Sunday, May 2
I’m in Forest Lakes Arizona. This is time to rest my leg because the post office was not open on Sunday. I am sitting at a café which is the only place to eat in town, the Smoking Gun Café. Yesterday I had a chorizo omelette with mushrooms, it was very good, and today I had the breakfast burrito which is also very good. I’m glad the only place to eat in town has tasty food. There’s only one hotel in town, which I don’t recommend because it is dirty, but in an effort to keep this blog positive I won’t say anymore. With this said, future hikers should use this town as a postal drop because it just makes sense to shorten the distance to Flagstaff, but do make an effort to not get stuck in this town on a weekend with your food re-supply trapped in the post office. If you do not send a resupply package here the café stop. The burritos will make your stomach quite happy.


My trip mileage total is 602 miles at this point, I walked 77 dry miles from Pinetop. My friend Forrest Fanara drove down from Flagstaff and joined me just outside of Pinetop for a day of hiking. He join me on a day it was snowing and cold. But we enjoyed our 10 mile hike together into the woods, we talked all day and into the night. Forrest surprised me by packing in four beers, two for him and two for me. Having a beer in the middle of the woods in Arizona was quite a treat. I’m very appreciative for his company along the trail.


Arizona is not always dry the first day out of Pinetop it snowed. I’ve quickly learned that when it snows in Arizona the earth turns to mud, this is not just your every day simple mud it is your classic sticky mud. Mud the clumps up and causes you to walk in high heels with five to ten pounds added to each foot. Combine this mud with Ponderosa Pine needles and what happens is you get an extra wide platform under each foot. And then the whole mud pine needle conglomeration decides to detach and live a life of its own behind you through an abrupt separation. This causes the lighter now shorter foot to drop lower than the other foot that still has a thick layer of sticky mud. Ample time is spent walking lop-cited looking for the next downed tree or rock just scrape your feet on, knowing you’ll have an equal amount of mud built back up in about 15 steps. I was quite surprised by my mud fest day mileage, I managed to hike 18 miles, an accomplishment. As the day wore on conditions dried, but then a thunder shower would come through or a new snow shower adding more moisture to the earth returning it back to its level of prior muddiness.


With all the moisture in the mud one would hope to find water but none existed all the water was occupied by clay particles. There was no free water for one to find. I was down to 2 L of water and I knew I didn’t have enough water for continuing on so I chose to go north to the town of Pinedale to obtain some water. Pinedale was quiet at 5:30 PM. I walked the streets nobody was out in front of their house. The fire department was closed down, I’m assuming it was I volunteer fire department otherwise I would’ve asked them. The Forrest Service compound looked close down for the day. So since I still had 2 L on me I thought I’d walk out to US 260 and find a general store. I did see one person pulling into his driveway he unlocked his gate pulled his truck through, got out of his truck to lock up his gate again when I approached him for some water. Honestly I think I surprised him and maybe he was having a bad day because he quickly said no. This did not disturb me because I still had water on me and he did inform me of a general store about 2 miles down the road. So I spent the night sleeping on forest service land. My plan for the morning was to walk down the road to the general store and buy water, but I found it closed. So I chose to go north on another road to an RV campground where I was greeted by two awesome people who said I could have all the water I could carry. At this time I could carry 10 1/2 L and I filled all my bottles up to full capacity. My backpack just got very heavy.


I continued on the westbound road going back to US 260, when I saw a pickup truck abruptly stop and the guy jumped out and ran across the road. I was thinking, wow does that guy have to go to the bathroom and he’s going to the bathroom right where I want to walk. Then I crested the ridge and I saw there was two other people putting out a small fire on the other side of the road started by tire debris. One of the man who is driving a sewage truck and he was thinking he should start spraying sewage on the fire. But another person stopped pulled out a fire extinguisher and this was the trick that got the fire out. I thought I’d have to start taking my pack apart to get the 10 1/2 L out I just put in to start putting out the fire. The police arrived then the fire department arrived, scene secure. I thanked the men for stopping the fire because the winds were blowing in the direction I wanted to walk and it’s really hard to walk through a burning forest. I walked on fully laden with 22 pounds of water, and this would successfully get me to Forest Lakes.


The rest of the day and all the way to Forest Lakes I was on a Arizona state historical trail called the General Cook Trail. When I looked up the history of this trail it basically celebrates how general Cook was responsible for containing the Apache Indians to their reservation. Something in my mind questions this history and thinks it is only from the white settler’s point of view. There are a few signs along the way teaching the
history, but nowhere in history lesson does it include that Native American Apache Indians were forced from their historical hunting and gathering in grounds and how it affected them.


