Azt Map Miles 411.0
Miles Hiked 400.7
Elevation 5,502 feet
Miles Hiked Today 10.0
I stayed at the Majestic Mountain Inn last night. Very nice place and a good price. It was also close to Banner Urgent Care. There was a snafu yesterday. The imaging lab could not secure VA authorization for my leg x-ray, so I went back to urgent care this morning. They did the x-ray first thing. It came back showing no stress fracture. Will somebody then tell me why my leg hurts and it swelled up?
The doctor said I was good to continue hiking. I left their facility and immediately began hitchhiking to the trail. Unlike yesterday when it took over two hours to get a ride, I was picked up within an hour. Two Mexicans picked me up and I was happy for the ride.
Further down the road they picked up another hitchhiking hiker. It was the hiker I met a couple of weeks ago at a closed campground. His phone broke and he was heading back to Flagstaff to get it repaired. It was strange where we picked him up. It was nowhere near the AZT. Even stranger, he had the driver drop him in the middle of nowhere.
The 35 mile drive from Payson to the AZT took about 40 minutes. The car dropped me right at the trail and I started hiking. There were a few big ascents, but for the most part, the hike was easier than those of previous days.
I only planned to do about 8 miles since I arrived at the trail at 10:30 AM. However, I ran out of water and I missed a water source, so I went another two miles. I got water and there was an excellent campsite nearby. For the first time in several days, I put up my tent in a protected area and on level ground. It doesn’t get much better than that.
