Day 13 – 3/26/16
15.6 map / 16 GPS miles
226.4 / 236.4 total
I’m sure you’ve all been waiting in terrible suspense to find out the fate of my split pants repair. I’m happy to report that my dental floss sewing job has held up through 2 entire days of hiking, very careful bending and even a spin in the washing machine.
Today was supposed to be an easy day following Poison Spring Canyon 4wd road all the way to highway 95 followed by hitching into Hanksville.
And it was easy enough, but the weather made it unpleasant. Windy rain and snow showers beat on us for a few hours in the morning. We all got to show off our rain get-ups: I wore my cuben mini dress, Bubs her sil-nylon skirt, and Rockin trashed it up in her hefty bag with a cord lock.
The weather did clear up by late morning, but it was still cold and we took only a short lunch break. There seemed to be a mass exodus of vehicles from the canyon, I’m guessing they were afraid of getting stuck in there on the wet roads.
At the highway by ~2pm, we got our thumbs out. Within 5 minutes we saw BLM Law Enforcement truck coming out Poison Spring Canyon road. Uh oh, is it illegal to hitchhike here? We had no idea. The officer asked us where we were going, seemingly incredulous that we were trying to hitchhike. Then he offered us a ride. Ha!
We had a reservation at a motel in Hanksville – a small cluster of gas stations and not much more. We dropped off food packages here on our road trip and busied ourselves with town chores: showers, the first laundry in 2 weeks, assuring family we were alive, comparing legs rashes, etc.
Then came some decision making. I haven’t talked about it much, but Bubs has amazingly powered through really badly blistered feet for the entire last week. Her shoes are just not working out, getting one blister after another in all different spots. Tonight she ordered new shoes from Zappos, but since it’s Saturday, even with overnight delivery they won’t arrive until Tuesday.
Unfortunately, this really throws off our timeline with Rockin. She has a real life and a hard deadline for when she has to be back at her car, 50 miles up the trail, and can’t wait around for 3 days. Oh and we have a food cache waiting in her car. Oh and all these snow/rain showers we’ve been getting have been dumping fresh snow on the mountains we’re supposed to go over a day out of town. Oh logistics headaches!
Ah jeez! I talked Rockin’ today. Quite the adventure made even more so with the conditions. Hope Bubs’s feet heal quick. Those rashes will reappear later. It happened to me each time there was extensive wading (like in the Dirty Devil). My theory was that the alkaline water somehow caused it. Pants seemed to irritate it more than shorts, but sucked either way. Just a very uncomfortable trail and a new normal. The next one I remember will be just before you go into Tropic in the Paria. Excited to see how the Henry’s go and how much snow is up there. Hopefully it’s not too much and you won’t have to take the low route.
You just gotta love that hitchin’ photo! And all that rash, wow; it’s tough out there in the desert. Bubs, hope your feet heal super quick and your shoes are just right. I remember last year when Rockin’s tried-and-true Cascadia’s stopped working. Hopefully your new choice will remedy that so you can get back to all the fun out there on the Hayduke. Hope your hike goes well Rockin’ if you have to solo out to get back. Super impressed with all your three are doing.