The temperatures are comfortable 72 in this town but I am shivering with the wind, I think I’ve lost a lot of fat on my body I’m excited to find a scale at some point to see what I’ve lost. Some of my muscles are becoming more defined, and my arm muscles seem to be getting smaller along with my chest muscles because I’m not using them. The back of my hands have tanned up quite nicely along with my neck “V” tan that is not covered by my shirt. I’ve been wearing long sleeve shirt and long pants so I have to use less sunscreen. My left foot which hurts every now and then is appreciating this rest in Forest Lakes, but I’m looking forward to getting on with my hike tomorrow morning at 9 AM when the post office opens.


The next section comprising of the Highland Trail and the Arizona Trail, these trails should have many hikers and I’m looking forward to the camaraderie and sharing stories with other people doing the same activity as myself.


Oh, I forgot to mention, one day I saw two herds of elk, some deer, wild horses, antelope and a coyote all within a short period of each other. I really enjoyed watching wild horses on the section.


Signing off from Forest Lakes
The Animal

Monday, April 26


Today I entered Pinetop Arizona my 5th resupply town. It is a nice town surrounded by Ponderosa Pine trees. The distance from Alpine Arizona to Pinetop was approximately 77 miles, and took me five days to hike. My High Point was at 9,500 feet, and can be described as open countryside edged with forest, which included Spruces, large Aspen trees, Ponderosa Pine trees. Within the trees were snow patches were blown into drifts by the winter winds. The melting snow created a fresh feeling in the air. The clear prairie like settings were free of snow. Due to the snow recently melting I had plenty of water sources.


A big portion of the last section was following the Apache Railroad Trail. This was a railroad in the early 1900s that was put in for logging the area and getting the large Ponderosa Pines trees to the mill. The Apache Railroad Trail is a 21 mile long bike path that is mostly red lava rock and was pleasant to walk along. I think it would be a lovely place to ride a bike. It was nice that the Forest Service had underpasses where it went under a road that had very little traffic.


During the section I had my first snafu, I stopped to take a break and realized I was missing my solar panel. I determined I left it 4 miles behind at my prior break location, so I was planning on leaving it behind, but then I decided this is not what The Animal does, he turns around, goes back and gets his stuff. Plus by the time I retrieve it, my battery will be fully charged. So on April 24 I had the pleasure of hiking 22 1/2 miles for the day but only had forward progress of 14 miles. It even gave me the opportunity to cross the high point of the day three times. Personally I actually enjoyed going back for my stuff it was a good way to make all of you laugh.


April 25, I was quite tired because I don’t think my body likes doing 22 mile days, it prefers 17 to 19 mile days. Hiking along the route I was sluggish and slow moving, one way to get the body moving is pancakes on the side of the trail. Yes you read the word right, “pancakes”. Included was an apple, a banana, juice, and water. What does all this mean it means I received trail magic. Ronda and Jeff Johnson who were camping in their RVs by the side of the trail with their children, they we’re wondering what a strange bearded man was doing walking down the jeep road, so she came up and said what are you doing? This turned into a lovely discussion with her and her family and resulted in a pancake breakfast. So here’s a cheers to Ronda and John for providing awesome unexpected trail magic along the way. It gave me the energy and pep I needed to get to my next adventure, which was a prescribed fire.


Yes, this is correct a prescribed fire. There was no sign when I started hiking down a trail that said hey there’s gonna be a fire ahead. Archers upon archer of burnt land I passed, so as I hiked on the land started to smolder and I thought it looked like a prescribed fire. As I hiked further I encountered more smoke, and then there was 10 to 12 foot flames on the side of the trail when it torched one small tree. At this point I thought there should be people tending to this fire so I did call 911 to let them know there was a fire. It was creeping up the hill, torching small bushes, I wasn’t sure what it would do when it got to the other side of the pass. After the 911 call I continued hiking to get away, when I got to the other side of the pass it was already burnt, so I knew the fire I saw a really wouldn’t spread anywhere. It was quite toasty walking by the fire, and I’m sure a lot of you saw it on the Facebook page.


Later that day walking through some lovely trees I ran into the owner of the Pinetop Brewery, mountain biking with his two daughters. He was quite proud of them because they were on the mountain bike team. We had a lovely talk and upon reaching Pinetop I decided to go to his restaurant and have dinner for the evening. Somebody from the northwest who likes IPAs would not have been disappointed. Inside the brewery I met a man who thinks I should write my own book about my adventure. He was a writer named Les Roger and his book is titled “Rollovers, Rattlesnakes and UFOs: ... and Other Wild West Adventures”. We had a very meaningful conservation and he was sure that me being who I am and not living in fear is brining joy to many people. I agree!


