On August 1st we began hiking and walking the virtual 206.5 mile Destination Trail Bigfoot Elusive Race.
We crossed the virtual “finish line” 52 days, 6 hours, 3 minutes, and 27 seconds later, eight days before the end of the race!
Sadly we didn't win. We finished only 51 days after the winner. For us, that's close enough!
During the same time we were “running” the Bigfoot 200 we also cycled 580 miles on Daisy, our tandem bicycle. I'll bet Mr. Big Shot Bigfoot winner didn't do that!
We look forward to getting out together each morning to cycle and walk or hike. We feel fortunate that we both not only enjoy, but thrive, on our outdoor activities. And while we are out having fun (exercising) in our desert, we never get tired of sharing ideas and stories with each other.
Here we are crossing the “finish line“ while hiking in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest:
On September 22 we earned our Bigfoot Elusive 200 belt buckle!
And we couldn’t have picked a more special area to celebrate.
We set up camp at 7500’ elevation in a small meadow on a mesa above Bear Canyon to the east and Beaver Canyon on the west. On our adventures Dan drives the Turtle (truck/camper), and I am the navigator.
The specific spot I had decided for our campsite on this mountain desert trip was four dirt roads off of AZ 260 and each road was more primitive than the previous one. The goal was to find a campsite that we could reach with the Turtle.....just barely. That way we would be far out in the wilderness all by ourselves in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest.
We found the solitude we were seeking with complete silence except for the wind in the trees. We were nestled up against the pines on the west and south with open skies to the north and east.
This allowed the morning sun to recharge our batteries from the solar panels on the roof of our camper and to warm up the Turtle and us. In the afternoons while we worked on our hobbies we could sit quietly in the shade with the sun shining through the trees. And the camper could keep cool in the shade. It was lovely.
We didn’t hear the coyotes singing during the nights on this trip, but the first two nights we were serenaded by elk. It was the strangest sound, sort of like a cross between a flute and a whistle accented by grunts. Dan said it sounded something like his sister‘s first hour learning to play the flute mixed with the screech of car brakes.
At first we thought it was Bigfoot congratulating us for finishing Candice's Virtual Bigfoot Race. But then we realized we have never heard a Bigfoot--have you?
It was disturbing and beautiful and oddly comforting as we were snuggled in our little home high up on the Mogollon Rim. We marveled as we listened to the elk and knew we had found our isolated wild place that we were seeking.
But elk seem to be nocturnal, and it turns out that mid-September is the height of the rut season in Arizona. The bull elks continued to bugle ALL NIGHT LONG!! And there were so many elk on this mountains plateau that their noises were coming at us from all sides of the camper. It was no longer comforting! Kept us awake all night. By the next morning Dan had threatened to hunt down and kill every elk on the planet.
Luckily, Dan brought our sound machine and we closed all of our windows and were finally able to sleep....the second night.
From our first night when we heard the bull elk bugling, we were determined to get a picture of these pesky magnificent creatures...or at least a sighting. But the only evidence we saw of the noisy elk that roam the mountains at night was abundant elk scat in every grassy meadows and their “extra large” hoof prints crisscrossing the ancient logging road/trails where we were hiking.
Unexpectedly, on the third night the bugling suddenly stopped and we never heard another peep from the elusive elk. The bull elk stopped their whistling, bellowing, and grunting our third morning at 8:14 a.m. We had gotten an early start on our hike and were hiking VERY quietly in a remote meadow hiking searching for these wild beasts.
Dan thinks that the bull elks were either searching for new cow hunting grounds or they had heard him in the middle of our sleepless night threatening to shoot all the elk he could find. I think they poor elk were upset that they were disturbing our sleep.
It was kind of disappointing, but for the rest of our trip we slept well with the cool mountain breeze scented with pine needles wafting in the open windows of our little home.
The hiking was some of our best ever, and that's saying something as we have hiked over 3850 miles in the last eight and a half years while on our road trips. We continually commented on how peaceful and quiet it was in the forests and meadows. In five days we never saw any other people out on the old roads and trails where we were hiking.
At Turkey Creek we found an outdoor bar. I opened for business and served Dan a thermos of wine.
We hiked off trail through the forests and over hills to connect roads that Dan found on his GPS.
As usual, I searched for and found a multitude of interesting rocks and shell fossils.
And Dan very sweetly insisted carrying all my rock/fossil treasures back to our campsite. He knows I have an arthritic back because of a car accident many years ago, with a titanium disk in it. He is my big strong Superman!
Dan progressed well on building his 1930 Bugatti and a 1913 Mercer models. I just love to watch him at work on his model cars!
The green Mercer shown below started out as a one-color model, all a plastic-looking yellow. The fine detail requires a lot of time and a steady hand. Once in awhile (I hope I'm not busting him) he swears. I know what's happened then--he has to repaint something because his hand slipped or he has dropped an itsy bitsy tiny piece on the ground that I will help him find.
I started and almost completed the second sweater (with sweet fox buttons) for our other precious little baby granddaughter.
We found a beautiful future campsite with views into a deep ravine and miles of distant hills that are inviting us to explore them.
This was a most wonderful desert mountain trip, but it is always very special to return to our desert home!
September 28, 2020
Dan finished his beautiful 1913 Mercer. He feels that this is his best constructed model of all that he has completed as of this date. He has given himself a grade of an A-. I guess that is his world view....once a professor, always a professor. It makes me wonder what my grade as a wife is?
This model of an early 20th century car is simply beautiful! I have given him an A+ for his Mercer (and as my husband).
Here is the Mercer, already tucked away in our display cabinet.
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