The Mary Badass

I spent one day on the south rim sightseeing. I had to laugh when I was getting on the free shuttle bus, and the driver told the people to clear the front seats, which are reserved for old or handicap people. When the driver saw how stiffly I was walking, which always happens when I’ve…

I’ve had a really wonderful experience on the trail. It began with some very unpleasant interactions. My first night out of Pine when I finally reached my tent area they were already two tents set up there. The slanted ground was littered with rocks and pinecones and camp spots were few and far between. It…

That first night out of Flagstaff I was camped over 8700 feet in elevation. Besides being cold, it was incredibly windy! My entire tent was shaking. Because there are already small tears in the fabric, I didn’t know how it would hold up to those strong winds. So once again, I lowered my poles and…

I stayed in Flagstaff for one zero day. I was really glad to be in town that day because the wind was intense. They were saying 60 mile an hour gusts. When I went outside the wind pushed me around. On top of that, at one point there was heavy hail. The whole time I…

I surprised myself by hiking three twenty or more mile days which allowed me to reach Flagstaff in time to spend the night with Chaps. Needless to say I was pretty pooped by the time I got there, especially because the trail app seemed to have some mistakes in this section. It told me that…

Hiking is different in differing places, but there are some common themes that exist on many trails. In environments like Arizona, hiking is about walking to water. Water or the lack there of determines how many miles I will walk in a day, where I’ll stop for lunch and where I’ll camp in the evening.…

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…

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…

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…

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…