Stronger Than Yesterday

[Amy-in-PHX]

Yeah, this morning I'm reviewing someone else's triplog for the area I want to go, and found a great photo of a whole big group of elk along the East Verde R.
East Verde River Photo #20 • friendofThundergod • 2014-07-05 • HikeArizona.COM
Woohoo!

[Oldster]

Pretty cool photo. Seven cows and a spike bull. This is why I've hikes the back country for over 40 years. Never know what you're going to see over the next hill or around the bend. If only I had a camera with me back then.

Nice thing about hiking around my house is all the elk here, too. Sometimes they're in the field, other times I don't see them until I'm inside the timber. Last summer I stopped and motioned for my wife to be quiet and whispered I could smell elk. We didn't go 10' before we could see back into a swamp we paralleled and there was a herd of about 40 with a really nice bull in their beds about 30' away! The very next day there were bear tracks right there where we watched them from and we could both smell him. He was close, but we didn't see him.

That fall I filled our freezer with I'm sure was the same bull opening morning, about 400 yards from the front door through the timber!

[Amy-in-PHX]

Nice thing about hiking around my house is all the elk here, too. Sometimes they're in the field, other times I don't see them until I'm inside the timber. Last summer I stopped and motioned for my wife to be quiet and whispered I could smell elk. We didn't go 10' before we could see back into a swamp we paralleled and there was a herd of about 40 with a really nice bull in their beds about 30' away! The very next day there were bear tracks right there where we watched them from and we could both smell him. He was close, but we didn't see him.

That fall I filled our freezer with I'm sure was the same bull opening morning, about 400 yards from the front door through the timber!

Very cool story. A former co-worker of mine is a hunter and he used to bring things like elk meatballs to the work pitch-ins, so I've had opportunities to taste that sort of meat. I liked it quite well. Sounds like it would be satisfying, to find and obtain your own food like that.

I'm still in town because my knee was hurting worse yesterday. But since it hurts worst on rest days and does not bother me while I'm actually lifting, I'm thinking it's a soft tissue part of the knee (tendon? ligament? bursa?) rather than osteoarthritis rearing its ugly head. So I took an extra day off, and did barbells today because the knee was better. Planning to head out on the hike tomorrow. Today I did another slightly "less heavy" workout, to try to de-stress the knee. Better than having to take a week or more off later, and lose a bunch of the strength I've built.

[Amy-in-PHX]

Sat 03-17-18
SQ
45x5x2
60x5
75x5
85x5x3 -- Best cues for me are "proud chest," "midfoot," and "control the descent."
BN
45x5
50x5x2
55x5
60x5x3
DL
65x5x2 - Did the 2d set @65 by accident; forgot to load plates!
85x5
105x5
120x5x2 - R Thumb slipping badly from hook grip on 2d work set. Gotta get chalk.
LAT
75x10x3

[Amy-in-PHX]

I did 5 days of hiking down to, and in the canyons of, the Verde and East Verde Rivers. I'd never been there before, and learned a lot -- including that it's an area where you should go with someone who's been there before, or with a GPS and the skills to use it, to know your location continuously. Trails there have no signs, and the cairns are plentiful where you don't need them (because the path is steep, wide and obvious) but disappear where you do need them (because where the terrain comes closer to level, there are weeds growing over the trail and it's braided with many cattle paths). I was surprised cattle grazing is allowed in the wilderness, and wonder how the ranchers round up their cattle when they want them. I was able to keep to the trail by backtracking a couple times on day 2, but by mid-afternoon had to proceed downhill without a trail for a bit, because the approach of sunset meant I could not afford more backtracking and needed to get down to the river for water. I found a trail again after a short while, and it was reasonably easy to follow, but I could not be certain it was the same one I'd been on before. It did get me down to water by 7PM (half hour after sunset; still light enough to gather water without flashlight, but then camp setup and dinner were by flashlight). I actually still had a half liter left, when I got to the river to gather more water. Beautiful site with the sound of the river, on nice sand.

Next day (#3), I was not sure whether I was on the Verde River or Fossil Creek (the northern tributary I had intended to reach on Day 2). I decided to hike on south parallel to the river, and see whether I could spot the exit trail. I soon found a tributary canyon leading east, with a double set of huge cairns at its mouth, and I could see cottonwoods a ways in (which generally mean flowing water). So I headed east in the tributary, and sure enough, it had a good stream which I called the "creek" in my head, and for the next 3 days I explored it. The map showed the trail I wanted crossed a perennial tributary creek 3 times and then climbed out of the canyon via the wall on the south side, so I tried that but I never found an exit route. Ultimately I crossed that creek more times than I could keep track of. Gorgeous canyon, with canyon wrens calling -- a sound I had not heard in 15 years, other than a recording on the internet. On Saturday it was obvious I was not going to find an exit route before a search for me was launched, so I focused on getting back to the mouth of this tributary canyon where it was wide enough for me to be spotted from the air. My sister made the call on Saturday evening, and by 9 Sunday morning a helicopter was landing in my canyon to pull me out of there. I learned that northern AZ is very well set up for hiker rescues. The county sheriff calls the state police, who send the helicopter out from Flagstaff with a pilot and paramedic, in case you need medical attention. They flew me right back to the trailhead where my car was, where I met the deputy who was in charge of my search, Travis Troy, plus a half dozen people in matching orange shirts who were there to hike in and look for me on foot, if the helicopter had not found me. (I assume the orange shirt folks were volunteers.) The helicopter pilot and paramedic (the latter's name is Shane, but I forget the pilot's name) informed me that the "creek" I'd been walking along and crossing numerous times over the past 3 days was the East Verde River, itself! So I had hiked farther to the south than I had realized, on my Day 2 trail, and the first river I camped on was the Verde and not Fossil Creek.