Here is the written description of his book, sounds interesting.
Rollovers, Rattlesnakes & UFOs is a fascinating spiritual memoir depicting the power of trust and how to stay positive through life’s trying and extraordinary experiences. This modern day “Wild West” adventure has a take on life’s occurrences that give deeper meaning to our existence than what meets the physical eye. The eight compelling true-life stories are a breath of fresh air, even when they leave you breathless. You will rediscover your soul all over again


Tomorrow I meet up with my friend Forrest Fanara who just moved down to Flagstaff, he’s going to hike out with me spend the night, and he will hike back to his car I will continue on to Forest Lakes which is about 79 miles away. I’m looking forward to continuing my hike through the worlds largest Ponderosa Pine forest, and there is snow in the forecast.

Thanks for reading
​The Animal

Wednesday, April 14
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Pie Town New Mexico. It feels good to be here. It has been 17 years since I last walked into Pie Town. Early May 2004 Garlic Man and I hiked here to have some pie which was wonderful. Our server said we have to meet Nita at the Toaster House. We learned this was the local hiker hostel. When we knocked at the door a young lady named Prairie wearing just a towel invited is in and said make yourself at home. Coming from a larger the city I thought this was strange, but it was a good place to rest. I never met Nita in 2004 and we thought we were missing a large part of Pie Town.


Seventeen years later while I walk the FCL I smiled as I hiked into Pie Town again, and of course the pie is wonderful but there is a bonus! I got to meet Nita. I told her the the story about the young lady in the towel, she said that sounds like her daughter Prairie.


Nita is a trail angel to the extreme. She has been inviting hikers into her home since 1982. Today I am here with three CDT hikers, two Great Divide bike riders, and another trail angel who is helping CDT hikers. I even missed Freebird by 45 minutes. He is a hiker from my PCT 14 hike that still makes me smile. I missed him because I was busy eating pie.


Now that you know I am smiling in Pie Town what did I experience since leaving Socorro New Mexico. The answer is simple: hiking in sand, hiking into the wind, cross country route finding which I love, and stirring up herds of elk. I captured a video of several New Mexico gray wolves chasing a herd of elk. It was an amazing site to see nature work. To the best thing about the Socorro to Pie Town section was experiencing the elk.


I also climbed Davenport Peak 9,354 feet. There is a lookout on top that was staffed. I could not enter because of COVID, but this was fine with me. It was nice seeing him attentive to his job. We were talking and he abruptly stops picks up the binoculars looks in the distance, then says “no fire, just a car driving down a dusty road”, then continues our conservation as a normal course of operation.


I will be spending the night at the Toaster House and after having pie for breakfast I will be on my way to Alpine Arizona. The next section is 115 miles and should take about one week to walk. I am currently 335 miles into my walk.


Happy Trails
The Animal

A distance of 231 miles of hiking in 12 days, what are my reflections about my dream of a new National Scenic Trail I call the Four Corners Loop. I am calling this a mini reflection because there is so much that awaits exploration, and I also know that 231 miles is also not insignificant to many.


Unsurprisingly to me the first two sections from Santa Fe to Tijeras with a bonus stop on Albuquerque, and from Tijeras to Socorro went as well as I could plan. With two exceptions both caused by weather and climate. The region is currently in a class 5 drought, the most severe. There was also a large late season snow storm that blanketed the high over 10,000 foot Sandia and Manzama mountains with up to four feet of fresh snow. Fresh snow is not consolidated and has no body weight holding power so post holing up to my thigh caused me to bush “post hole” to the road that leads up to Sandia Crest at 10,600 feet. I then route found my down the West side of the mountains descending over 4,000 feet and half of it was in snow on a steep trail with cliff bands below me.


It took me five days to reach Albuquerque so a rest day with Larry and Marsha parents of my friend Patrick was a must. Remember the drought? Water in this section was very scarce. Only one windmill provided water. I purchased two gallons in Madrid because the town does not drink their water due to the high sulfur content. I then chose to support the local economy at the general store. Madrid is a historic mining town that has been inhabited by artist squatters I was told. It was quite an eclectic town popular with motorcycle riders. Good conservations were had at a distance.


There was a lot of road walking mainly along New Mexico highway 14 due to private property along the route. I can see future negotiations with land owners relocating the route to off highway locations.


