{"id":14195,"date":"2021-04-27T06:27:26","date_gmt":"2021-04-27T13:27:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mywalkabout.net\/?p=14195"},"modified":"2021-12-02T05:56:32","modified_gmt":"2021-12-02T12:56:32","slug":"picketpost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mywalkabout.net\/?p=14195","title":{"rendered":"PicketPost"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The first hike of 2021<\/strong> is here. It’s an area I’ve passed countless times over the last 20 years, but one that I’ve only stopped at once before, and that was only for a few minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The imposing and foreboding PicketPost<\/a> mountain. I arrive just as the sun was peaking over the horizon, and it looked as though Zeus himself was sitting on his throne at the top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One can try to summit<\/strong> this mountain, circle the entirety on a massive loop trail, or connect with the infamous Arizona trail. For my first hike of the year and in this area, I choose to do the ten plus mile loop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The area is rugged<\/strong> and remote as I go, and I don’t see another person for at least a couple of miles. When I do run into another human, it’s either a Father and daughter or maybe a Husband and wife. You just never can tell these days. We chat for a spell, and then as we start heading our separate ways, the man turns around and drops this bomb on me….<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“By the way, about 1\/4 mile ahead you’ll come to a dry creek crossing with a strong smell of cat urine.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Say what, you say? He isn’t warning me about your household kitty you see, but a much larger cat. Mountain Lion territory. It freaks me out to say the least, but I carry onward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

I come to the dry creek crossing, but can only smell the desert. I make loud noises and hastily move through the area, and luckily no big cat is to be seen. Although I have no doubt that if the cat was in the area, it certainly saw me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I exit the canyon<\/strong>, using PicketPost mountain as my compass as the trail just fades away. Memories of my time getting lost at the Finger of God<\/a> are haunting my thoughts, telling me to turn around and go back the same way I came.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I choose to go forward instead, and find a road that leads me seemingly in the right direction, as I start to slowly circle around the great lone mountain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Slowly<\/strong>, ever so slowly I go, looking for a more official trail that would connect me back towards my starting point. Just keep breathing. Panic never leads one in the right direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Eventually I stumble onto the Arizona Trail, and a huge sigh of relief is exhaled. I’m a little over eight miles in, but the last few miles fly on by as I make my last turn around PicketPost and see the trailhead parking area off in the distance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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