A few days out of Pine I got a text from Chaps, the woman whose company I had enjoyed hiking and meeting with on and off for over a month. She told me she was taking a number of days off in Flagstaff and had a hotel room there with a friend of hers. She…

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AsI was contemplating leaving Pine, trail angel Becky from Tonto Basin near the Roosevelt Marina texted me and told me she would be up at Pine and would like to take me out to lunch, so after packing up and saying goodbye to Kate, I went off with Becky for a delicious lunch of three…

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The final 16 1/2 miles into Pine were definitely easier. I started walking by about 530 AM and reached Pine by 3 PM. This easier walking gave me time to contemplate a number of things. I was still seeing a number of snakes on an almost daily basis and while some were not rattlesnakes, some…

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One day in this stretch I had to cross the Verde river. Some people had reported that it was well up over their knees, but by using the knowledge I have from whitewater kayaking, I was able to find a place where I could tell the water was much shallower. I decided to leave my…

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After picking up my food box which Becky left for me, I had another big climb where water was going to be scarce. I was thrilled partway up to run into a hiker named Chaps, whom I’ve crossed paths with a number of times. She was really sweet and walked with me for a short…

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I left Roosevelt Lake later than I wanted to for no reason except I was enjoying my time there. It was after nine before I started the steep, long climb out of the marina. Luckily Becky had offered to break up my seven day food carry so I only had to carry food for just…

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