Monday November 27, 36.1km/22.4mi

Big Horn Mountains Wilderness (293.1/1520ft) to Base of Harquahala Mountain (315.5/2360ft) (AZ)

We started in the dark as usual, using our headlamps for about 20 minutes before we could turn them off. The wash was a little convoluted and braided, but we gradually made our way uphill. The cows stood nearby to supervise.

The wash system continued uphill all the way to a pass.

We had a neat view of a rock window at the pass.

The view to the south, from which we came:

The view to the north:

Our descent off the pass was slow, as this section of the route is unrested, and some of the suggested washes were choked with paloverde and mesquite bushes. We stuck to the higher ground, eventually joining the wash a mile further downhill. Fortunately, that wash soon joined with a very large wash, which was easy hiking.

We hiked along a road for a couple miles, and then stopped at our first water source for the day. Like most of them, it used to be powered by a windmill, but is now solar powered.

We continued on thru an alternating series of washes, old roads, and xc. It was mentally tiring to always be paying close attention to all the turns. We had lunch on top of a little pass, where the sun finally came out and we could recharge our phones. After lunch was a descent to another wash, which had a tricky exit.

After we solved that puzzle, there was a relaxed stretch of roadwalking, with some old mines along the way.

And the views of our upcoming terrain were pretty impressive too.

After one final wash…

…we were on dirt roads for the rest of the day. The big peak ahead is Harquahala Mountain, our objective for tomorrow.

We stopped by Tiger Well, our final water source for the day, and for the next 20 miles. They were doing some unrelated construction nearby, so we didn’t linger long.

The cows weren’t happy about the construction either.

We continued another hour on dirt roads, and then we had to make a short detour around a tiny parcel of private property where a gun nut lives. After some quick xc, we were back on a dirt road. I looked behind me, and saw that the almost-full moon had just risen. Amazing!

I hiked until just after 6pm, and setup camp in the dark. TopShelf had taken a wrong trail, believing it would reconnect but it didn’t. After some minor shenanigans, we reunited at the campsite. Even though today wasn’t even 23 miles, it felt like a long day!