Sunday, March 14
22 miles?
We woke up to almost no rain which was a nice change from yesterday. After some quick packing, shitty hotel coffee, and checking out, we hit the road again. We got the road out of town towards Hurrah Pass and got a quick hitch from a local who was actually heading away from where we were going but turned around to give us a ride. She was super cool, a local astronomy tour guide who told us about some of the features all around us. She ended up taking us pretty far up the road which was awesome because it meant we could make up some of the miles we didn’t hike the day before. Normally I’m against yellow blazing but I’m complaining about shaving off a few miles of this route.
The canyon up to Hurrah Pass was gorgeous. It was so expansive and open but still enclosed by large red sandstone canyon walls. Everything was very lush and vibrant from the rain yesterday and there was a ton of water everywhere.
We were on the dirt road for a long time, all of the day actually, which was totally fine since the views all around us were amazing. The dirt on the road was a pretty red brown color and while it was muddy, it wasn’t too much of a hassle to hike through. Even the constant OHVs, jeeps, and trucks weren’t that bad.
At Hurrah Pass, we got some amazing views stretching down to the Colorado River. We had lunch at the pass which turned into a popular jeep-er lunch spot. We were on the dirt road for miles and miles, weaving all over whatever the name of the area we’re in is called (I looked it up and I have no idea what this area is called).
We were on the road most of the day except for one section where there was a use trail that lead into some narrow side canyons. We were halfway in it when we realized we were off route but from the topo it looked like we could make it through to the otherwise and reconnect with the route, saving us some miles and backtrack of shame. It was a really fun canyon complete with some very light scrambling but unfortunately it didn’t go. We hit a narrow cliffed up point where the only way through would have been up a really bad wet scramble. Nah.
So we backtracked back to the route and followed the long ass way around the canyons we got stuck in.
We spent the rest of the day on the road going up and over some short passes and getting some more great views. We stopped once to get some muddy water and then a few hours later to have dinner. We hiked until after dark, making it about a mile from where we had initially planned to camp and right before our first off-trail section in this area.
The road walk was on mostly soft wet dirt and mud and my legs and feet still feel really beat up. I definitely don’t have my hiker legs back yet and they are hurting right now. My plantar fascititis isn’t feeling too bad with the new Insoles I got in town but when I do stop to take breaks they do start acting up. We are definitely a ways away from being able to “crush miles” but that’s alright.
I did start listening to music for the first time this hike today. There was a moment right before sunset when I was hiking on a big open dirt road with views for miles vibing out to Arcade Fire and random chillwave songs where everything actually kind of okay. It’s been a while since I’ve had that.
Plants Outside 