Saturday May 18, 18.1mi/29.1km

Near Joe Tank Rd (268.9/6590ft) to Hwy 260 (287.0/6600ft) (Arizona)

I was awake earlier than usual, knowing I had 18 miles to do to get to town today. I wanted to get to Show Low by 4pm so I could do my resupply shopping and get the last bus at 5:30 to my motel. So I was hiking at 5:45, passing by more of these trail signs.

That one had come off a fallen tree on the ground, it was cool to see the font up close. It was a pretty easy day of walking on old dirt roads and well it was a pretty easy day of walking on old dirt roads, and the routes are well-marked by those signs.

Fortunately I still had plenty of water from yesterday, so I could skip all the gross looking cow ponds.

The next cow pond was so big, it even had an island in the middle of it! That’s a first.

I also walked by this ancient Toyota pickup, which looked like it had been resting in the Arizona desert for half a century.

The Show Low hiking community is known for keeping good trails, and they are all marked at the junctions like this one.

I had finally exited the massive burn area and was back in the Ponderosa Pine Forest. I was on the lookout for the Chihuahua Pine, which I think I saw a couple but not sure.

The miles came easily, and before I knew it I was crossing under highway 60 in a massive culvert.

The last 6 miles of the day were on a bunch of trails that were clearly used by mountain bikers, since they were very rutted and worn in.

At one spot there was a low-hanging branch over the trail, and somebody had cleverly written the word “quack” on it, ha!

I stopped for a short lunch and ate a bunch of my remaining snacks and then continued on toward the town, since I only had a couple miles to go. Eventually I emerged on a road in a neighborhood called “Starlight Ridge estates” or some such pretentious name.

I was on pavement for a little over a mile, but soon came to the main highway. The neighborhood had put up some unique decorations at the intersection!

I was in town and it was only 1:15, I made much better time than I thought I would. So I did my resupply shopping for this next section, which I think is only about 3 or 4 days long. I decided to experiment a little and buy some different flavors of things.

I finished shopping and I had about 45 minutes to wait for the next bus to come. Fortunately right next to the bus stop is a Wendy’s, where I got a 4-for-4 deal and enjoyed the salty food.

The bus system is great, it was on time and it was only $1. I rode it for a couple stops, like 5 mi up to my motel in the main part of Show Low.

After doing laundry and showering, I went next door to the Domino’s and got a cheap pizza and wings deal for dinner. After dinner I did some more trip planning on my phone and then relaxed with some TV. I love that SNL is on at 9pm here.

Tomorrow, I start section 5 and cross the 300-mile mark of this trail!