Wednesday November 1, 18.8km/11.7mi

Picketpost Trailhead (493.9/2400ft) to Octagonal Water Tank (505.6/3700ft) (AZ)

We were awake before 7am, and had a wonderful breakfast prepared by MJ. There was a quiche, blueberry muffins, and homefries. There were seven of us staying there, so it would take several trips to shuttle us back to the trailhead, and TopShelf and I opted for the later trip. She dropped us off at the trailhead at noon, and it was a warm sunny day with a gradual uphill climb. For most of the afternoon, we could see Picketpost mountain in the distance.

The desert environment at this elevation is mostly Saguaro cacti, prickly pear, and scrub oak.

A couple of hours later, we could still see Picketpost mountain.

In mid-afternoon we hit the marker for 500 miles. And of course we spent the next hour singing “I would walk 500 miles”.

It was a pretty easy afternoon, with lots of scenery to look at.

It was a little warm, but as the sun got lower in the sky we got to hike in the shade for a little while.

We stopped to camp at a water source, this one was a rainwater collector.

The winter and summer monsoon rains fill up the tank, and there is a little spigot on the side to get water from. It was a very scenic camp spot since it’s up pretty high, and I’m thankful it’s not windy tonight.