Monday April 14, 19.3mi/31.1km

Middle Mesa (35.9/1060ft) to Mouth of Harper Canyon (55.2/1010ft) (CA)

I fell asleep just after 9pm last night and before I knew it it was 6:15 and the sun was coming up. Deep sleep! I packed up and was moving by 7am and had a pleasant surprise. So many ocotillos and they were all in bloom!

The fragrance of the flowers filled the morning air and added a little extra cheer to the usually delightful morning miles. After a couple miles I came to a spot called Diablo drop off, a spot popular with off-road Jeep drivers to descend down into Fish Canyon.

I descended down into the canyon and the road was extremely sandy, which was excellent for seeing all the different animal tracks. I’m not sure which one this is.

I hiked up Fish Creek Canyon for the rest of the morning, it was pretty easy but a little monotonous. It started off as a wide sandy wash.

Then it got a little narrower, but I was having fun walking on the slickrock.

After 5 miles of walking up the wash, it took a sharp turn right and then the character of the sand changed dramatically. It was now a soft uncompacted sand, which was extremely difficult and taxing to walk in.

Finally, it was time to leave the wash and the jeep roads and I turned off at a junction. Weirdly, this was the only sign at the junction. No navigational signs or info boards…just a warning about mountain lions.

By now it was noon, so I took a break under the next shady bush I could find which surprisingly turned out to be a juniper. After eating I hung out and read my book for a little while since it was pretty hot now. The nice cloudy morning had changed to a bright sunny afternoon. After lunch I walked across Hahaha flat, which was a veritable desert garden.

Ocotillos, yuccas, teddybear cholla, barrel cactus, calico cactus, catclaw, smoke trees, creosote, burrowweed, agave, brittlebush, and Spanish bayonet. This ocotillo was especially colorful!

After a mile of walking through a colorful desert garden, I had to ascend over a short pass. It was quite rocky but was finished pretty quickly.

Once over the past I was now on Harper flat, another desert garden. This barrel cactus was in bloom!

All the desert plants.

I continued on a slight downhill through Harper flat for an hour, just amazed at all the different desert plants in bloom. At the end of Harper flat, the terrain started to slope downward more steeply and I began to enter Harper Canyon. Of course, the first thing I see is a classic piece of desert litter, a deflated balloon.

People really need to stop releasing these things into the air, they’re guaranteed to become litter. It was noticeably hotter in the canyon, I think it had a solar oven effect. I found a shady spot behind a boulder for a break.

Harper Canyon was actually pretty cool but I forgot to take many photos. It started off wide…

…. And then became much narrower and rocky with a little bit of fun scrambling here and there.

My legs were pretty tired so I decided to stop and look for a campsite as soon as I was out of the canyon. It always seems a little risky to camp in a narrow canyon that can flash flood. Right after the canyon opened up into the valley, I spotted this cool blooming cactus.

And right after that I spotted my campsite. I was set up by 6:30 and had a relaxing evening watching the sunset.

Tomorrow I’ll have a later than usual start since it’s only 3 miles to the road, which leads to a little RV park that has cold drinks and snacks, but it doesn’t open until 8am.

Sunday April 13, 17.1mi/27.5km
Lower Carrizo Gorge (18.8/950ft) to Middle Mesa (35.9/1060ft) (CA)

I got an early start at 6:30, the morning is the best time to hike. And especially on this trail, when it’s so hot in the middle of the day.

It’s late spring in the low desert but lots of things are still blooming! I don’t know the name of this flower.

And this ocotillo looked very healthy with all of its green leaves and red flowers. Usually I see them in the fall and they’re just dead-looking sticks.

The official Desert Trail route walks almost a mile out of the way to visit a campground which has pit toilets, water shade and trash cans. So it seemed kind of worth it.

They said the water was non-potable so I filtered it. Usually those signs are just for liability reasons because the water isn’t tested.