Since I did an up and over hike of the Sandia Mountains after leaving Albuquerque Larry dropped me off via automobile at an appropriate stop on the East side to ensure I had a continuous foot path. I took the Fallon trail, a lower North to South trail that had little snow but high in tree diversity. It was such a pleasant walk in the woods.


I quickly passed through Tijeras my first resupply. It is just a post office location and a Subway, not much more to say. There is a Forest Service station where I thought water was available but everything was off and no one was there. From here I took a network of mountain bike and motorcycle trails through the woods and they were enjoyable with many options.


These trails ended when the forest boundary ended forcing me onto another road avoiding private property again. The silver lining was a small grocery where I purchased two gallons of water, and the clerk talked of climbing Liberty Bell in Washington.


After more road walking I “found” my way up to the national forest, discovering two water sources I did not need. My travels brought me higher and higher up into the snow along the crest of the Manzama. Eleven miles of post holing occurred with zest and joy. It gave me a thrill because I love using my well honed trail finding skills. When the trail is obscured, buried by snow I love to call my route an “Animal Path”.


The Manzama Mountains quickly lost their mighty height to the desert below. At the foot of the mountain I found a critical spring near a forest service campground, when a rancher appeared on his ATV stating this was the driest he has ever seen the spring. How would the drought effect the dry 60 mile stretch across the low desert lands ahead?


Just North of US60, on my website you would have seen me diverge from the line shown on my map. I was not lost, but following better route advice learned from the Grand Enchantments Trail (GET). From Alberquerque to Socorro I was basically following the GET. This is a trail that people take from Phoenix to Alberquerque.


South of US60 is a a mix of private ranching land and Bureau of Land Management (BLM - “Bureau of Livestock and Mining”). Actually I passed a wildernesses study area along this section. This section comprised of some cross country travel. I thought avoiding cactus would slow me down, they were easy to avoid. One of the days I even hiked 24.8 miles because it was very windy and there was no use in stopping to camp in the wind so I just kept walking. Couple this with 18 miles the following day only stopping to rest once to reach Socorro. Interesting I think I know why my left foot hurts.


So I am resting in Socorro today, picking up a resupply. My left foot could be an issue, it does have me concerned. I need to take more short rests and not hike for four hours straight before resting.


So in summation is what I hiked so far worthy of a new National Scenic Trail. I say YES! I also know it will get much better and more scenic as I venture along my chosen Animal path.

Five days of hiking was necessary to walk from Santa Fe to Alberquerque. I pushed my body hard walking approximately 91 miles. The post holing through deep snow at the top of Sandia Crest at over 10,000 feet was hard since I was just at sea level.

The picture above shows the wildernesses boundary sign as I leave the wildernesses and approach Alberquerque for a day of rest. Two hours prior I was in four feet of snow, and now I am surrounded by cactus.

The route went as expected, except the deep snow because I thought there would only be about a foot on the crest. I also expected people I encountered along the way to be nice, and this is true. I was offered a beer over a barb wire fence, and Delphine & Camellia chatted with me how the Fallon plate subduction and continental rifting created the Sandia Mountains. I laughed because this strangely made me think of Maria. (I know Maria is laughing now, during COVID we watched a college geology lecture series that talked about this, now two people on trail are telling me about the New Mexico rift.)

I am enjoying my day of rest with Marsha and Larry parents of my friend Patrick. I was just greeted by their corgi as it hopped into the bed, but who’s legs were too short to hop off. This made me laugh.

I am looking forward to what is to come because the start has been very enjoyable.

I just desended 1900 feet down that Luz trail on the west side of Sandia crest. It was pretty amazing I’m very glad I had one prior set of foot prints showing me the way, with the route stomped in front of me I still had to be careful because there were some drop off‘s but generally it went pretty easy.

Tonight I will be in Alberquerque visiting Patrick’s parents, and I need more food. I somehow already consumed most of what I started with.

to sum up my adventure so far knowing I am only on day five - splendid.

The pre-hike relaxation time with Maria in Santa Fe is warming our hearts with laughter. Slowing down, walking with Maria, appreciating the omnipresent art, strolling from gallery, to park, to an adjacent adobe wall, this will allow me to conjure up my memory with a smile. It will give me strength, and smiles when needed on my journey through the spring, summertime, and fall.

I love you Maria, we will miss each other, our love and happiness will be sprinkled about like the soft snow that is floating down upon Santa Fe. Both of us will share our love, all summer long with everyone we meet.

