Friday, April 2.
7.5 miles.
Keep forgetting I can add the .part of the miles.
We had a warm night for once! Fucking wild, actually being warm for once. The tree, cloud cover, and soft leaves under us kept us nice and warm. My feet were too toasty and I had to stick them out of my quilt for a bit. It did get chilly before sunrise but I managed to sleep through an entire night. Not gonna get used to that but it was a pleasant experience.
Few easy miles through the canyon creek we were in until the confluence with Willis Creek, the last major landmark of this section. The other creeks were fine, would have been more impressive if I hadn’t already spent weeks seeing a lot of them but Willis Creek was much cooler since it had some narrow slot canyons. More of those constricting canyon walls that make for very nice photos.
As we got closer to the trailhead we started encountering more day hikers which boded well for our chance at getting a hitch. We got to the trailhead and got into the dreaded task of chatting up people to try to get a ride. Jordan asked the first couple leaving if they were heading to Tropic and they initially said they only had a two seater which I supposed was technically true. They were van lifers and I guess seeing us pathetically waiting on the dirt road made them take enough pity on us that they cleared some space in their very nice van for us. They were headed to Bryce and dropped us off right at the Tropic Post Office. Unfortunately, my shoes hadn’t arrived yet which means I have to check again in the morning and hope they get here. Otherwise I’ll have to bounce them to Kanab and hope they make it there in time too.
We booked a hotel on the edge of town which is actually a like half a block from the main drag (Tropic is not very big) and right next to the gas station/grill which had California veggie burritos. It’s been weeks since I’ve had a burrito and I’ve been dying for one so that hit the spot. We were able to check in early to our hotel and then set off to do the usual town errands. The hotel we are in doesn’t have on site laundry so I tried to find some short to buy to wear while I did both Jordan and my laundry. I couldn’t find any and when I went back to get a towel to wear while I sat in the laundry room Jordan had locked the door and was in the shower, unable to hear me banging on the door. It was such a weird struggle trying to find shorts in the 3 shops in town and I was ridiculously frustrated having to go back and forth. Jordan had misplaced the key before I left and told me it was fine since he was staying in the room after asking me to do his laundry and then didn’t let me in when I went back. I know it sounds stupid but I was so fucking mad. I really wanted to wash my pants which were coated in so much muck and mud and cow shit from the past few days. I ended up not being able to wash them and had to get my resupply while wearing them. I was furious when I got back but after a shower and a ton of sugary snacks, felt better. To his credit, Jordan ended up washing my pants (eventually) so I did get them cleaned.
This is such a small stupid incident that I feel like a massive whiny tool writing it out but I think it highlights the difficulties in hiking with someone for an extended period of time. In 2019 I learned to really love hiking with others but all those hikes were max 10 days and most of the time I was still hiking alone during the day. I spent the past year mostly alone (except for Kay) and have not yet rebuilt my social skills. My capacity for people is at an all time low especially with some many people in Utah just straight up not giving a fuck about covid and masks anymore. I’m desperate for alone time which I’m not going to get for a while especially since I wasn’t able to find a new filter in town and will have to keep borrowing Jordan’s until Kanab.
Plants Outside 