Tuesday, April 6
0 miles.
Second and probably last zero on the Hayduke (assuming something doesn’t go terribly wrong).
I’m never going to sleep well in a hotel in town ever. Woke up anxious about permits and errands. Had to try a few times but got a hold of someone at the Grand Canyon backcountry office. I was able to change the dates on the permit and add on Jack. The whole process ended up being much easier than I thought it would be. The ranger was super friendly and accommodating and knew about the Hayduke. I’ve been dreading trying to make the change and had already come up with a plan if we couldn’t do it but the ranger said it was no problem at all. Took less than 5 minutes. Looking at it after, I realized I may have changed it to the wrong date but I think we’ll be more or less around those dates anyway.
We got coffee at the gear shop and then ran some errands. Got my sister a bday gift and was able to mail it out. We were hunting around for socks and I found a shop with Altras! They had Kings but unfortunately not in my size. They had one pair of Superior 4.5s in my size. I hiked the PCT wearing only Superior 3.0s and loved those shoes but haven’t liked the newer versions. These are more cushioned than I’m used to Superiors being and they feel so bouncy. The upper is also kinda tight which is a bummer because it means they’re probably gonna blow out quick. The store, Dukes Clothing, was also doing a special spin and win raffle wheel for discounts. Jordan got 10 percent of his socks and thermal shirt and I ended up getting 35 percent off the shoes (max discount was 40). What an absolute score. That is the luckiest I have ever been in my life.
We got lunch at a little cafe and healthy smoothies at a little juice place next door. Trying to take in all the healthy stuff before we spend two weeks eating nothing but delicious trash again. Went back to the hotel and finished up errands, namely planning out our last few weeks and the Zion extension. We’re gonna just end up hitching to Zion at a road crossing and trying to get walk up permits for the West Trail to the end. If we can’t get them, which seems likely, we’ll have to hike out of the park like we did in Bryce and Arches.
We went out again for shitty burgers and some last food stuff for the next two days and then settled in for bad TV. Mostly Golden Girls again which seems to always be playing but is also the only good show we’ve seen so far. I was talking about wanting to see a shitty action movie and lo and behold Demolition Man, my favorite of the shittty action movies, came on. So now it’s midnight again, way later than I should be up.
Tomorrow we’re going to get up early and try to get walk up permits for the Wave, a popular but incredibly difficult area to get permits for. I’ve seen pictures of it and it looks amazing. Because of the permits few Hayduke hikers get to go see it despite it being right off the route. Maybe my luck will continue tomorrow. Either way, hiking out on the next long stretch.
Plants Outside 