MRT 2021 Day 14, April 18, Sunday • Start S4 mile 51.2 of 77.7 • End S5 mile 1.5, just past gate on fed land • Miles walked: 28
The town of Show Low is close, and I need to get some more food to get to the next town. Can I get to town soon enough to do quick shopping, find wifi, and then get out again onto Forest Service land where I am allowed to camp? It will be close. Walking fast today…
Quickly finishing General Crook Trail, the route goes along Juniper Ridge Trail, marked the same way on bits of old road and one-track, often no visible tread.
Gaining the ridge, a locked fire lookout tower is a good start to the day.
MRT 2021 Day 13, April 17, Saturday • Start S4 mile 24.1 • End S4 mile 51.2 • Miles walked: 27.1
The route here is on the General Cook Trail (General George Crook National Recreation Trail), though it is on dirt road for a good portion of its length. (Remind me to look up who General Crook is. ) It goes towards Show Low, and was probably designed with water sources in mind, it is a reasonably choice for the MRT. The trail here is marked with metal chevrons nailed to trees.
Water sources are getting less reliable, and further apart, in this section. One interesting wildlife waterer used a concrete rain catch basin to guide water to a lower storage tank, with steps for wildlife.
Wild horses still can be found grazing along the route, at least for the first half of the day.
I see John W again! He stopped a few hours to hang around with a large group of AZT hikers in Pine, so I had been ahead of him a little.
We pass each other several times today.
The General Crook could improve trail marking at times, especially in old burns and at road intersections. The route does go south through Cottonwood Wash, a pleasant flat shallow canyon with grass and scattered trees.
Toward the end of the day the route, now on trail, becomes less flat, and passes up and down several ridges. The route here, the General Cook Connector, has been aggressively signed by a local trail group out of Show Low.
MRT 2021 Day 12, April 16, Friday • Start S3 mile 68.6 of 70.4 • End S4 mile 24.1 • Miles walked: 25.9
Until the next town the route stays north of the Rim a couple of miles or so. While it might be attractive to stay right on the Rim, provided that canyons are not causing detours, water sources help determine the route. And soon native lands boundaries (Apache) will also be a factor.
Hiking out of Forest Lakes in early morning, I pass a frozen puddle. It is certainly colder up here past the Rim, at 7.5k foot elevation. I need to wear extra clothing while hiking for most of the day. The terrain tends to be flatter than when on the Highline, hiking in the shadow of the Rim. Though we go up and down canyons today, they are shallow, not steep.
A series of dirt roads and wild horse trail lead to Black Canyon Lake.
