The water was mossy (all AZ water is) but the moss keeps the water below cool. After drinking about 40 oz. of water and dousing hair, bandanas and shirts with water, we were ready to hike up to the next mesa.

We stepped up white rocks to White Rock Mesa to follow cairns to Saddle Ridge. I think it was a hot, long day.

Wow, we had 10 miles by 10am. It had been a goal of mine this whole hike.

We got up close to Twin Buttes and hiked out to Pine through gorgeous high ponderosa country. We heard lots of ATVs in the distance.

Pine is a small town. We are hoping for a B&B or motel but haven't seen one yet. We may end up at the mobile home park that has showers and laundry.

As we got close to the grocery store we saw the UPS truck leaving their parking lot. He had just dropped of our "new" replacement PocketMail. It is a refurbished device and was supposed to come with a cable to transfer info but it didn't. They substituted a new leather case. Now we have to hand transfer all info or save it when you all send us an email.

Now we are off to do town chores. Pine turned out to be an excellent resupply town. We ate burgers at the Nifty Fifties but then were uncertain how to find other services that we needed. The ERA Realty had a sign that said "information" so we stopped there. Maureen figured out everything and was so enjoyable to talk to. She remembered the Pine Victorian B&B , found their number and we were set up there. Kim from the B&B came to pick us up. In the car were four children, Liam Delaney, Faith and Noah. In Pine on Mondays only the Mexican restaurant is open. We didn't want to walk there so Kim lent us her car. We hurried back so she could do our laundry while we went to bed. What a great stop. We're eager to get back to the trail because we