Animal-Pooped Beverages: Arizona Trail Day 5

We hiked in Section 31 today with so many diverse biomes!

We descended into Sandy Canyon, next to a riparian area loaded with wildflowers. I wrote as fast as possible in my hiking notebook, knowing we had a lot of ground to cover. Even at a fast clip, I documented at least twenty flowers in the first mile.

Many-flowered puccoon. Scarlet beeblossom. White death camas (every part is poisonous.) Purple Kaibab penstemon.

“These are wild bergamot,” I said, as I snapped a quick photo of the rounded, lavender blooms. “You can make tea from the leaves and flowers.”

Although this plant shares a similar name to the bergamot used in Earl Grey tea, this is a different species. The flowers and leaves are in the mint family and are used in an herbal tea.

“I’d rather have coffee,” Kevin said.

“No dried-up flowers and leaves in a cup for you?” I teased.

He just shook his head. If I had not been so focused on flower photos, I would have reminded him of a trip we took to Indonesia a decade earlier. Kevin had sampled kopi luwak, a coffee produced from beans that had fermented by passing through the digestive system of an Asian palm civet.

I may enjoy an unusual herbal concoction, but I, for one, have never consumed animal-pooped beverages.

A luwak, an Asian palm civet from Indonesia, NOT on the trail today.

We hiked along the canyon floor, intersecting the Arizona Trail about twenty minutes later. After a bit of a steep climb, we passed through a meadow and old burn area before entering an old-growth ponderosa forest like the trees that grow near our cabin at Mormon Lake.

We meandered through the woods (and a logging thinning project) for over two hours. An ash-throated flycatcher and western flycatcher played a game of Who Can Chirp the Loudest as we hiked on the narrow trails around the trees, following the footsteps of mule deer who had gone before us.

The smell of pine was in the air.

I continued to add flowers to my list, including a cliffrose, pushia stansburiana, with very fragrant flowers. The white, feathery plumes aid in wind dispersal of seeds.

When we reached the dry lakebed of Marshall Lake, we thought we had one short rise to ascend before we arrived at our car at the parking lot at Perkins Telescope Observatory.

That was not the case.

We pushed open a heavy metal gate with the Arizona Trail symbol. We had encountered several of these cattle gates on the AZT in the past five days. Under Arizona’s open‑range laws, livestock can roam freely over public land unless otherwise restricted. The gates controlled the movement of livestock between public and private lands.

I’m not sure if the gate or my knees creaked louder.

A few steps beyond the gate, and we left the shaded relief of the forest. We stepped onto Anderson Mesa. The change in habitat was immediate.

Pinyon-juniper trees. Thistles. Sulphur buckwheat. Deeply cracked earth. The ever-present tarantula holes. And silence. The birds deserted us.

“Not again,” I groaned. “Does this mesa never end?”

“I’m not emotionally prepared for this,” Kevin said as our boots kicked up clouds of dust. “Let’s take one last break.”

We deposited our packs in a sliver of shade next to a grandmother juniper tree. We unwrapped granola bars and drank deeply from our water supplies.

“How much longer?” I asked.

“Less than an hour,” Kevin said.

“My body is stiff. My joints hurt.” I listed several complaints. “I’m glad I removed my wedding ring at the cabin,” I said, rubbing my swollen knuckles.

“Sobering reality,” Kevin said.

Our bodies had kept score after four consecutive days of hiking. We knew we had not been ready for full days on the trail but had figured we could handle three-four hour mornings.

Now we faced the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

So, help me God.

Help us both.

“I could use some caffeine,” Kevin said.

“Too hot.”

“I have a couple swallows left in my travel mug in the car.” Kevin forced himself to his feet. He had found the necessary motivation for the last push to the finish line.

“Coffee?” I asked.

“What else?”

I strapped on my pack. No animal pooped beverages this time. Maybe I could find some wild bergamot before we reached the car.

********

Hiking Stats:

Part of Section 31. Sandy Campground to Marshall Lake to Perkins Telescope Observatory Parking Lot.

Day 5: July 9, 2026. 5:37 – 9:12 am.

Sunny. 50 degrees – 82 degrees.

8.4 miles. 19,300 steps. Equal to 29 floors.

I brought the blog out of retirement to write about our AZT adventures. I will include links to new blog stories in my monthly newsletter, “Wonder*FULL.” To sign up to get that monthly correspondence, click here.