Thursday, April 04, 2013 – 21 km

To say that the Oracle Ridge Trail wasn’t my favourite section of the AZT would be an understatement. I won’t deny that it had some great views, but it traversed an old burn area and sections were degraded and covered with loose, ankle-buster rocks.

Progress was slow. Ironically, I was thinking ‘I wonder what I’ll write in my journal today, because all I have to say is whining about the trail’ when I stepped the wrong way on a rock and my ankle turned. I thought ‘wow, I’m glad I didn’t twist my ankle’ and then a few steps later, I stepped the wrong way again, and pain. Noooooooooooo (that was not the actual word that went through my mind). Then, ‘Oh no, (again, not the actual word) did I actually twist my ankle?’.

Okay. A bad situation but not too bad a situation. I was only ~10 km from the American Flag trailhead, while I could have broken my leg in the middle of Wilderness of Rocks (though I would not have, since that trail was not awful). Therefore I felt lucky. I removed my pack and sat with my ankle elevated and in the shade, which was probably as effective as fanning it with a leaf, but what’s a person to do with no ice? After an hour or so I stood up to test it, because I was going to have to get myself out of there eventually. It didn’t feel as bad as before, but it still hurt. I wrapped it in a tensor bandage and set off down the trail, putting major weight on my hiking poles. I recommend Fizan.

If progress was slow before, now it was excruciatingly slow and probably the speed that I should have been moving in the first place to prevent injury. Finally I left the burn area and entered hills, where I met two men putting up AZT signage. One of them was John Rendall, the chief trail steward for the central section of the AZT. He explained that they were adding more signage because a guide (qualifications unknown and questionable) had gotten lost there with a tour group the day before. I considered asking for a ride to Oracle, but the trailhead was so close that I figured I would just finish the walk and call the motel in town to pick me up.

The last portion of trail was a cakewalk compared to the ridge, except without delicious, delicious cake. At the trailhead, I discovered that my phone had no reception. But… there’s a road and an old ranch house and such! How can this be?

John had mentioned that water was now available at the ranch house, so I went to check it out. As I was looking for the spigot, he drove up and showed me where it was located behind a fence. The caretaker for the property let us in and got water for me from a hose. We all talked for awhile and John invited me to stay at his house in Oracle. Thank you! Hopefully my ankle will feel better tomorrow.