I dumped what little trash I had accumulated, it will probably make my backpack half a pound lighter. I’m not sure that I’ll notice with the 15+ pounds of water I’m carrying though! And because I wasn’t sure this campground would have running water, I had cached water just a mile away at the main paved road. It was easy to dig up with just my bare hands and a pair of cheap gardening gloves.

I walked along the desolate paved road for a couple of minutes and then quickly turned off onto a sandy 4wd road.

By now it was after 10am and getting pretty hot, so as soon as I saw some big shady trees I decided to take a cool down break.

I sat there for quite a while, just enjoying being in the shade with the slight breeze. But there were miles to go, so I continued on through the hot midday Sun on the sandy road.

Eventually I left the road network and joined a sandy wash. There were some really big tamarisk trees and it was impossible to avoid stopping for another break in their wonderful shade. After accidentally catching a quick nap, I packed up and hiked up the wash that led into Arroyo Seco del Diablo.

It was hot and sunny where I was, but just a mile behind me I could see a line of thick cloud. I was pretty jealous.

I entered the canyon, which was made of a mud-like substance.

It had these really cool striations of colors in the walls.

And some of the shapes and patterns that were carved into it were pretty amazing. I couldn’t tell if it was carved by wind or water.

As I got further up canyon, the walls got taller and the sun sank lower in the sky and I was very thankful for the shade.

More cool shapes in the canyon walls.

It was beautiful hiking but by 5pm I was ready to be done walking for the day. I’m usually more tired at the beginning of a hike before I’ve developed better fitness. But I’m also questioning the accuracy of the guidebook mileages, as well as my Garmin watch GPS. The guidebook says 17.1 miles, my watch says 19.1 miles. I’m guessing the truth is probably right in the middle. Tomorrow, I’m going to record a GPS track with my phone app which I know is accurate. Science! It was pretty windy up on top of this Mesa, so I tried to find a sheltered spot behind a large bush.

Another tiring day! At least the weather forecast looks much cooler after tomorrow.

Saturday April 12, 14.3mi/23.0km
Interstate 8 Underpass (4.5/2720ft) to Lower Carrizo Gorge (18.8/950ft) (CA)

I packed up camp before 6am, I don’t like camping next to roads unless I absolutely have to, and so I departed pretty early. All morning I walked along abandoned railroad tracks and it was a very relaxing and scenic morning.

Some of the old abandoned railcars had some really nice graffiti on them.

The first tunnel I came to was closed, so I took a short trail around and descended back down to the tracks.

In the distance I could see the first trestle I would be crossing, and below me was the beginnings of Carrizo Gorge.

Most of the trestles were easy to cross since they had some nice steel grates to walk on.

The first tunnel I walked through was pretty short, but it still felt a little unnerving knowing that some of the previous tunnels had collapsed.

Getting closer, I could see how wide and tall the tunnels were..I think they were built a long time ago when trains were taller and still burned coal.

A few miles further on I came upon another set of abandoned rail cars that were parked on a siding.

The insides of them looked pretty trashed.

All the tunnels were numbered by the railroad company and tunnel number 8 was closed, but there was a nice trail around it. Though there were plenty of Teddy Bear Cholla encroaching on that trail.

A closer look.

One of the tunnels was lined up perfectly with the one that came after it, making a cool visual effect.

Finally I came upon the locally famous Goat Canyon trestle, which is the destination for most day hikers before they turn around.

I saw a group of three guys hanging out there as well as a grandmother/granddaughter duo. I waved goodbye to them and started my descent down to the bottom of Carrizo Gorge.

The official Desert Trail does not follow the railroad tracks at all, instead it just descends into the gorge bottom almost immediately from my campsite this morning. But I knew that route would be overgrown, and when studying the maps it looked like there were a couple of descent options that weren’t too steep. Still, I wasn’t sure this descent would work, so I kept studying the terrain as I went down.

About half a mile and 45 minutes later, and I was at the bottom of Carrizo Gorge.

It was a pretty ideal descent route, not too steep, though I got a little lucky with the lack of cacti. When I got to the bottom of the canyon it was noticeably warmer so I decided to take a break in the shade. On my way to a shady spot I stumbled upon this cool horn. I think it’s from a bighorn sheep.

