Mar 5

Mar 5 AZT 2025, Day 2: Mortification

Roo Giordano

Arizona Trail, long distance hiking

Start: Mile 5.8, Stealth Site overlooking Sierra Vista

End: Mile 15.2, Stealth Site in Sunnyside Canyon

Miles Hiked: 9.4 (plus the 3.6 extra mortifying miles on some rando trail out there, making it 13 miles, really)

Total Miles: 15.2

““You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don’t try.” ”

— Beverly Sills

I knew it would come for me sooner or later.

I knew I would follow in the footsteps of so many other AZT hikers who’ve missed poorly marked trail junctions and hiked off into the unknown, oblivious to their mistake.

If you’re lucky, you pay attention to that gnawing feeling in your gut that says, “Oops.”

Today, still battling a headache, I ignored the feeling.

I hiked off into the void, downhill, almost two miles, one way.

The stages of grief washed through me.

Denial was a particularly sticky stage as I stood staring at my phone, refreshing the FarOut App that positioned little blue dot me far, far from the red line of the trail. Nothing prepares you for that heartache.

Anger meant F-bombs.

Bargaining—”Maybe if I follow this random trail it will take me back to the AZT?”

Depression came in the form of tears.

And acceptance came only after I’d climbed back up to the evil junction.

I guess I’m glad it happened sooner.

Schelpping back up that mountain was a good time to ponder the virtues of enjoying the journey rather than focusing on getting there. But, man, at this rate I was working hard and going nowhere.

Sigh.

Miles, Schmiles—Who’s Counting?

Meanwhile, the climb up did nothing for the headache that has dogged me since I woke up in Tucson yesterday. So after I finished most my climbing for the day, I reached a saddle and said, “Fuck it.” I pitched my tent, inflated my sleeping pad, unfurled my quilt and crawled in out of the snow flurries that had started blowing.

I’d barely made it to mile 10 in two days.

“I’ll get there when I get there and hiking with a headache sucks.”

The Elixir of the Gods, the Panacea for All that Ails You

I drank my coffee protein shake, pulled out my Kindle and snuggled in, fully prepared to lollygag all afternoon and into the night and as long as it took to feel better.

What do you know? The coffee healed me! God I love that stuff in all its forms, but especially on trail mixed with Carnation Instant Breakfast or Chike and Nido powdered mild. Yum.

Feeling better, I packed up my stuff and hiked five more miles, mostly downhill, with an actual pep in my step, until dusk. I passed a group tenting area, but kept going, trusting that I would find a spot before the sun set completely.

The trail today wound its way through some cool rock formations and through Sunnyside Canyon where I camped next to a dry creekbed.

Also lots of Agave and yellow grasses. I sniffed a Ponderosa pine tree (the kind with the deeply crevassed orange bark that smells like vanilla). The smell of skunk wafted around on a breeze.