This article first appeared on The Trek on May 23, 2025.

Thanks for following along! When last I posted (Day 21), we had just rolled into Superior for a Zero. My hiking tramily drove off to hang with family in Apache Junction while I stayed at MJ’s in Superior, an experience I was deeply looking forward to. Firstly because MJ is an incredible person who bends over backwards for hikers in ways that are just astonishing. Secondly because it is a whole different experience to hang with hikers on a zero, to hear the life stories, to experience their personalities when not driven by the trail, to talk shop, collect Intel, and even give back a little.

Day 22 – Comfort and Camaraderie at MJ’s

My first night at MJ’s (day 21) featured a Swiss doctor cooking up an authentic Gruyere fondue, which I ate entirely too much of. The second day I teamed up with him to become “The Two Olivers” and we cooked up a sausage and risotto feast. I also opened up my own resupply box which contained my duffle and five dehydrated meals I had brought with me from home to supplement my resupply (they are quite scarce on trail outside of Tucson, Phoenix and Flagstaff) and a new pair of shoes! 

The shoes were a huge deal. I started the trail with the Saucony Excursions I had worn on my section hike of the AZT in spring 24. They had been fine back then when they were new (and I was doing 10-15 miles a day). But this time, putting 15 to 20 miles up and having already been broken down a bit, they had been making hamburger of my feet, squashing my pinkies and just not stopping any of the punishment the rocky sky islands had been dishing.

My new shoes were a pair of Altra Lone Peak 6’s. The spacious toe box and perfect fit, plus the padded forefoot completely transformed the trail for my feet. Ah, I now know the joys of new shoes on trail!

I went a little heavy on the resupply, winding up with a little more than I needed, but sometimes that just happens. I also was asked by MJ to take her car and pick up hikers coming into Picketpost, which I really enjoyed, being able to assist her operation even if it cut into my R&R time. I also shuttled a sick hiker into Apache Junction for some extra care. Never did hear how she turned out…

Watch Day 22 of Oliver’s Arizona Trail series:

Day 23 – Back into the Superstitions

Back on trail! My tramily returned and picked me up super early and we set out from Picketpost north into the Superstition Wilderness at 6am. I began saying goodbye to the delights of desert heat and cacti. We encountered the corpse of a fox on trail, and wondered if this had been one of the reported rabid foxes some people had encountered earlier in the year. We pushed up to a wash and bedded down for the night.

Watch Day 23 of Oliver’s Arizona Trail series:

Day 24 – The Reavis Ranch Storm

You would think by day 24 my trail legs would be in. In the morning, absolutely. By close to midday we had reached the Reavis Ranch area which was a dream to saunter through. I’d like to come back in the fall to try some of the remaining apples from trees that were not destroyed in the fire that wiped out the ranch. But by afternoon, more punishing declines and inclines over rocky terrain had me tapped right out. We camped on a lower saddle hoping the winds wouldn’t be that bad. The forecast was mixed, but we had no idea what was to come. Because of my experience last year on a Ridgeline in a storm, I put every peg I had into the hard soil and pitched my tent parallel to the winds and next to a tank, hoping shelter from one side at least would give my tent a fighting chance.

At 8pm the fight began. A windstorm and rain blew in and began battering all our tents. I saw lights come on as some of my fellow campers scrambled for rocks to pile on their stakes. I thanked God that the winds were hitting the narrow ends of my tent instead of broadside but still despite my low pitch dust was being thrown in and coated my hair and my quilt. The pounding continued until 10pm when finally the wind and rain subsided, and with my tent still standing I finally drifted off to sleep.

Watch Day 24 of Oliver’s Arizona Trail series:

Day 25 – Prayer, Patterns, and a Change of Pace

When I got up in the morning I inspected my tent. One groundhog stake had worked its way to be 3/4 of the way out. I was that close to having a tent failure in that storm. Prayer works, friends! We would later learn that storm hammered a group on a higher ridge with hail and put 8 inches of snow down from Pine north to Flagstaff. 

I came to a realization on trail that there was definitely a pattern to each day. The morning was cool and I had tons of energy (especially since I had learned how to hydrate myself properly on trail: my method was to always have at least 3L of water on me at all times, and to drink big every time I felt thirsty – 250mls at a time). Lunch would rejuvenate for a couple hours, but every afternoon from 2:30 on to when we stopped I would feel rough, just gutting it out till we camped. Now, it had changed for the better with my new shoes … I wasn’t limping into camp anymore, and when we took breaks I didn’t have to limo for 5 minutes until the compression of walking reduced swelling in my painful toes. 

But this day the pattern changed. Coming down to Lake Roosevelt, it put a big disruption in the pattern. We reached the marina by 1030, and we lounged around the hiker shack where donated resupply and a charging station were there for our convenience. Other hikers dried their wet nylon tents (I love my Durston XMid made of silpoly, it doesn’t hold water!) and by 1130 the diner opened, so we had big burgers for lunch. But the plan was never to stay so we pushed on after lunch to ascend into the Four Peaks Wilderness! I’ll leave that for my next update!

Watch Day 25 of Oliver’s Arizona Trail series:

Video Links:

Day 22: Arizona Trail Series – Day 22
Day 23: Arizona Trail Series – Day 23
Day 24: Arizona Trail Series – Day 24
Day 25: Arizona Trail Series – Day 25