Simple – down the Palisade Trail, along the East Fork Trail to water, back up the Palisade Trail – I can’t remember ever recommending this route to someone and probably never will – once you’ve made it down the Palisade Trail to the East Fork Junction there are so many nearly-impossible-to-resist connections into other parts of the mountain! But simplicity has its place and the Palisade Trail is a great place to spend time – besides, no two trips along the trail are ever the same.

This is the first time I can remember finding the cement tank at Mud Spring completely empty – the spring is still running, the familiar patch of mud along the trail – but the tank is dry, I assume something is cracked and broken.

A summer storms rolls across the trail – enough rain to give me a brief excuse to get out the rain gear and take a break under an Oak Tree before continuing along the impressively grassy and overgrown trail. I knew I would have to walk west on the East Fork Trail to find water – but I have to walk a little farther than expected, eventually finding a large pool to filter and refill from.  Back up the trail to one of the grassy ridges above Sabino Canyon – a few more mosquitoes than expected but a lovely night – and then back up to the Palisade Trailhead the next day…