Dragged myself out of bed and did my last long run before
the half marathon on Saturday morning. It only took thirty minutes for my legs
to loosen up, but I got the mileage in, perhaps somewhat inspired by the
thought of all the food I was going to eat at Waffle House afterward. (For the
record, I devoured the All-Star Special.) I headed over to the Tonto National Forest to check out what the website claimed was a bouldering area near the Oak Flat
campground. I didn’t travel too far into the area, but all I found was some
cool looking really easy stuff (I could climb it in my approach shoes). Went
back into town to get some firewood and other supplies for camping. I made a
very nice fire, but I guess I either should have started it later or bought two
loads of wood, because everything was burned by eight.
The Boys hanging out by the campfire
After breakfast, I packed up the campsite and headed for
civilization, by which I mean some place with a Starbucks. Caught up with my
friend J on the phone, then consumed some more coffee while charging my
computer and meaning to get some stuff done, but I didn’t. I drove back to the
Tonto National Forest and hiked for a couple of hours on the Arizona Trail starting at the
Picket Post Trailhead. The Arizona Trail runs the entire length of Arizona
north-south. Maybe someday I will hike the entire thing, but today a couple of
hours was enough. As I headed back to my car, I ran into some cows grazing. I
wasn’t quite sure how to behave, but the cows seemed friendly enough so I just
took some pictures.
Mooo!
Picket Post Trail
Camped at the Oak Flat Campground again, but waited a little longer
to make the fire this time. Woke up to a bit of snow, but I was out of it as
soon as I got to a lower elevation – that trick doesn’t work when you live at
sea level!
Continued the drive eastward, although not by much, as my
next stop was Picacho Peak State Park, off I-10 between Phoenix and Tucson.
Monday wasn’t the most ideal for a hike, but the afternoon
was dry enough to do some hiking in the afternoon, so I took on some of the
easier trails – Calloway, Nature and Children’s Cave. The Boys joined me for
the Children’s Cave hike, excited by the promise of seeing a cave. They enjoyed
sitting in the cave and climbing on it. Could see rain approaching from the
west, but still had time to get a three-mile run in before it arrived. However,
there wasn’t enough time to do the run and get in and out of the shower, so I
passed the downpour hanging out in the bathhouse. The shower I used had
outstanding water pressure, so I got some bonus exfoliation.
On Tuesday, I finally had a chance to break out the hiking
boots and poles I brought as I tackled the two-mile Hunter Trail, which was
described as “difficult…steep and twisting, with steel cables” and ends at the
top of the peak. Also in that two
miles was an elevation gain of 1400 feet. There were some challenging moments,
particularly when I found myself off trail (oops!) but I made it to the top,
glad that some sections had those steel cables. Getting to the top was just
half the battle, so I headed back to the car, with visions of dinner at Waffle
House in my head. I definitely picked the right Waffle House to stop in for
dinner, because what I was craving (bacon, egg and cheese sandwich on Texas
Toast, hashbrowns and coffee) was the manager’s special, so I saved a couple
bucks. Since it was my birthday, I treated myself to a night in a nice hotel (Hampton
Inn) instead of my usual “cheap, but not fleabag” and that bed and all those
pillows felt luxurious! After surviving the day’s hike, I almost injured myself
when I tripped getting out of the shower. Smooth.
I enjoyed my hotel room until checkout time, then got back
on the road. I crashed for the night at the Hueco Rock Ranch, bummed that I
didn’t have time to stay and climb at Hueco Tanks this time. I drove a good
chunk of the remainder of the distance to Austin, making it to Fredericksburg
before stopping for the night. Since there was a new episode of Person of Interest airing that evening,
I got a hotel room at the Peach Tree Inn, a quaint hotel with actual room keys,
individually decorated rooms and carports. It was different, but in a good way.
Only “problem” was the neighbor’s dog grabbed Baggy when I was loading the car
the next morning. Poor Baggy’s head was completely engulfed in the dog’s mouth,
but there was no damage, thank goodness. He described the experience as “dark
and saliva-y.” After breakfast, we headed to Austin to get ready for Sunday's half-marathon.
