Mile 589 – Stealth To Mile 602 – Summerhaven
We waited until we could see sun shining on the tent before venturing out this morning. It was cold, but we quickly warmed up as we hiked the rest of the way up Mt. Lemmon. It was a fun hike in the snow and bright sunshine. Along the way we met Bluebird. This is her first thruhike! Her father had worked on the construction of the AZT and always wanted her to hike it. She’s doing it this year to honor that wish.
Once at the top, we got lunch at the restaurant where we met Bruise. He had started hiking a couple of years ago, but was forced off trail due to the pandemic. He’s now completing the missing sections. He was there waiting for Bluebird. They were in the same situation as us – needing a warm place to stay in town. The only option for this is the post office, where the entry area is always open and heated.
We knew the postal service employee that works there allows hikers to stay as long as they are out early in the morning and leave the place clean; even if some in town don’t love that it happens. We don’t typically plan to sleep in places like this, but when plans change, any legal, warm option on a cold night is fair game.
While waiting for evening to set up, we met Tour Guide. She is from Banff, where she and her husband own a ski rental service. She hiked the trail a few years ago and is taking advantage of the off season in Alberta to live in her campervan, helping out hikers. She was helping Verde slack pack this section and guessed correctly that there would be some hikers in the Post Office tonight due to the weather. She showed up with bananas and pecan pie, and made some tea for us!
Once Verde arrived, we had five hikers crammed into the tiny post office. This is by far the most thruhikers we’ve seen in one place. It was just what we needed!
RocketWalk 