11/1/21 12 miles I wake up just before 4 am in the room full of sleeping hikers on air mattresses, and can't fall back asleep. Why... oh well, might as well make use of the time. I sneak out of the room and into the upstairs of the house, where a long leather couch faces … Continue reading Arizona Trail day 18: Mazatzal wilderness

10/31/21 13 miles My legs are tired this morning. Now that the trail is rocky and up and down it's time to get strong in... an entirely new way. I'm excited! Tired this morning though. And sweaty- it's hot already. I turn off my brain, put in my heaphones, let things get wacky. Matthew and … Continue reading Arizona trail day 17: Pine

10/30/21 24 miles Some small animal comes snuffling around my tent as I'm drifting off and knocks over my water bottle, spooking me; now I'm wide awake, listening for small sounds, everything outside seeming bigger than it actually is. At last I drift off, altho I'm a little chilled- this is the first night I've … Continue reading Arizona trail day 16: off the rim

10/29/21 26 miles The days are starting to blur together. Total ponderosa immersion therapy. I didn't know I'd be spending so much time in this ecosystem that I love, and I'm into it. This area has the largest stretch of ponderosa forest in the world and the AZT, it turns out, cuts right through it. … Continue reading Ariona Trail day 15: ponderosa immersion therapy

10/28/21 24 miles Yellow light through the bare limbs of the oaks, golden oak leaves on the trail, soft trail! Matthew counts the rings on a ponderosa. Seventy. Are these second growth? Third growth? I try to imagine this forest as it once was. Before long, in terms of geological time, we'll (mostly) be gone … Continue reading Arizona Trail day 14: mormon lake

10/27/21 30 miles I wake at four a.m. for literally no reason and lay in the dark, not uncomfortable, imagining pleasant scenarios until it's time to get up. At 6:45 we're closing the door of Drew and Millissa's house softly behind us, the sun slowly rising over the glittering, frosty world. "We've got to get … Continue reading Arizona trail day 13: there is water after all

10/26/21 Zero miles I sleep on a foam pad on the ground next to some glass french doors in the upstairs of Drew's house; around midnight I wake suddenly because the doors have blown open, rain is being thrown in on the wind and lightning is cracking, the storm feels as though it is right … Continue reading Arizona trail day 12: indoor storm

10/25/21 12 miles I wake up at 3 a.m. I can hear Flagstaff down below us, I can feel the rumblings of the trains, and I'm too excited to sleep. Town food!! I lay in my sleeping bag for two hours, waiting for Matthew to wake, and then pack up, full of electric anxiety. Sometimes … Continue reading Arizona Trail day 11: Flagstaff

10/24/21 23 miles I dream that I'm in highschool in Anchorage. I catch the wrong bus after school, realize after a couple stops and get off to walk back to school. There are massive tangles of freeways everywhere, and I have to cross them, darting between the cars. In between the freeways are culverts that … Continue reading Arizona trail day 10: raw dogging

10/23/21 23 miles In the morning Jessica still wants to bail. I'm bummed. They show me their blisters- on their heel, their instep, on almost every toe! I get it, it makes sense. I don't want them to be miserable. I'm still sad though. I'm going to miss them so much! Today is hard packed … Continue reading Arizona Trail day 9: ripples in the pond