AZT, Grand Enchantment trail pass 16 & 17 3-2010
AZT Pass 16 & 17 AZT (Arizona Trail) & part to the Grand Enchantment Trail seg 3
Started off as Nancy inching her way through the AZT, ended up calling it Glenda’s Big Girl Hike! Fun 3-day 2nighter. Starting at Picket Post shuttled by Nancy’s sisters, Carol & Maxine that were heading to Thompson Arboretum a mile down the road.
It was a 80-mile from Phoenix so got a nice start on the day. Beautiful scenery, wildflowers, & lots of water. The trail was one of the best & only got better till about the 10-mile marker. There were crews flagging, & building on the hillside, by passing the 4 wheel drive rd in the near future. We had a lovely camp & a cool evening. The next morning we started in hiking in more my type of territory, rock cairns & questionable 4 wheel drive roads & a bit of what I call Billy Goating. That is about the time the tune changed in Glenda’s 1st real backpack. The bit of quiver in her voice asking if we were doing a Big Girls Hike & not a beginner’s hike. We tried to explain that the AZT changes frequently & never really knowing what the changed are. This was to be about Nancy inching her way through the AZT but got changed quickly. Glenda’s knee started to feel sharp pains going down hill, as we’ve all experienced this sometime in our career of hiking, we did the normal, Advil, knee brace, & rest for 5 minutes & off again. We told her rest with elevation soon with trail ale would do the trick. We stopped ½ mile from the artesian well, but to our delight we got more than a good campsite. Three UTV’s were ready to leave, after nice conversation; we got more than brownie crumbs! They gave us banana’s, strawberry’s, lunchmeat, dip & vegs!! To boot, one guy’s mother made homemade zucchini muffins that we saved for breakfast! We thank you boys for the special treat. Glenda was desperate knowing she only had 4 oz of wine left so she asked if they had any wine or beer in the ice chest, with dismay they did not. We remarked they were the healthiest male eater we’ve seen! After they left we made it to the creek for our feast! The buzzards were migrating through, saw many animal prints but only saw a rock squirrel, The next morning was a relaxing one, as Possum would meet us at the Artesian Well for our shuttle home. We did 20 miles, & yes it was a Glenda’s 1st Big Girls Hike!