March 5: My brother Keegan and I got picked up by my dad early that morning, well early for me, at 7 am. We took off from where I had stopped 4 days before. My dad decided to come with us to get his morning workout in and we were off. We talked to a very nice couple who had the cutest dog and they gave me a donation of $20. I made sure to get their address to send them pictures when I was done. We hiked near a large house in he top of a hill nicknamed "The Castle". After leaving the sight of "The Castle" we came to a ranch that is part of Colossal Cave Park. I had been there before and knew they had a snack bar and was really wanting some ice cream. We hiked down to the ranch but everything seemed closed, it looked like the ranch was getting prepared for a large event. We ate the snacks we had and whined about our lack of ice cream. From there, Keegan and I headed north and my dad went back to the car. Keegan and I headed off and for over 10 miles nothing really interesting happened. It was a long flat stretch before we got to the base of the Rincons and we spent timing talking and audiobooking. We met a group of people coming back from doing some trail maintenance. They told us we probably couldn't get to Grass Shack, the place I wanted to camp, by nightfall. However, I was in high spirits and thought we could make it, boy was I wrong. It was around a 2000 foot climb to Grass Shack and after already hiking 20 miles that day, Keegan and I were very tired. The only problem is that we were in Saguaro National Park, and camping is only allowed in official camp sights. After a few hours of hiking in the dark we said "screw it" and made camp right off the trail. We only had enough water to make one dinner and we split it between the two of us. I slept fine that night but Keegan said he had a big rock in his back all night.
March 6: This day can be summarized by one word: uphill. We started the day out already thirsty, we were out of water, and it was another 1000 foot climb to Grass Shack. Luckily, we crossed a small unnamed stream about halfway up and were able me to cook breakfast and drink our fill. We kept climbing to Grass Shack, where we took a break and used the outhouse. After that we kept climbing for what felt like days and the high desert turned into forests by the time we reached a place called Manning Camp. There was no one there, we hadn't seen anyone on the entire mountain. It was only around 4 but I decided to make camp there because I didn't want to freeze that night as we reached the summit. There was a beautiful pool that wound have been a great swimming hole if I wasn't freezing. We made a campfire that night and ate dinner around it. We were in high spirits and it was a good night. We decided not to bother putting up our tent and slept in the outhouse. It wasn't as nasty as you might imagine it though. It didn't smell bad and had plenty of room for our sleeping bags. We slept in there because we didn't want the wind blowing our tent around and keeping us up. It was a very cold night but no wind so that was nice.
March 7: We took a long time to leave that morning, but we left in high spirits. We should have left a few hours earlier because we planned to reach the summit of the mountain, go all the way down, and hike the region between The Rincons and The Catalina's before making it up to Melino Basin that night, where our mom would be waiting for us for a resupply. We left in a great mood. We had even splurged a little and ate a Twix. We made it to the summit pretty quickly and found ourselves in some snow patches. I made Keegan go stand on a snowy hill and angled my camera to make it look like the whole mountain was full of snow. We then started heading down the top and found some gorgeous views. We could see for miles and miles. We found ourselves hitting water source after water source, most of which was snowmelt and wasn't anywhere on my maps. At one point we almost hit a beehive, my least favorite thing ever. We made it down the mountain and crossed Tanque Verde Canyon, where we stupidly forgot to fill up our waters. We then hiked through rolling grassy hills until dark. We realized we couldn't make Melino Basin that night and had to change plans. We made it to a place called "The Lake"(which I think was the 3rd place called "The Lake" I've seen) and filled up our water. It was the nastiest water I've seen my whole trip and was full of mosquitos. We then hiked a little past dark until we came to the Agua Caliente drainage, a small creek. We made camp right along the creek in the sand and planned in getting up early the next morning.
March 8: We left early that morning and met our mom at Melino Basin at around 10. Being the saint she is, my mom brought us Eegees and Dr Pepper. She also told us she had rented a cabin in Summerhaven for a night. We spent about 2 hours there and were on our way, resupplied and full. We hiked past an old prison work camp, I'd tell you the name but I can't spell it to save my life. Then we went past Sycamore Reservoir and Sabino Canyon. We took a break at Sabino as night was falling and filled up the bags we use to filter water out, not our reservoirs. We did that because it was getting dark and hiking at night is a pain. We hiked past a place called Hutch's Pool, which was amazing and I would love to go back there. It was a swimming hole around 20 feet wide and no less than 150 feet long. I couldn't see the bottom anywhere and bet it wound be amazing to swim in during the summer. We made it up another 1000 feet in elevation before making camp for the night. The bags of water were situated in a way that killed our backs and only after we got to our camp did we realize there was unmarked water there. While there we found a Geocash and left some instant coffee, water treatment tablets and a lighter for anyone who needed it. Our campsite was nice and we slept well that night.
March 9: The 8 miles we hiked that day were the worst of my life. It was hot and the trail conditions were awful. We climbed around 4000 feet and made it into the forests. We took a break by a creek and I got my shoe full of water, which surprisingly felt very nice. We made it to Marshal Gulch Trailhead and our mom met us there and we all ended up going to the famous Cookie Cabin in Summerhaven. We ate $80 worth of pizza and cookies and it was worth every penny. We then ran into Waldo again and we came and had a slice of pizza with us. We then went to the cutest little cabin and I took a shower that felt amazing. I soaked my feet in epsom salt while watching "Quigly Down Under", an old west movie set in Australia. I got to sleep the second my head touched a pillow that night.
March 10: We all woke up early and traded out heavy packs for small Camelbaks. Keegan and I were going to hike all the way across and down the mountain that day and meet our mom on Oracle, so there was no need to bring our big packs. As soon as we made it to the trailhead and started putting on sunscreen, we saw Waldo again. We started off and quickly found a very shabby trail, loose rocks, fallen trees and lots for over growth. It was almost entirely downhill so that was nice. The hike seemed very slow that day and I was able to finish up my audiobook for that week American Gods. We made it to a ranch once owned by Buffalo Bill Cody. The caretakers were very kind and gave us a little tour. I met another thru-hiker who's name escapes me but I can distinctly remember his mustache, the long pointy one that hipsters and cliche French villains have. We went on our way and were lucky to find the next few miles very flat. We were making good timing thanks to our little backpacks. We made it to highway 77 by about 6 o'clock and got picked up and we went out for dinner in Catalina. We went to "Carlata's" and listened to the best mariachi band In existence. We split an super huge burrito called "The Fat Mexican" and boy was it good. I then came home for a shower and 2 days off before heading back out
March 11-12: Zero days, R and R
