Day 36. Magic Camp

Mile 641 – Saguaro National Park North Boundary To Mile 662 – Pistol Hill Rd.

Next up on the sky island parade is Mt. Mica, inside Saguaro National Park. Camping is restricted inside the park to established campgrounds. Because neither of the options align with the number of miles we were walking yesterday we just camped right before the boundary in the national forest. Today we enter the park and go all of the way through.

The walk down and out of the park took until early afternoon. We had not decided how much farther to go, but as we were exiting the park we saw a homemade sign for magic camp. It was originally expected to be finished by now so we were not planning to stop by. But, we had signal, so called and found out it was extended a few days and still going. We now had our destination for today!

When we arrived, we met Jim And Deborah, local trail angels who are just amazing people. They have been doing this for a few years. They set up a campsite out here with lots of drinks and snacks and comfy chairs. In the evening they cook dinner and then in the morning they make a pancake breakfast and provide rides to a grocery store. We set up nearby and had a wonderful evening! It was exactly what we needed in this long stretch between towns.