Camped on top of Telephone Mtn, a local high spot, where I thought I might have service. But not so.
Today’s walk was all Ponderosa forest, alternating between burned and unburned. A lot more of the former the last 10 miles.
Aspens are filling in the burned areas. They’re about 10 feet tall now. In a decade they will make a fine sight in the fall. I hope to be here to see it.
The trail has been hugging the eastern scarp of the Kaibab Plateau, and the fire that burnt the forest also opened up the views: the Vermillion Cliffs, the Paria drainage, the River Itself, burrowed down in its not yet grand canyon. And beyond that, the desolate plateaus of the Navajo and Hopi country. A big country with big views.
Right about lunchtime I walked through the Murray Lake trailhead. There was a hiker resupply box there. It not only had public water (much better than the brown stuff I had been drinking which reminds me of my grandfather’s barn), but also a food bag. And in the food bag, along with some freeze-dried dinners, were some Spam singles. I took this as a trail omen. The AZT wants me to have Spam.
I set up my stove, and soon the pink glistening slab was quivering in my fry pan. It was delicious.
Near 9000 feet tonight and it is cold. Too cold to type any more.