And a short distance away, a skeleton, probably from the same animal.

The morning clouds had disappeared and my hike down the canyon was pretty warm, my little thermometer said 90F/32C. Every hour I took a break in the shade.

Towards the bottom of the canyon I noticed high up on the hillside a pair of derailed railroad cars.

According to the guidebook those derailed in the 1970s, and they were full of Coors beer so the local college students came out every weekend and tried to collect free beer. There was one little section of hiking that was absolutely clogged with vegetation. It was a thicket of Tamarisk, Mesquite, and aquatic grasses. It took me 30 minutes to go a quarter mile. Gross.

After that section though, the vegetation mostly disappeared as the ground is drier here, and the rest of the hike to the trailhead was easy. I quickly passed by the little trailhead where there was a Forerunner parked. Not many vehicles can get in here since it’s a 6 mile long sandy and rocky road. I walked the rough dirt road for another hour, and it was quite pleasant now that the canyon bottom was in afternoon shade. I stopped to camp at 6:30, much earlier than last night.

I’m also limiting my daily mileage in the beginning to ease in my feet. The guidebook says I hiked 14.5 miles, but my watch says I hiked 18 miles. The watch is probably closer to the truth, as my railroad alternate added a couple miles, and also it’s impossible to walk a straight line down a gorge that’s choked with vegetation and boulders. Hopefully tomorrow is easier hiking, this afternoon was slow and tiring.

Friday April 11, 4.8mi/7.7km

Mexican Border (0.0/2810ft) to Interstate 8 Underpass (4.8/2720ft) (CA)

After all the shenanigans of this week, I was ready to start hiking. After a few minor chores I was driving south and excited to get my legs exercised. I stopped at a couple little RV resorts to confirm they were still open and had snacks and drinks, since they are along the trail. I arrived at the car storage place at 2pm and got everything packed up. I talked to the owner on the phone and squared away payment, and then walked over to the caretaker to get a ride to the trailhead. James is a really friendly guy and happy to give me a ride, and said “sure let me put my belt on first”. He comes back with a set of tools… and an alternator belt.

He needs to replace his alternator belt on his 1995 Mazda, and he’s only done this once before. I help him through the process and it takes us a couple hours, mostly him repeatedly going back to his shed and looking for the right tool. But we got it done!

Finally, at 5pm he drives me the 20 minutes to the start of the trail in Jacumba Hot Springs. It’s a pretty drive, with mostly nice scenery along the way, except for a monstrous iron wall.

He drives as close as we are allowed to get to the border, and then I get out and say goodbye and he takes some photos for me.

Since it’s now 5:45pm I immediately start walking north to get as far as I can before darkness at 7:30.

Jacumba is a tiny little town, but it has a couple cafes, an art studio and a cute little park.

The first 4 Miles are walking on a paved road.

Apparently Jacumba has a tiny airport. It looks like basically a gravel strip and nothing else.

It’s a peaceful drive with almost no traffic and I watched the sunset as I made progress northward.

I stopped just before 8pm and it’s now very dark. I found a little stealth camping spot next to some abandoned railroad tracks. I can’t continue further without committing to descending into Carrizo Gorge, and that will be tomorrow’s challenge.

Easy first day, but it feels good to be moving again!

Wednesday/Thursday April 9 & 10, 0mi/0km

Amboy CA to Anza-Borrego State Park (driving)

I drove most of the day again, this time only covering about 300 miles on paved roads, burying another 4 caches in the sand.

I didn’t see many cars or people out here all day, but definitely evidence that people have been here recently. It seems nowhere is safe from the current shitty state of events.

Once I got further west past the town of Mecca, there were noticeably more people highways and businesses as I approached Indio and the Coachella Valley. I stopped at a Big5 Sporting goods to get a fuel canister, and they only had this questionable-looking brand. I probably won’t die.

