Thursday, May 5 and Friday, May 6, 2016

Manchester, NH to Flagstaff, AZ
Orientation

Nancy built an extra day into our travel schedule to hedge the possibility of travel delays, but we sailed through TSA security checks using her TSA Pre-Designations. Flying Southwest for the first time, I learned about lining up and general seating. Nancy, a frequent Southwest flyer from NH to Denver, CO had early boarding privileges so we boarded the plane fairly early in the process. Sweet... She gave me the window seat for the journey out...my favorite place to sit when I fly. I hadn't been on a plane in a few years and remembered the crowded and cramped seating in coach. I was not looking forward to the flights.

The first leg of the trip was from Manchester, NH to Baltimore/Washington. We loaded up on healthy and unhealthy lunch food and snacks for the trip and off we went. The plane was full so hoping for an empty seat between us was dashed when someone stopped and asked if it was free. Nancy moved into the middle seat and gave him the aisle. We arrived in Phoenix at 3:30 PM and made our way to the transportation area to pick up the shuttle that would take us on the 3 hour drive from Phoenix to Flagstaff. I really like that drive...

Once we got out of the city, the land became empty of people and buildings very quickly after we passed the last northern suburb. This is Reservation land - bleak, dry, wheat colored earth, occasional shrubs, isolated trailers and small houses dotting the landscape. The Navaho people who live there are poor. There's no way around it. I don't know anything about reservation living, but I do know poverty when I see it. I make no comment except that I know injustice was done to these native peoples a long time ago.

Early on the drive we came to Saguaro cactus country, huge tall cacti that you often see drawn in cartoons set in a western area. Tall and thick with branches like arms growing out of a spiny, green body. Some of them were in bloom with a splash of white flowers growing out of the end of a branch. The band of land where the Saguaros grow is thin by Arizona land area standards, and I enjoyed looking out the window and watching them go by. As we gained elevation, we entered cattle country, miles and miles of open flat land up on a plateau that hosted just enough grass and shrub growth to sustain cattle herds. Here and there I saw trailers with large water tanks sitting in the backyard. Cattle guards protected the roads that served as driveways for these ranchers. We climbed up to 4,000 feet, onto the high plateau and down toward Camp Verde. Steadily we gained altitude as we drove north. Soon the terrain became slightly hilly and shrubs turned to the Ponderosa Pine which are native to the northern areas. As we neared Flagstaff we saw the snow covered tops of the San Francisco Peaks, including Mt. Humphrey, at 12,000 feet, the highest point in Arizona. Climbing it would be a challenge and an accomplishment. I love the look of the northern land.

We arrived at the Little America Hotel around 7 PM, checked in, and had dinner at the hotel restaurant. Afterward we headed to bed for a fitful night's sleep. I always sleep with difficulty my first night in an unknown bed/place.

The next morning we ate breakfast and decided to grab a cab and head to the old town shopping area of Flagstaff. We landed a young, very voluble cab driver who told us lots of stuff about the area and dropped us off smack in the middle of old town. Nancy knew the area better than I and first we stopped at an outdoor store and bought a t-shirt to use as our hotel sleep shirt since we had only brought one sleep shirt and that was for the backpacking trip, and it was not going to be nice to sleep in after 7 nights of backcountry smells. We stopped at a store that sold rocks, geodes, gems and I bought Nancy a Fuchsite with Ruby which is supposed to promote "Follow your Bliss" while she returned the favor buying me a Tiger's Eye. We both bought each other an Epidote in Quartz which has properties that are supposed to aid with physical endurance. We knew we were going to need all the help we could get.

We stopped in other shops and wandered down Beaver St. to the Beaver St. Brewery where we had lunch. A delicious chili and salad for me and a salad for Nancy. Afterward, we walked south to stop in at an outdoor store, then headed to Barnes & Noble for some browsing. When we were done, we called a cab and headed back to the hotel to prep for our 5 PM orientation meeting. The online information for the trip said to bring all the stuff we were going to actually bring on the trip to the orientation meeting, so Nancy and I, like good do-bees, put our stuff in bags and hauled it all to the hotel lobby where we were supposed to meet. The lobby was full of Wildland Trekking Company trip goers waiting for their orientation or preparing to leave on their trip and at the far end I saw Stefan walking toward us. We shook hands - he had a very firm, strong handshake - and he introduced us to Haley.

Haley was a 20-year old young woman who wanted a chance to explore who she is in the wilderness before entering the Air Force. She had really never hiked before and her training for the trip was limited. I was a little concerned, but it was not my place to judge anyone so I only shared my thoughts with Nancy. As we sat around the picnic table, we each talked a little about ourselves and why we were on this trip. I don't remember what I said; I mentioned my hiking accomplishments in NE, my friendship with Nancy, but don't recall the important part - why I was on this trip.

Stefan took out a map and showed us in detail the route we were going to take during our 7 day trip. I love maps. I was fascinated and absorbed all his words, asking the occasional question. He spoke about tomorrow's schedule: up, backpacks packed, luggage stored, and ready to hop into the van at 6 AM for the drive to Sowat's Point on the north rim. He showed us how to pack our backpacks, which contained a sleeping bag, tent, sleeping pad, a bowl, cup and spoon, a baggie with a roll of toilet paper, a couple of empty baggies, and a water purifying kit. He brought over three large containers full of "snacks", the food we were going to eat for our snacks and lunches on a hike day…Peanuts, Payday bars, M&Ms, all sorts of protein and energy bars. He told us to grab as much as we wanted for our 7 day trip so we began filling Ziploc bags with snacks. In hindsight, I should only have taken food I knew I liked. Instead I took a bunch of food that I had not tasted before, looked healthy, and I thought would be worth a try.

Orientation lasted a little over an hour before he packed up the remaining stuff and walked back to the hotel. Nancy and I ate dinner in the hotel restaurant and then headed back to our room to organize and pack our backpacks. I don't know much mine weighed, maybe 35-40 pounds, but it felt awfully heavy. Both of us looked at each other with some anxiousness and then I stopped looking at my pack at all. Time to wind down and find sleep.