Tomorrow the Four Corners Loop walk starts, I am relaxed and ready for the adventure I love.

Santa Fe is adorned with Saint Francis the patron of Animals, which is quite fitting, and gives me comfort.

FCL you are about to be visited by The Animal.

Thanks for reading
Kevin Koski - The Animal
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My neighbor asked me how I was planning to honor the indigenous land that I will be crossing in my trip. Immediately I replied “I planned the route to not cross any reservations so I need less permits.” I also though in the time of Covid tribes do not want people on their reservations.

I quickly realized I did not fully understand the questions and the answer gave showed my ignorance. She was talking about all land, because the land I walk across was cared for by a vast number of Native American tribes for centuries.

I have spent some time thinking about my first quick response and realize it came from my lack of education and a lack of respect. I live in the Pacific Northwest, the land of the Salish people. I am minimally aware of the history of indigenous people in my area, and with my limits of knowledge I have always felt that indigenous people got robbed of their land. For example, is the Yakama Nation’s reservation located where they traditionally lived most the year? The answer is an unsurprising no. They live off the abundant Columbia River salmon runs, but their “reservation” lands are not along the Columbia because they were robbed of their land along the river. It continues to this day, the Colville tribe were recently robbed of their entire livelihood when the Grand Coulee Dam was developed cutting off the flow of salmon. The absence of salmon above the dam continues to have negatively effects for the Colville people.

Can I say I am educated on the indigenous people of the Salish sea, because I have typed a few sentences here. A few sentences that are based on some reading, but probably mostly opinion. An opinion which lacks basic knowledge of their struggles caused by the forced changes of the white man in search of resources.

If I neglect to honor the indigenous lands of the Salish Sea, do I have the knowledge or capacity to truly honor the indigenous lands I will travel through while hiking the Four Corners Loop. At this time my answer to the question is no. I don’t know enough. I have not lived on and not cared for the lands for over 10,000 years like Native Americans have. They know the land and I am only beginning to enjoy it as they have done for centuries.

I appreciate my local radio station KEXP 90.3 because they frequently make public service announcements acknowledging the fact they are broadcasting from the land of the Salish and Duwamish people. Acknowledging native peoples and their land they cared for is a start and I look forward to learning more as I travel.

It has always been my plan to learn about the land, and the people on the land as I walk for six months. I do look forward to learning about the indigenous people of the Southwest. I tried to honor the region with the creation of the Four Corners Loop Logo the sunset and the juniper tree, but now it is time to honor the indigenous tribes who’s land I will be traveling through.

I would like to thank and honor the following tribes for who’s land I will enjoy and you will enjoy by following me. I will respect the land for its beauty and honor it as you have for a long time.

Cheyenne
Chiricahua Apache
Comanche
Diné Bikéyah
Eastern Shoshone
Havasu Baaja (Havasupai)
Hohokam
Hopitutskwa
Hualapal
Jacarilla Apache
Mescalero Apache
Nuwuvi (South Pairte)
Pueblos
Shiwinna (Zuni)
Shoshone - Bannock
Taos Pueblo
Ute
Western Apache
White Mountain Apache

I know I will be awed by the views, sounds, silence. I look forward to learning more as I walk which will enable me to respect the land and take care of it as you have done for a very long time.

Respectfully,
Kevin Koski

Omnipresent Bobsled Ride

I am one month away from starting another epic hike of my awesome life. Right now my thoughts feels like an omnipresent bobsleds ride. The thoughts in my head are constant, like a bobsled driver visualizing the course, knowing exactly when to drive into a bend, creating the winning ride, success, and happiness as all cheer.

I have spent the last three years preparing to be a winning bob sled driver, as I hike along the route. I feel as if I know every bend, every straight section, every hill, and every valley. But I don’t! It is the fine granular details that are missing. The ten foot deep wash filled with tumbleweed which must be crossed. A fallen ponderosa tree, the flower with a bee, and lichen on a rock next to me.

As the bobsled driver descends the track every ice groove and bump jostling the driver is felt, leaving the crowd on edge as to what will happen. I will encounter unknown bumps too, but I will smile as I drive my sled down my visualized path. If I crash it will be you, the crowd watching me who gives me strength to pick up the pieces learn from what was not known, and make adjustments to continue down the course.

I am on the course now in my head and I am thrilled to have you the wonderful crowd cheering me on, gaining smiles as I zoom along creating the Four Corners Loop as a new National Scenic Trail.

Thanks and get ready for a ride.
​Kevin Koski - The Animal