When I went to the cashier to check out, it was at this point I realized I must have dropped my credit card back at one of the caches. It was in my pocket along with a marker and pocketknife, and it must have fallen out when I was using those tools. I spent the rest of the day retracing my steps and searching but to no avail. So I called the card company and they’re sending me a new one next week. Good trail tip: Having Google pay and PayPal apps on your phone is an excellent backup plan.

Tuesday April 8, 0mi/0km

Death Valley CA to Amboy CA (driving)

I drove all day, covering about 400 miles on paved roads and another 20 miles of dirt roads, burying 4 caches in the sand. I started the day in Death Valley, and decided to play tourist for a few minutes, visiting the water fountain at Furnace Creek, and seeing how warm it was at the lowest place in the US.

I left the park and drove uphill 4,000 vertical feet and did some reconnaissance in the little town of Shoshone. I’m not planning on making it this far on my short section of trail this year, but I know we will be here next year.

Then I went a few minutes down the road to the little hamlet of Tecopa Hot Springs, which is basically just 3 different hot springs businesses competing on the same road. The first one had a spiritual vibe with a bunch of wiccans, the second one had a creepy feel with the owner slipping the word Jesus into every single sentence, and the third one felt just normal. Plus the town had a post office, a surprisingly great cafe, and a brand new microbrewery.

I drove 30 minutes down the highway and attempted my first cache, but the dirt road had a few deep-ish ruts and I didn’t want to get high-centered. The next spot I had better luck at Halloran summit off the I-15 freeway. Step 1 dig the hole:

Step 2 fill the hole with water and delicious snacks:

Step 3 return the dirt and hide everything:

The whole process only took about 30 minutes, and after taking a bunch of photos and saving the location on my GPS, I was on my way to the next spot. I got to drive across the beautiful Mojave Preserve on semi-famous Kelbaker Road.

I drove by the Kelso Depot visitor Center which is still closed for construction but at least the bathrooms and water fountains are open. I buried two more water caches in the preserve, and then the fourth one down on old route 66 near Amboy. When I was digging the last hole it was starting to get dark and somebody drove by and asked me what I was doing. After explaining I was caching water, she offered to help but also said that it looked creepy digging a deep hole in the encroaching darkness. Good point.

I picked a random spot in the desert to camp in my van tonight, and tomorrow I have four more water caches to bury, and then I will put my car in storage and begin hiking a 300-mile section the Desert Trail!

Saturday-Monday April 5-7, 0mi/0km

Vancouver WA to Death Valley CA (driving)

After spending all winter making plans for the Desert Trail, the universe threw us a curveball. So when plans fall through….you make new plans! Toppy and I will hike the trail in 2026. In the meantime I will just do a short 3-week section of it, and then jump over to the Hot Springs Trail, which starts in Santa Barbara and then goes 2,420 miles to northern Idaho (more details on that trail later).

For any hikers interested in doing the Desert Trail in the future, know that the planning process is quite a bit more involved than other trails. Basically the only way to get the information is through the Desert Trail guidebooks which are published by Steve Tabor. There is no website or online presence. Basically you give him a phone call, write him a paper check(!), and then he mails you a series of 18 guidebooks. After spending dozens of hours scanning the guidebooks into digital PDFs to store on my phone, and also transcribing his maps into my caltopo app, we had all the resources we needed to start the trail.

I had also spent a bunch of time over the winter focusing on my fitness and injury prevention. I saw an online PT (Blaze Physio), paid a visit to” shoe Jesus” in Mt Shasta to get fitted for new insoles/supports, and also went on many short training hikes. I never did any of this in the past, but my left ankle has been bothering me and I’m getting older. Training hike in Tryon Creek park:

I also replaced a few pieces of worn gear, and bought a couple new things, including an ultralight 5.5oz bivy from Borah gear. Testing it out in a local town park:

With all the gear in place, and my fitness at a reasonable level, the only thing left was to start planning resupplies for these 2 remote trails. For my short section of the Desert Trail, I will basically be able to buy food in the little towns. It won’t be anywhere near ideal, but it’s a much simpler solution than mailing a box to the local post office and then having to arrive on certain days. However, the severe lack of water on the Desert Trail means I bought an obscene amount of gallon jugs at Costco and will be caching (burying) them in the desert along the trail at certain points.

