Day 18, Double Springs Campground to Maxie Tank

Minutes after I finished texting with the driver, I discovered that a new map had been posted on an Arizona Trail Facebook group page. It showed an alternate route around the closure. Following the map would require some road walking, but that felt like a better choice than skipping a section of the trail.

Thinking this way seemed out of sync with my thoughts about quitting my hike. Even now, I didn’t want to skip some of the trail. I wanted to keep my options open, which told me I still wasn’t sure what to do.

At least I now knew about the alternate route. I sent another message to the driver and canceled the ride.

That was one question answered, one less worry to carry with me.

After I started walking again, I passed more evidence of the old logging railroad I saw yesterday. Rusted, twisted cables and fragments of machinery were lying next to the trail. The cables were probably used to drag logs to the tracks before they were carried to a mill.

Soon after I left Navajo Spring and returned to the trail, I came to a barricade with a sign that said the trail ahead was closed. A prescribed burn was being conducted in the area. This was one of several burn events scheduled by the U.S. Forest Service this month. The sign included a map showing a detour for hikers.

It was unclear if the burning operation was still underway. Nevertheless, as I did on Day 10, I decided it was best to follow the detour and not walk through the burn area. I didn't see or smell any smoke, but I didn't want to walk through it if burning was in progress.

The detour was 6.2 miles long, adding a mile to the trail.

At 12:15 p.m., I stopped for lunch under a shade tree on a gravel road that was part of the detour. While I ate, four vehicles drove by, each one kicking up dust in my face.

A light layer of clouds moved in after I finished my lunch. It didn’t lower the temperature, however. That remained around 80ºF. I was roasting in the exposure of the wide gravel road.

While I was taking my lunch break, I happened to find a comment posted in the FarOut app by a hiker who walked this detour four days ago. He said he found a shortcut that was shaded by trees.

When I arrived at the start of the shortcut, I decided to take it. I didn’t shave much distance off the detour, but it got me out of the sun, and that made it worthwhile.

I also saw several deer running back and forth across the dirt road. Until that moment, wildlife had been scarce on the trail the last few days, almost as scarce as other hikers.

I got back on the official AZT route at 2:50 p.m. From there, the trail followed another elevated section of an old railroad bed.

The railroad bed led to a wide meadow with a shallow body of water called Allan Lake. An information sign posted nearby said this spot was the end of the line for the railroad.

After the Flagstaff Lumber Manufacturing Company stopped logging north of Mormon Lake, other lumber companies operated sporadically in the area. Then in the 1940s, World War II spiked a demand for lumber.

The Saginaw and Manistee Lumber Company acquired timber rights and extended the railroad south of Mormon Lake.

Cut timber was hauled by trucks to this location, which was named Allan Lake Landing. From here, a train took the logs to a sawmill in Flagstaff.

Logging continued in the area through the early 1950s, but by then, logs were only hauled by trucks. The railroad tracks were removed in 1967.

There was a trailhead south of Allan Lake, just before the trail crossed Lake Mary Road. I found a bottle of water there labeled "public." It was an unexpected treat to have water that didn’t need to be filtered.

Not wanting to be greedy, I only took enough to top off one of my bottles. But then, a short distance away, I found three more gallon jugs of water, and these were full. Now I felt more comfortable about refilling my other bottles.

Right after that, I walked past a cow tank with a strong odor of cow, which made me especially grateful for the clean water. I was glad I didn’t have to collect and filter water there.

My slow start this morning and the detour shortened the distance I hoped to walk today. I had to adjust my goal by heading to a closer water source. It was called Maxie Tank.

I like to camp near where I can refill my water bottles, but I don’t camp in the immediate area because it is probably used by livestock or wildlife. I hoped to find a spot away from the water to set up camp.

Thanks to the surprise water left by trail angels, however, I didn’t have to stop at the tank to collect water. I continued walking for about a half-mile past it.

At 5:30 p.m., I spotted a wide, flat spot that was about 200 feet off the trail and looked suitable for camping. It took me several minutes to find a clear space free of cow and deer droppings. I was glad to get settled before sunset, which was less than 30 minutes away.

Today was a day of small victories. Locating a campsite just before dark was one victory. Finding an area free of animal poop was another. The water cache, the shaded shortcut, and an easy, mostly flat trail were also small victories. I was ready for any I could find.

I had cell service again tonight, so I called Kim to update her on how I was feeling. I told her it had been a good day. That was a truthful statement, but it was made with some reservations. I still had worries and doubts, and they still impacted my desire to finish this hike.

I felt tonight like I had reached a crossroads. One road would keep me on the trail. The other would take me home. Standing there, I couldn’t decide which one to take. I kept looking in each direction, not knowing which one I wanted the most.

Sooner or later, something was bound to happen, triggering a decision and sending me in one of those directions.