This terrain is very rocky and rugged, with many ridges to cross in the higher parts, and constantly wet feet, rocky and sandy footing, and many thorny plants to negotiate, in the canyons. (All of those things are what I expected.) I did not see any elk, did see several beef cows (three with new calves), and I saw one gila monster sunning himself right on the path near the Verde, one chilly morning. Cottonwoods and white-trunked sycamores near the streams were nice. The canyons, esp the main Verde canyon, also had many thick stands of gnarly black trees that look dead (but may be just dormant and waiting for a rain to leaf out). Those black gnarly trees, when the path made me walk among them, made me feel like I was in a bad horror flick, or maybe a re-make of "The Piano," with that dark New Zealand forest. The water tasted great and seemed pretty clear. (The filter never needed back-washing during the 5 days.) But of course, the presence of cattle and other creatures means it has to be boiled, filtered, or chemically treated.

It was sure nice to use the strength I've developed in the gym to get outside and backpack again. Tomorrow I'll be ready to start training again, and will have to figure out how much weight to lift in my first workout after a 10-day layoff from barbells. Sure hope I can get that right, and remain un-injured.

I did not hike with a camera, because I did not need the extra weight, among other reasons. (My pack weight starting out was about 46.25 lbs, due to carrying 5L of water for a dry camp on night 1.) But I had my neighbor take a photo after my return home, to prove I've paid my dues to the Mazatzals, in blood. The bruises on my upper arms are from getting the pack on and off my back, but the scratches on my forearms are from the thorny vegetation that Arizona offers. I have to throw away the tee shirt I was wearing because I used it numerous times to wipe away blood - none of the scratches is deep, but that doesn't stop them being messy. (The shirt in the photo is a clean one - I'd already been home one night when the photo was taken.)
Attachment 6273

Hm, looks like the Forum does not like my attached photo for some reason, so my reader(s) will have to take my word for it, I guess.

[Oldster]

Wow! Sounds like you had fun, Amy! When realizing perhaps you weren't in the right place, were you frightened or even spooked? If so you hid it well in your account.

A forty-six pound pack? That's nearly half your BW, young lady (I sez in a strict voice ) Even when I'm packing way back in the Middle Fork of the Salmon in Idaho, my pack will rarely weight over forty pounds, or twenty percent of my BW. Mostly because I know there is a good chance I'll be packing out another one-forty in boned meat. Once when returning to my base camp from spike out around six or seven nights, I returned with a pack weighting 186 pounds, of boned meat and my gear. The worst part, other than packing it about a dozen miles and getting sidetracked for a few days, was packing back down from 10K feet to 3400 feet. My knees were trashed--my pack weighed more than my BW back in those days!

I need to tell you about a time I...well...wasn't lost, but not exactly sure where I was for the better part of a week in the Middle Fork!

[carson]

Check out my friend Ann Buzsard here My Grey Steel Log Ann is 76 and lifts quite impressively. Mutual encouragement is quite fun.

[carson]

Your story of your hikes is quite impressive. I hope you can keep it up. For what it's worth I've tried posting pictures and videos here and finally gave up.

[Amy-in-PHX]

Wed 03-28-18
SQ
45x5x2
55x5
65x5
75x5x3
PR
33x5
38x5
45x5x3
DL
65x5
85x5x2
100x5
115x5, 3
LAT
65x10x3

Fri 03-30-18
SQ
45x5x2 - Feeling a little sore from Wednesday's workout, after 10 days off barbells for hiking.
60x5
70x5
80x5x3
BN
45x5
50x5x2
55x5x3
DL
65x5
85x5
105x5
120x5x2
LAT
70x10x3

Seems like novice progression will work for a little while longer for me, now that I've had a break and a bit of a de-load. Good news is that my left knee (that was sore before the hike) actually got better over the 5 days of backpacking! Guess the knee wanted a little change of pace. Maybe the knee will stay good now that I'm back under the bar, too.

[Amy-in-PHX]

Wow! Sounds like you had fun, Amy! When realizing perhaps you weren't in the right place, were you frightened or even spooked? If so you hid it well in your account.

I did have a lot of fun - I enjoyed the hiking, very much. I was a little spooked at times - a few dark thoughts entered my head, like a story I read last year about a woman in her 60s hiking the Appalachian Trail in Maine, who got off trail, couldn't find it again, and died out in the woods. (It took about 6 weeks, they say.) But I didn't let myself dwell on that -- there was another story last year about a guy who took a fall hiking in Oak Creek Canyon (up by Sedona, AZ), and he got rescued by helicopter. I just focused on keeping cool and working the problem. I had saved half of Friday's dinner, so I was pretty hungry by Sunday morning, but saving that food in case no one showed up on Sunday I would have something to eat Monday morning and try again to find a good exit route.

A forty-six pound pack? That's nearly half your BW, young lady (I sez in a strict voice

Nah - I'm not as tiny as you have imagined me. Closer to a third than a half, though that's still heavier than I probably should carry.

I need to tell you about a time I...well...wasn't lost, but not exactly sure where I was for the better part of a week in the Middle Fork!

I'm looking forward to that story!