In the first 400 miles of the Desert Trail, there are basically two natural water sources, both of which are often dry. Even with cached water, the dry stretches will be between 25 and 40 miles long. So I’ll be carrying anywhere between 5 and 10 liters of water (I consume about 4 liters per day including dinners). I spent a couple of days making the drive from Vancouver, WA to Death Valley CA, and stopped at Costco in Reno along the way. So many delicious calories:

I also visited some good friends in Lake Tahoe and then continued my drive down the Eastern Sierra Valley to Lone Pine & Death Valley.

Tomorrow – caching water!

Saturday June 1, 18.6mi/29.9km

W Fork Gila River (54.4/6560ft) to Highway 15 (70.0/5660ft) (NM) +3.0mi to Doc Campbell’s

I packed up my tent and departed my cozy little Grove of pines. Today I will be following the West Fork Gila River pretty much all day. There seemed to be less poison oak and a little bit of a trail which was nice. My first stream crossing came pretty early at 7:30 when it was still cold in the canyon.

As I continued to hike downstream the trail improved a little bit.

And it was a pretty open forest with little underbrush.

I passed a group of guys who cheerfully complained about the deteriorating trail as they hiked upstream, but hiking in my direction it was dramatically better than yesterday!

I passed by a cool looking cliff feature that reminded me of the hoodoos in Bryce canyon, although on a much larger scale. I’m not sure if this feature has an official name.

As the morning wore on, the day started to get pretty hot and all these little stream crossings were pretty enticing for a swim.

I stopped keeping track of the number of stream crossings. Wading through the cool water felt really good, it felt like the temperatures were now in the mid 80s.

The shady riparian areas were also quite cool and welcoming.

Hi new friend!

I had a short lunch break in the shade and then continued on to exit the wilderness.

I passed through the Gila Cliff dwellings National Monument which I had visited on the CDT in 2016, and it was really cool but I had no desire to do it again. I was looking forward to town food!

After leaving the trailhead and all the tourists behind, I walked on the paved road for a couple miles which is part of the official GET.

Then I reached a junction where I had to decide if I was continuing on the get or exiting. It was nearly 90F now, and is forecasted to be the same all week so it was an easy decision. Exit the heat! I hiked another 3 miles down a different paved road to Doc Campbell’s Outpost, which is a popular resupply point for both this trail and the CDT.

A while ago I had shipped myself new shoes and a box of food here, with the understanding I would be continuing on the GET. I’ll have to come back in the cooler months of fall to continue this hike, so I collected my boxes.

I set up my tent in the designated spot for hikers, got a shower, and then checked out the hiker box. It was pretty impressive, the CDT has really grown since 8 years ago when I hiked it.

I took a stroll around the campground, see the sights and met some friendly cows.

I also met some friendly people who had traveled from Texas and were willing to share their fancy meal with me. They had bought a ton of fresh ingredients at H-E-B, basically the Wegmans of Texas.

They were a fun group, and it was their last night in civilization before they set out on a 7-Day backpacking loop in the Gila wilderness. Pretty amazing meal and a great way to celebrate the end of this segment of the GET! Even better, One of them wasn’t joining the backpacking trip and she offered to drive me down to Silver City, almost an hour away. From there, I can get public transit back to Arizona and Flagstaff where my car is stored.

These four days on the GET have been pretty amazing. I can’t wait to come back and finish the rest of it in cooler weather!

Friday May 31, 20.4mi/32.8km

Hummingbird Saddle (34.0/10,380ft) to W Fork Gila River (54.4/6560ft) (NM)

There was no wind last night, and it was surprisingly warmer than I thought it would be. I hiked out of camp in shorts in the warm sunny weather.

The trail was still great, and no blowdowns either. I was able to move along pretty quickly though I did pause to watch this snake slither across.

I could see the ridgeline up ahead that I would be hiking, leading to the summit of Mogollon Baldy peak.

