There were some nice birds out this morning. The enjoyable distraction slowed the process of breaking camp for me. As a result, all of us were ready to go at just about the same time though, so it worked out. As we hiked along, I paused here and there to check out a bird, but for the most part we kept moving on down the trail.

The trail stayed at high elevation for a little while before dropping off quickly down to the desert below, after which the trail descended slowly again. It was a beautiful day for hiking as we made our way down the mountain. Along the way we saw some deer in addition to the birds that were flitting about.

By the time we made it down to the piedmont, it was getting fairly warm but we kept up a decent enough pace that we were a bit surprised when we crested a ridge to see my car awaiting us in the near distance. We pulled our post hike libations out of the cooler and as we got organized to go and pick up Jerry’s truck, we noticed smoke on the ridgeline from very near whence we’d come, though apparently originating from the other side of the mountain.We were both concerned about the fire, and grateful that we’d completed our hike before it got to the point where the forest was closed down because of it. I’m not sure if the fire ever did cause the closure of the AZT or not, but I don't think so.

We were all glad to have finally finished Passage 1. We started hiking the passages more or less randomly, but after a half dozen or so we decided that we'd like to complete passages more or less in order so this was an important step to fill in a gap. One comment on timing. I've backpacked the Huachucas later in the summer and there have been a lot of wildflowers, so I would say that July/August is probably a nicer time of year to do this passage, but you do run in to the chance of the forest being closed due to fire hazards.

After completing the shuttle and picking up Jerry's truck at Montezuma Pass, we headed home.

Jerry, however, had one last stop to make. Literally in the middle of nowhere was a Porta Potty. It looked exceptionally lonely and out of place, but I guess it was in a perfect place for Jerry!