Day 31 – 4/13/16
23.3 map / ?? (I forgot to turn on) GPS miles
490.8 / 532.1 miles total
It’s town day!
We had another 5 miles or so of the Paria to splash through, which was a quite unpleasant way to start the day in the cold. My popsicle feet finally thawed when we branched off at Sheep Creek.
Then we had a decision to make: the main route or an alternate through a slot canyon that was said to be excellent, but added ~5 miles to our day, miles which were sure to be slow. But coming up at the end of the day, we have a road walk into the town of Cannonville, followed by 5 more miles of road walking to the town of Tropic. By taking the longer way today, we could justify staying in Cannonville tonight and then neroing tomorrow into Tropic! I was not looking forward to the extra hiking today, but stoked about the nero tomorrow. I have been having some really uncomfortable pain in the back of my knee/lower hamstring that is at its worst at rest, keeping me from falling asleep at night. I’m hopeful some shorter days will help me recover.
The alternate turned out to be super muddy. We had to wade through lots of puddles of water and sinky mud. The narrows themselves were nice, but I thought Round Valley Draw/Hackberry was better. The mud actually made it interesting and oddly fun. I have never been so filthy hiking. Even my shirt is somehow covered in mud.
There was really only one difficult climb, and someone had left a rope installed. It was still tricky to hoist ourselves up the overhanging boulder.
Then it was something like 8 miles of dirt road walking and another 3 of paved road into town. We were all so ready to be done when we finally got to Cannonville, which consists of an all in one gas station/convenience store/motel that our notes said was “great for loitering”. It was also a cheap room at $50! Score!
We got first dinner from a BBQ food cart parked outside the gas station, which was delicious but not at all filling enough. We got second dinner and room snacks from the mini mart and stayed up way too late lounging in our room and eating microwave popcorn. It was great.
Your posts never cease to amaze me! Climbing up those walls in muddy shoes must have been difficult! Can’t wait to read about the rest of your thru-hike.
Those pants indeed could have stood up by themselves and then some! Hope you could get that dirt out when you got to a laundromat. Great pictures of a slot canyon.
Awesome blog! We stayed at that motel in Cannonville about10 years ago while we explored the area. Couldn’t beat the prices!
Lots of work but all that freedom, pretty awesome. Looks like Joey and maybe DNR need new shoes. Destructive trails out there for sure.
Ha! You called it, Warren! Joey and I both got new shoes in Tropic!
That slot looked very interesting but also a lot of hard work. But I,m sure your mother taught you not to play in the mud! Great photos!
Awesome photos…save some energy for the Bigfoot Trail 😛
Your crew looks super fun to hike with! Thanks for the perfect pictures.
Incredible pictures! I am really enjoying YOUR trek!!!