As the peak got closer, I could see a little bit of snow still left on its Northern slopes.

Once I was at the top, I took a pretty long break to explore the buildings and chat with the caretakers.

Sandy invited me up to the tower (which is also their living quarters) to see some of the views.

It was pretty windy up there so they invited me in to chat, and we talked for awhile about all the local trails, mountains, and history of the area.

By now it was almost 1pm so I said goodbye and headed down the mountain.

I descended pretty much the rest of the day, all the way down to the west Fork Gila River. The terrain alternated between burned forest and meadow and regular forest. I think this area was called Snow Park.

Cool little stand of trees in a meadow.

At one point I heard a bunch of crashing in the brush, so I stopped and listened…and two Elk came running by!

Once I was further down, I entered the unburned forest which was also full of Lupine flowers.

It was nice to be hiking in the shade and out of the hot Sun.

I came to a trail junction and I noticed the strange names, Rawmeat Creek… Who named these things?

I finally finished my descent off the mountain and crossed White Creek, where I refilled my empty water bottles.

And for the last hour of the day I followed the West Fork Gila River, which I will be following all day tomorrow as well.

It also had a couple strange names at its trail junctions. Hell’s Hole?!

If you see a fork in the road, take it!

I thought it would be easy to find a camp spot in the pine forest that surrounds the river, but much of it was either slanty, or had poison ivy. Eventually I settled for a little spot amongst a copse of pine trees that seemed fine.

Thursday May 30, 18.5mi/29.8km

Mineral Creek TH (15.5/5440ft) to Hummingbird Saddle (34.0/10,380ft) (NM)

I started off the morning hiking up Mineral Creek for a few hours. It had a decent trail most of the way, though it did involve crossing the stream a few dozen times.

The rock there was very interesting, it was some volcanic tuff that eroded into canyons and slickrock areas.

It was highly enjoyable walking alongside that stream for a while.

I even passed by an old mining site, with lots of interesting old-timey things.

Given the flooding and devastation that happened here about 10 years ago, I was surprised to see such a well-traveled trail.

Someone had taken some boards from the mining site, and made some benches which looked like a perfect spot to take a break.

Sometimes the trail would squeeze between a boulder and a cliff…

… And other times it would just go straight up the creek.

After a few hours of that it was time to leave the canyon and hike steeply uphill.

It was a very nice trail, but it still climbed over a thousand feet in a mile. Pretty soon I had arrived at a trailhead along Bursum road, and I hiked the road the rest of the morning, and a few hours into the afternoon as well. It was a hot afternoon, so it took me awhile to climb the 2500ft up to Silver Creek Divide.

Up here at over 9,000 ft the forest was more burned, though I had pretty good views through the remaining trees.

The mountains around here are surprisingly big!

The road had a little scenic viewpoint called Sandy Point, where I stopped and had a nice break looking at all the landscapes I had hiked across the last few days. When I turned off onto a trail the first thing I noticed was a warning sign.

Fortunately, the trail must have undergone some maintenance because it was not difficult to find at all. And I was entering the Gila Wilderness!

Most of the pine trees had burned away in the fire, but this many years later, a bunch of Aspens had grown to take their place.

Once I got up to 10,000 feet elevation, I noticed the ground was still damp in some places and I even found a tiny patch of remaining snow!

I’m not sure what this plant is, but it seems to thrive in these conditions. I’ve seen it in other places, but it grows quite huge up here.

A lot of the burned dead trees had fallen over throughout the years, and the trail crews had done an amazing job at keeping the trail clear.

Eventually the trail stopped climbing, and I hiked along a ridge at like 10,500ft. Great views in all directions!

I noticed a significant part of this forest had been burned, which usually is quite limiting for camping opportunities. So, I decided to stop at one of the few unburned pockets of forest that I found. Hummingbird Saddle was flat and forested, and hopefully it doesn’t become windy later tonight. I did all my usual camp chores, and when I checked my inReach device, I noticed I had received quite a few new messages. Thanks to everyone who sent me a message sharing the good news!