Sunday, April 18.
30 miles.
Need to finish yesterday’s entry
We slept in the bathroom near the backcountry office. It was warm and clean and had outlets but I was super anxious about sleeping in there. Didn’t want to get kicked out or get a fine but the winter campground was so exposed and cold it seemed like a way better option to stay in the bathroom. We decided to get up early before any rangers or cleaning crew came by which meant waking up around 4am. Jordan moved and activated the lights a few times which turned the fan on and woke us up. He put tape over the sensor which stopped it but it was still pretty jarring.
So we got up at 4am with a goal to get to Teddy’s cabin 28.4 miles away according to the databook. My map out it closer to 30 including the road walk back to the route from the campground.
I was in such a bad mood all morning. I was exhausted from two nights of shitty sleep and cold and not looking forward to the boring ass all day dirt road walk. Jordan tried to talk to me about the book he was listening to and I just had to cut him off and tell him I wasn’t up for talking. I tried not to be mean about it, just couldn’t handle a conversation that early feeling that bad.
So we walked on the paved road for a bit then onto the first of a few dirt roads we’d be on all day. The plus side of it being so cold was that the snow was still hard and we didn’t have to posthole. It actually felt better to hike on the softer but still solid snow than on the rocky dirt road.
Shoe update: the Superiors are still holding out okay in terms of durability but they are not great in rocky terrain like what I was hiking through all day. When I first got them I was surprised at cushioned they felt. I bounced around in them the first day in Kanab. That lasted like a day before the cushioning flattened out. Now over a hundred miles later (including a very long road walk) they are pancake flat. I may as well be wearing slippers. The bottoms of my feet are feeling pretty tender at times and occasionally I’ll step on a rock and it’ll hurt like hell. Kinda wish I had kept the rock plate or at least gotten new insoles in the South Rim.
Most of the day was hiking on dirt roads through forest. The weather was cool occasionally cold but nothing too bad. I hiked apart from Jordan most of the day, needing to be alone. We did manage to hike 10 by 10 (actually more like 12 by 10) and were on track to make it to the cabin early. Then I got to a spring that was supposed to be the water source for the day and it was totally covered in snow. Jordan caught up and we looked around for any flowing water but didn’t find any. We had to melt some snow to get enough to last us until the next “hit or miss” water at the cabin. While we were collecting snow, we got into a little fight with Jordan not liking my tone. I was in a shitty mood and not upbeat or responding in a positive way but I was really trying not to be mean like I have been in the past. I was just very curt which he took as me being mad or something. I ended up not wanting to get that much water from Jordan’s stove and decided to hike on and hope there was a snow melt stream I could collect from instead. There was still plenty of snow on the road and I figured I’d find something eventually. Worst case there was a marked sprint .3 miles off trail and something called “Swamp Lake” 12 miles ahead. Not the most appealing name.
A couple in a truck passed by not long after and asked me about the road behind me. There had been a few blowdowns on the road and some patches of snow so they most likely couldn’t get to the point they were looking for. Talked to them for a bit the hike and the guy seemed impressive. Also said my packed looked so small for what we were doing which is the highest compliment a ul hiker can get. They drove off and like an idiot I realized after I could have probably asked them for some water. Damnit.
I did find a snow melt stream not long after though it was gross and clogged my filter fast. I also dropped the cap of my drink mix bottle and had to backtrack like half a mile to find it. Everything kept compounding and I kept feeling like shit for most of the afternoon. I hiked past the off trail spring and aimed for Swamp Lake. The road was mostly flat but there were a few little climbs here and there that I am not in shape for. Or at least too sleep deprived for. Got really worn out by the time I reached Swamp Lake.
Swamp Lake was adequately named. It was a dusgusting muddy marsh I had to bushwhack through sharp branches to get to. It took a while to find a spot I could get to to collect water from without going was it deep in muck. The water was gross and I only filled up my bladder, not bothering to filter until I was sure I couldn’t get better water.
The day got way better though when I saw a bison! It was a few hundred feet ahead of me on the road. When I got a few steps closer it ran off into the woods. I saw it behind some trees and pulled out my camera to try to get a video. As I started recording it ran back out across the road followed by 3 smaller ones! They looked like maybe big bison babies. Amazing. I took this as a good sign for the rest of the route.
The last few miles took me to a trailhead overlooking the Grand Canyon. Had arrive and texted Kay while I waited for Jordan. He showed up and we had dinner near the overlook. While I was packing up, I checked Instagram and saw that Jack very recently (like 11 seconds ago) liked my last post. I figured he must be nearby if he had service. I texted him and sure enough he was down in the cabin with Rowan. We ran down the switchbacks to the cabin and found them there. We caught them! They had gotten there a few hours earlier and had been waiting for us figuring we would catch up. So now we got a full trail gang about to rock this last section. It does put me a little at ease to have other to hike through Saddle Canyon with. It’s supposed to be the hardest section on the Hayduke and it’ll be good to have more bodies to throw at it.
The seep was apparently running so we dumped out the gross swamp water. I went to look for the seep but could not find it. I went what I thought was pretty far down a trail but didn’t see it. I ended up going back waterless but had good service so I talked to Kay for a bit. We talked about some of our plans for when I’m back which I’m really excited about. I’m not even done with the Hayduke and I’m already thinking about our next adventure.
Got back to the cabin, a little too room shack with a few cots and plenty of mjhse shit. Jordan and I took one of the rooms with the squeeky cots.
The cabin also had a logbook from 2011. So many entries here including ones from a lot of past hikers whose blogs I’ve been reading. Weird having that book and being connected to all those other hikers through it. Good weird.
Spent some time talking to Jack and Rowan, telling shitty bedtime stories about famous people and catching up.
Tomorrow is the dreaded Saddle Canyon, the hardest section of the Hayduke and the section that I’ve been anxious about for weeks. Bushwhacking, hard route finding, plunge pools, and very slow miles. Can’t wait.
Plants Outside 