AZT Day 8-Slackers in Oracle

Miles 209 (Tiger Mine Trailhead) to 201 (American Flag Trailhead)

Arizona Trail Passage 13 Oracle

8 miles

3/10/15

Marney from the Chalet Village Motel dropped us off at the Tiger Mine Trailhead before dawn. 

We slackpacked the 8 miles to the next trailhead, enjoying the lightness of small packs with only snacks and a couple liters water.

Hiking before dawn.

Slack packs.

At Oracle State Park, we signed our first on-trail trail register, and saw how few had signed before us the past months.  We still have only seen a few section hikers, and we haven't seen any long distance hikers.  The northbound thru hikers aren't hear yet.  It's kind of fun to have this place to ourselves right now.

Signing the AZT registry.

I took the opportunity to hike in front of Jan, stretching out my legs on the uphills, feeling free, getting the energy out of my system.  Then settled back into wildflower mode.

Beautiful little section and our bodies are enjoying the break and recovering well for the next passage.

A little spiny friend.

In the evening, Jan and I got a little creative and did a video about reducing out pack weight for the next section:

A note on technology frustrations-
Due to using my phone more for navigation, I've been carrying my camera and taking most photos with it this trip.  But I'm actually a better photographer with my cell phone.  Since I can recharge tonight,  I took more phone photos.  Yay!

I'm thinking of exchanging my camera for a second battery pack next time my parents meet us.  I don't have fast enough wifi to transfer the camera photos to my phone so I can upload them to the blog anyway.  Plus the blogger app decreases photo quality so I will upload the originals when I get home to my laptop.  In the meantime, check out more photos on Instagram or Facebook.  And be patient with us about blogging--we are being conservative with our batteries.

Jan has more photos and our WILD video about reducing our pack weight here.