AZT 3 – Canelo Mountains

Daily miles – 19.5
Total miles – 37.5
Camp elevation – 4600 ft

Bright night last night. The moon was nearly full and the sky was clear. Colors were even recognizable. It was nearly sun up before the moon sank below the mountains. We both got a good night of sleep.

We were on the trail before 7am. Family early in the day, we met Sandpiper, a woman from North Carolina. She was the only person we saw the entire day. We followed boot prints for most of the day, and dog prints which may be travelling with those same boot prints.

Again, water was pretty good today and available. We found water puddles in some of the washes as well as some of the cow water tanks along the trail. Many of the tanks were once filled from Wells connected to windmills, but it appears that solar panels have taken over the job universally. The windmills are still there, but don’t appear to be hooked up to the well.

We lost the trail for a while this evening. The trail was zigzagging across a washed and after coming to a gate (where there was sign about foot travel only – implying the AZT ) the trail pretty much ended. We used our map and compass and the surrounding mountains to sort out where we were and then walked down another wash until we hit the trail. Not a big deal but it ate up some time.

Tonight we are camped on a little saddle. There is cow crop every where, including under our ground cloth. The moon is bright and the star are pretty visible as well with the clear sky.