2012 November | Up, Down ’N All Around

Reddington Road to Vail

November 29, 2012
Glenn
1 Comment

This is what Arizona was supposed to look like. We were definitely in the desert now. Three foot (1 metre)-high fishhook cacti lined the trail, decorating yellow sandy grasslands as we hiked away from Reddington Road, the dirt track continuation of Tucson’s Tanque Verde (Green Tank) road, where a well-intentioned lady driver who had talked at us for the whole…
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Plan Bee

November 27, 2012
fdevalera
3 Comments

Plan Bee has been in operation and increasingly refined since Maryann of LF Ranch told us that all Arizona bees were africanised to one degree or another and, therefore, potential killer bees. Plan A is to avoid getting in a fight with the bees in the first place: no swatting at them or killing them, so they don't send off…
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Summerhaven to Gordon Hirabayashi

November 25, 2012
fdevalera
1 Comment

Christmas came early this year. After a night's unconsciousness in the Apache Junction Best Western, we came around stiff and sore, our clothes and boots worn into holes, the boots, once our best friends, now offering about as much support as jelly to a spoon, our water reservoirs boasting cultures labs would die for, our hips resenting the loss of…
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Roosevelt Lake to Roger’s Trough

November 23, 2012
fdevalera
2 Comments

We're looking forward to ecstatic recognition and applause from the international scientific community. Our research in the Superstition Wilderness has allowed us to establish with 100% certainty that the Superstition bees are irresistibly attracted to bright blue. Our methodical experiments with blue-zipped Zip Lock bags, the blue tubes on our water reservoirs, bright blue M & Ms and the TP's…
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LF Ranch to Highway 87

November 12, 2012
fdevalera
1 Comment

In 5.5 days, we only saw 1 human being: I saw Glenn and Glenn saw me. For all we know, for most of that time we were the only humans in the 252,500 acres (1022 km2) Mazatzal Wilderness (Mazatzal meaning Land of Deer in Aztec, even though the Aztecs aren't supposed to have come this far north), especially given that…
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Pine to LF Ranch

November 11, 2012
fdevalera
1 Comment

Pine is a strange place. Yes, there are large expanses of pine forests to its north justifying its name, the ladies volunteering at the library were very helpful and chatty, a bakery served good espressos, the hiker-friendly brewery served excellent thin-crust pizza and beer, the Pine Creek Cabins where we stayed were clean and cosy and provided more horseshoe-throwing entertainment,…
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Flagstaff to Mormon Lake: Back on the trail!

November 1, 2012
fdevalera
0 Comments

Not only are we back on the trail, but we've actually made good progress; unintentionally to some extent. With Glenn's shin splints driven into hiding, we stocked up with food, filled our bellies with copious Greek carbs and walked across the Flagstaff railway tracks to re-join the Arizona Trail. We agreed when we started the trail back in September to…
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