Wednesday, March 31.
17 miles.
There some days that start off with so much promise and then turn into slogs. This was one of them.
Morning was freezing cold again. Got down into the low 20s, 28 when we finally pried ourselves out of our bivys around 730. Cold morning meant late start which was fine since we needed the canyon we were heading into to warm up.
Easy mile on road then got into the fun stuff. Made it to the Round Valley Draw, to the slot canyon we had been waiting for since we skipped the Halls Creek Narrows. It was so cool, everything we hoped it’d be and what we thought we’d be seeing way more of on the Hayduke. Narrow slickrock canyon walls that got so close to one another we could barely walk through at some points.
There was an 8-10 foot drop early on, one of the many “challenging” parts of the Hayduke that a lot of the journals I’ve read mention struggling with. It was fucking easy yo. Little on legged chimney move down like 2 feet then reach down to a perfectly placed log bam done. We did lower packs to make it a little easier but honestly it was so overhyped. Jordan didn’t even do the chimney move, the straight up just down climbed it. Another one of the Hayduke overhyped challenges. To be fair, both Jordan and I do have a lot more climbing experience than some other thru hikers so that probably helped.
We took our time through the narrows gawking at all the cool formations and getting a ton of videos. There was some icy snow but only some flat more open sections.
The narrows open and contract sporadically as they wind down towards Hackberry Canyon and there was one other point where I had to pass my pack down while I did another little compression move on a grimy slopey slab. But nothing else hard to get through. It was a beautiful section and it really made think about all strange natural forces that cause these kinds of ethereal formations.
The whimsy and magic of the Narrows were quickly lost though as the draw opened up into another canyon, this one filled with the finest sofest sand we’ve encountered yet. Holy shit the sand was brutal. Miles and miles of sandy canyon wash trudging, each step immediately sinking down into the dust like sand. My blown out right shoes took in so much goddamn sand, felt like I was carrying an extra 10 pounds of it. The mesh on Jordan’s shoes is pretty open and they seem to just suck up a ridiculous amount of sand.
We stopped for a quick lunch and then went back to the slog. We finally reach a series of springs and the canyon turned into a flowing creek. We were initially relieved to be out of the soft sand and onto wet dirt (and sand) but that got old fast. The “trail” through this section was a bunch of cattle trails that went sometimes around and sometimes though the creek. Trying to follow it and keep our feet dry was such a pain, especially when it got overgrown with reeds. To make things worse, the entire area was fouled by cattle. We’ve hiked through and even camped in a ton of area full of cow shit but this canyon is by far the shittiest. It’s completely full of cow shit everywhere. We got water from a small pool and had to dump it out because it smelled and tasted like cow shit, even after pre filtering.
We ran into a cattle wrangler on horseback who told us about an alt that would connect us sooner to the Paria River. In hindsight we should have definitely taken it. Or hell, just done the Narrows loop then taken the dirt roads to Cannonville and Tropic. The cowboy was friendly enough but goddamn after hours of wading through cow shit I’m really sick of cattle ranchers.
At a certain point we got sick of trying to follow the trails and just waded straight through the creek. It was barely flowing at points, just enough to keep our feet wet for hours, but it was still faster to go straight through the creek instead of meandering and bushwhacking all over the goddamn place. Normally I would never walk through a creek to keep my gross body out of it but there was so much cow shit everywhere I figured it didn’t matter.
We found the “good spring” in the canyon and realized why it was in quotations in the Handbook. It was barely flowing and we couldn’t find any pools deep enough to get water from. The creek was at least flowing faster at the junction with the good spring so were able to get some silty water from there. While we were filtering a couple in heavy looking packs came by and found a campsite near the spring. Just some non weekend weekenders. I wanted to warn them about how much the section they were heading into sucked but maybe they already knew.
Highlight of the day was seeing and following a bunch of longhorns down the canyon. I hate all the cow shit in the canyon and on the route but obviously I don’t blame them. They didn’t ask to let through this area and aren’t staying here of their own volition. They looked very intimidating with their giant horns but they seemed like sweethearts, skittish and shy.
The canyon was relatively boring for the first few miles, normal big wall canyon stuff, nothing we hadn’t seen already, but it did get way more interesting as we kept hiking down. The drag gray slick rock was replaced by very stark sheer red sandstone. Those big red blank walls I think of when I think of Utah. So many nice looking cracks and lines all up and down the canyon. Layers and layers on big towers looming above us. A few big chunks of rockfall here and there to remind us to stay alert.
We debated whether or not to try to get more miles in or take it easy and settled on taking it easy. We planned for 3 and half days to town which would get us to Tropic early Saturday, hopefully in time to hit up the post office and get my new shoes. The problem is that we’re already over these canyons and want to get through them faster so we might pick up the pace tomorrow.
We reached a little wooden cabin that was fenced off but still not cattle proof with cow shit everywhere, of course. We’d seen it on the maps and thought it would be a place to spend the night. It’s a tiny rickety wooden cabin from the 1900s filled with BLM tools and rat shit but at least it’s warmer than outside and not filled with cow shit. Good enough for the Hayduke.
We are 3 weeks into this hike and over 400 miles in, over halfway, and we are starting to realize how overhyped this route is. There are definitely sections that are stunning and immensely beautiful that I would love to come back to (and will) but there have been some really bad sections. The start of this canyon has some of the most unpleasant miles I’ve ever hiked. And I’m so disgusted by all the cow shit everywhere. We sat outside the cabin eating dinner right next to more cow shit and I kept thinking this is so gross.
Lots of whining today but honestly that’s how thru hiking is sometimes. Anyone who acts likes it’s always great and that every single mile is wonderful is a fucking liar and you shouldn’t trust them.
Plants Outside 