Up early and packed up camp. Chatted with Dianna for a few minutes, and asked her why so many RV resorts out this way. She explained that the population of the whole Phoenix area almost doubles during the winter, and many of them use the RV parks. Being an "east coaster", I guess we think about snowbirds going to FL, and not so much out west.
I was on the road by 6am, heading for Superior, AZ. The first miles were nice, then it started uphill. Most of the way to Superior was uphill, but I managed to get to the top. I could see Superior in the distance, but was still a couple of hours away. Interesting thing I saw along the way.....many of the cacti appeared to have been transplanted into the desert. Many had tags on them, some of the larger ones (with the arms) had platforms built around them for support. Not sure what that was all about.
Finally reached Superior around 1pm or so, and looked for a place to get lunch. Happened by some guys who work for the AZ highway department, and they asked about the trip. They advised me against going up Hyw. 60 out of Superior because of the traffic and tunnel. Almost no shoulders to walk on. They suggested I take the "old" road which would allow me to avoid the tunnel, and about 3-4 miles of the traffic. I went on a little farther and stopped for lunch in Porter's Cafe.
Met Dustin there, a nice young man who server me a great hamburger and salad, and kept those lemonade refills coming. Dustin told me: "you know what I think of your walk? I think you're crazy, but I like it!" I assured Dustin he wasn't the first person to tell me I'm crazy. Dustin also suggested the old road out of Superior, and called a friend of his to verify it was ok. So, I decided to take the old road.
The old road is just that: old. But the surface was good enough that I could push the cart reasonably well. It also seemed to be less steep, which I appreciated. It ran out several miles up the mountain, and dumped me back on Hwy 60. It also wound between some of the most beautiful canyons I have ever seen. Let me tell you about Hwy 60.....it is every bit as bad as the Ortega Hwy in CA. It's a steep climb between two mountains, with almost no shoulder, and has a very narrow tunnel along the way. Definitely not a place to be walking.
When I finally got back on Hwy 60, hadn't gone far when I spotted a AZ highway patrol office......he was waiting for me. Said there had been reports of an old man (right), pushing a grocery cart (wrong), with a Circle K cooler on the front (right), walking down the middle of the highway (wrong). I explained what I was doing, he told me to be careful, and sent me on my way. Also told me about a campground about a mile away, and that's where I headed.
Got to the campground, and it was nice. The altitude was now about 4,000', and it was so cool I had to stay in the sleeping bag most of the night. Slept the best I have the entire trip. Overall it turned out to be a good day.
Mentally, today was a big day for me.......the climb out of Superior was awful, but it worked out ok. Gave me lots of confidence going forward. Also, the students posted some very encouraging comments on the blog, and that perked me up a great deal.......thanks for your encouragement and support, students. On to Globe tomorrow......
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