The Arizona Trail on Unicycle: Day 22, Chips
April 21, 2017
The wind had stopped during the night and we thankfully woke up to calmness. I had to shake a bunch of dust out of my tent and it made me reminisce of Burning Man, where that is a daily occurrence. Camping right at a dirt water tank probably wasn’t the best idea, but it was flat and comfy. The soreness was still in my quads, but the muscle above my left foot felt almost back to normal.
While at REI I had splurged and bought one dehydrated breakfast of bacon and eggs. Jamey had been mixing them into his routine as an alternative to oatmeal, and I thought I’d give it a try. They aren’t too bad, but I don’t really get tired of maple and brown sugar oatmeal, so I’d probably be happy eating those every morning.
We started riding but Rebekka couldn’t find her sunglasses. Jamey and I always know where everything is at any given moment, since we aren’t caring all that much stuff. Becky had the largest backpack and most weight; she is carrying a few non essential things and sometime mis places things. The glasses weren’t to be found, and could have been rolled up in her tent, but we didn’t want to wait 30 minutes for her to unpack and repack so we convinced her to do it at the next rest stop in an hour or so.
The terrain past Flagstaff had been vastly more ridable than ever before. We had planned on going to about 20 miles or so to the next water source that was nice to camp by. In mid morning we stopped to eat and rest; Becky unrolled her tent and found her sunglasses, much to the relief of her sore eyes. We continued on our way, which was mostly among ranch access roads and some dirt roads. It was fast riding and we passed a few hikers going the opposite direction. We would occasionally stop to chat to some people, and at other times we would just ride on by with a friendly wave and hello.
The trail veered left off the dirt roads and became some more hike and ride terrain. We mostly rode and eventually got to a large lake to get a little water. It also had a regular outhouse style toilet, so Jamey took full advantage of the modern amenity, and we rested a bit by the water. The plan was to do 6 more miles to an animal water tank. After 3 miles of hike and riding (about 50/50) we realized we could hop on an adjacent dirt road and finish the last 3 a little easier. Rebekka was riding strong, pulling up hills like it was nothing, but Jamey and I were tired and waking more to rest. So, we opted for a few miles on the dirt road, which went by quickly as it was all ridable.
The water tank was interesting; the Fish and Game department had created a rainwater collection system that would feed into several tanks buried in the ground. Then on one side there was an outlet for the water housed in some cement; ironically fenced in, but probably nothing difficult for a deer or elk to hop over (or a human).
We started later than usual that morning at about 8AM, and we stopped a lot, but we ended riding by about 4PM. I was still quite fatigued and glad to be able to setup an early camp.
I started to realize I had been hoarding my food for some non-existent famine, so I had an extra bar after dinner and finished off a bag of chips that I had bought back a few days ago in Flagstaff. My backpack is a huge Baltoro 75 liter; it has all the straps pulled to the min settings as I have a lot of extra stuff strapped to the unicycle. I may end up needing the extra space for the Grand Canyon where no wheels are allowed, but until then I can carry extra bulky stuff like chips.
Stats:
Today: 27.4 miles
Total: 532.5 miles
Route:
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/956217687
Below I’m demonstrating my sock drying techniques.
