March 6th- Artesian Well to Ripsey Wash

The Arizona Trail

     Breaking camp, I went down another significantly altered drainage, a short cross-country through Walnut Canyon, which ends at a road leading to a familiar, wide open wash, eventually hooking up with the current Arizona Trail.  At the railway bridge, I decided to act the part of a hobo and walk the rails into Kelvin.  I made the choice because I'd already hiked this part of the AZT and was itching for a little change of pace.  Besides, I thought it would be faster than the winding desert trail, but just as scenic.  For the most part, this turned out to be true.
     In Kelvin I filled up my water bottles from the hose outside the office of the public road works.  It wasn't until I was well into the next section that I discovered I'd made a mistake. Taking a swig to abate my growing thirst, I felt a little burn in my mouth and back of my throat.  Ugh!  The taste of horrible hose water.  I suppose the dust and mineral salts that had gathered in the hose's length since its last usage had been flushed into my H2O containers and that was what was causing the slight burning sensation.  Whatever it was, it was disgusting.  Even though it was a warm and windy day, and I had to travel up and over the low Tortilla Mountains, I was loathe to drink.  What ended up happening was when my mouth became real dry, I'd simply wet it and spit the water back out.  Didn't really solve my thirst, but gave me a mental edge.  I knew I had enough in me to get to Ripsey Wash.  As far as the terrain is concerned, there isn't much out here except for the hardiest desert plants.  However, with the recent rain, there is also an abundance of wildflowers making a drab landscape much more appealing.
     Dreams of a full spring trough in Ripsey Wash were quickly shattered.  All I saw in the bottom of the rectangular, concrete catchment were a couple of foul mud puddles and a slowly dripping black pipe.  Again, this trough had been full of cool clear water when I was here on my AZT thru-hike in 2012.  What a drastic change.  Thank heavens for that little drip in 2015 though, for without it I would have been forced to drink the horrible water I'd ill-gotten in Kelvin.  It took roughly 10 minutes of dripping to fill a liter bottle, but it was well worth the time because it tasted good.  Seeing as how it was going to take the better part of an hour to fill all my bottles plus it already being late in the day, I opted to cowboy camp in a little hollow beneath the overarching branches of small mesquite trees.
     Reflecting on some numbers, I met two mountain bikers and one trail runner accompanied by his big pet bulldog, and probably spoke a total of ten words all day.

Distance:  23.8 miles

Southern Pacific Railway Bridge

Along the Gila