Welcome back! I am currently on day 2 of the double zero me and the gang had planned on taking to go to BeanFest (a rock climbing festival celebrating trad climbing in southern Arizona since the 1970s) and to go to SAG (a highlining event where slack lines are rigged above canyons and walked on) I’ve had an awesome time learning more about trad climbing and hanging out with some likeminded dirtbags!
Tramily Reunions
We departed Tuscon/Vail on March 22nd, hiking a calm 6 miles into the evening (passing under the I-10 and the infamous snake tunnel) and sleeping under the stars yet again.
The next morning, we hiked into Colossal Cave (a cave tour giving campground) right along the trail. On the way, Smokey set a First Ascent of a boulder problem. He named it “fuckin scary” on Mountain Project.
Gouillitine had taken a day off in Tucson because of a nasty blister and he met us at CC for some food and drinks! We were unsure if he was going to make it, so it was a great surprise to see him at the bar cart when we showed up. After trashing up the CC hiker area, the four of us spent the night in the campground.
Siestas and night hiking
The four of us rose with the sun, and quickly set off with the goal of making it into Saguaro National Park, and up Mica Mountain to the first spot we were allowed to camp in the park. It got hot quick, and pretty soon we were hiking in high 80s, with nothing but saguaros and other cactus to cast shade for us to hide out in. We made it to a wash at the base of the climb, and decided to siesta, hanging our groundsheets in a shrub for some shade. 
Around 3:30pm, we started the climb to Grass shack campground, soaking our sun hoodies in the puddle of water near our siesta spot. Our group often splits up during stretches to hike at our own paces, and I was in the middle of the group, I only had 1L of water on me, and had to climb nearly 2400” over the next 6.4 miles into camp, during the heat of the day. About 1/3 of the way up the climb, I felt myself overheating, and decided to lay down in the sliver of shade casted by a saguaro on the side of the mountain. I drank all of my water, and waited for 2 of my friends to catch up to me before I kept hiking. Once the sun was low and weak, I climbed up near camp, and stopped a bit out to lay down on a rock and watch the sunset. The climb had humbled me, and although most of my day had been miserable, I couldn’t help but appreciate the beauty of the sunset and the place I was in. Not many people get the opportunity to come out and explore a place like this, and I was overwhelmed with gratitude. I wandered into camp with Gouillitine and Doc, and reunited with some familiar faces, and some new ones. We sat in a circle while eating in the dark, and I retired to my quilt, defeated from the day. 
Sky Islands and Birding
I woke up and set off from camp around 6:30am, with an excitement to explore the sky islands, and catch more Pokémon.
For backstory, a couple friends of mine from my past job were huge birders, and I decided to download an app, Merlin, that identifies birds based on their calls. At the time of writing this, I have identified and am learning to recognize the calls of 28 bird species, which is an average of over 2 new birds per day. It’s like Pokémon Go but with birds, and it’s free!
Anyways, I climbed up to the peak of Mica by 11, and met up with the gang at the summit. Although the day had been beautiful, I still held some resentment against the mountain for what I experienced the day prior. It was my fault for beginning the climb too early, and not carrying enough water. The situation really put into perspective to me how unforgiving the desert is.
We descended the mountain, and ate dinner at a cattle pond, where we watched a cow attempt to herd a group of 5, unsuccessfully.
We night hiked for a few more miles, and laid our tyveks down, cowboy camping under the stars once again.
Wolf spider
Common Poorwill, known for shouting “poorwill” all night and keeping hikers awake.
Hutch’s pool, a real oasis
We had heard through the grapevine that just half a days walking ahead was Hutch’s pool, a spot in Sabino Canyon where hikers could swim, cliff jump, and bathe in the cold river. With hopes of spending as much of the day as possible at the pool, we set off early, and booked it down and into the canyon. I arrived midday, and soon followed the others. I had ran into a guy who had read one of my blog posts and spoken with me on Reddit prior to the hike. (Small world!) We swam in the pool while waiting for the others to arrive. 
We spent the day swimming and hanging out around the pool, and hiked 3 miles up out of the canyon in hopes of giving ourselves an easier climb up Mt Lemmon in the morning.
Hi I like your town it has food
We awoke with the motivation of empty food bags and a Bar with greasy food waiting for us in Summerhaven. The climb up Mt Lemmon was probably some of the most technical trail so far, and often had me scrambling on all fours to get up the giant rocks that made up the trail.
We arrived in Summerhaven (pop. 22), the town atop Mt Lemmon, and feasted on burgers, fries, and beers at the local restaurant. I met a few new hikers, and we camped together outside of the Summerhaven Community Center, which had 24hr bathrooms and an outlet to charge our devices.
Did I ultralight too hard?
In Summerhaven I decided to send home quite a few things I hadn’t been using. I traded out my Rainjacket for a tarp, sent my trekking poles, water bladder, book, stove, and gaitors home, along with my tarp and tent stakes. I hadn’t used my tarp since Patagonia, and was frustrated that I had been carrying all of these dead weight items in my bag this far. I figure I can just burrito up in a tyvek if it does decide to rain.
After leaving Summerhaven, I ran the 10 miles downhill from there to Oracle, and got offered a ride into town by a lady driving a truck with animal hospital stickers on it. She had a puppy in her lap, who she explained to me needed to go to UC Davis to get surgery for a heart murmur. I got dropped off at the post office, picked up my resupply box, as well as a sunbrella. I had used Smokey’s a bit during one of the past days, and fallen in love.
Doc and I hitchhiked to the two dollar stores in town, and I picked up a few extra things. I decided to send my stove up the trail, and cold soak for a bit to torture myself so I had to get different dinners.
We got a motel in Tuscon, and did sink laundry. In the morning left for BeanFest, and spent the afternoon halfway up a mountain under a climb in Cochise Valley called “The Tombstone”.
Follow me on instagram to see some more pictures, and follow my trip!
-Yardsale
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