Day 38 Ripsey Wash to near Antelope Peak

The sun hadn't yet risen above the horizon when I started hiking this morning. I had only 1.4 miles to walk to the first reliable water source, so I waited to eat breakfast until I got there.

The sky had been clear all day yesterday. Now I noticed clouds were forming to the south.

Starting out, the footpath was gravel, mostly coarse pinkish granite. I knew the trail would climb for nearly all of today, with the biggest elevation gains coming this morning. The grade would never be particularly steep, and the trail would climb less than 1,300 feet.

So far, the conditions were favorable to complete a few more miles today than I had been hiking lately. The cooler temperatures I'd been hoping for would help.

I arrived at the first water at 7:20 a.m. It trickled from a spring into a plastic tank and a rusty metal trough. I filtered and refilled my water bottles, then ate breakfast.

While eating, several white-crowned sparrows landed nearby to drink the same water. They had flown to the Arizona desert about a month ago.

Their summer breeding habitat is far north of here, either in thickets near Arctic tundra or alpine meadows of Alaska and northern Canada.

This was the first time the smaller sparrows had flown here. Their colors were muted compared to the adults, indicating that they were less than a year old.

After leaving the spring, the trail became unexpectedly more difficult. It was no longer a firm, gravel footpath. The trail was sandy as it entered and exited several washes. It felt as if I crossed a new wash every five minutes.

Thankfully, the trail conditions soon improved, and I was back on firm, more level ground. I was now able to cruise, just as I had hoped when I started the day.

Since leaving my campsite, I found no trees for shade, only creosote, ocotillo, yucca, and various cacti. The temperature didn't climb as high as it had for much of October, however.

Soon, the sky was covered in a thin layer of clouds. They didn't look like rain clouds, though I knew the chance of rain would increase in the next couple of days.

In less than an hour, the clouds were gone, and the sky remained clear for the rest of the day.

If the clouds hadn't cleared away, I probably wouldn't have seen what flew directly over my head. Several fighter jets zoomed above me so quickly that I only had time to snap photos of the last two.

After examining the photos and checking some sources, I identified the aircraft and learned where they came from. They were F-16 Fighting Falcon jets, often called Vipers.

The airspace above me is often used by the Arizona Air National Guard, which flies out of Morris Air National Guard Base at Tucson International Airport.

The airbase is the only one in the U.S. where pilots of foreign air forces are trained to fly F-16s. Last May, some Ukrainian pilots completed their training at the airbase.

When I stopped for a moment to change the podcast I was listening to, a hiker named Jordan caught up to me. He told me he'd set up camp last night at the crest of yesterday's climb, which was on the other side of Ripsey Wash from where I camped. Jordan said the wind was gusty and kept him awake. Then, when a skunk wandered into his campsite, he decided to pack up and move.

After we talked, Jordan started down the trail and was quickly out of sight.

Soon after he left, I wondered if I was approaching the next water source. When I checked the FarOut app to see how far away it was, I discovered I had already walked a quarter of a mile past a side trail leading to the water.

If I didn't turn back, my next chance to get water would be 11.5 miles ahead. I debated what to do, then decided not to backtrack. I still had 2.5 liters of water, and that seemed like enough because of the cooler weather and my faster pace.

I didn't expect to see Jordan again because I hadn't realized he had stopped at the water source. When he caught up to me, he said I had made a good decision to skip the water. It was muddy and unpleasant.

The rest of the day was generally uneventful. The trail continued its barely noticeable ascent. And because the weather was milder than it had been, I didn't crave a shady spot to take a break.

I found the only shade tree at 11:30 a.m. This was a little early to stop for lunch, but I decided to do that anyway. I didn't pass another tree all day that was large enough to provide shade.

There were, however, some unusual rocks where I might have found some shade if I'd needed it. The rounded, knob-shaped granite outcrops stood alone, not far from the trail. They had peculiar shapes. One looked like a giant mushroom.

When I started hiking this morning, I hoped to reach a trailhead at Freeman Road before the end of the day. That would be 18 miles of hiking. I wanted to get there because it was where I would find the next water source.

Thanks to the favorable trail conditions, I arrived at the road at 4:30 p.m., with enough daylight left to keep walking if I wished. Besides a water collector for wildlife, a cache of water had been left here by trail angels. It contained several gallons, so I could take all that I needed.

Before leaving the trailhead, I checked the trail register to see if I could tell when Al and Rocket Man had passed here. Al didn't write his name in the register, but Rocket Man's entry showed he had been here today.

I felt very positive about my mileage for the day, but now I was tired. Soon after I left the trailhead, I decided to look for a place to camp. About a mile away, I stopped at a wide, clear, flat space at the end of a short side trail. It could have been a camping spot used by hunters.

After hearing about Jordan's campsite visitor last night, I decided to set up my tent. I prefer getting a faster start in the morning, which cowboy camping helps me do, but I also don't want to defend my spot from a skunk.