Day 43 – 4/25/16
20.3 map / 24.5 GPS miles
676.1 / 725.6 miles total

Oh. My.

The morning started out nicely enough, cold but not bad. After half a mile we met up with the official Hayduke which follows the Arizona Trail, which we stayed on the rest of the day. It was glorious. Real trail, signage at every intersection or turn and even markers in totally unnecessary places. We also met a Hayduke hiker, Doobie. We walked with him for a little while, trading trail stories.

About an hour into the day, it started snowing. No big deal though, it wasn’t too cold and nothing was sticking. We figured it would pass fairly quickly anyway, since the forecast we saw a couple days ago was “20% chance of snow showers”.

We met some turkey hunters in a truck at a dirt road crossing. They offered us beers to take along. Obviously, trail etiquette says you can’t refuse beer, even though Bud Light last thing I wanted in the snow.

By lunch time, it was really coming down and starting to stick. We huddled in a patch of trees to scarf down some food and filter water.

There was a break of sun as we left lunch and we thought we were in the clear. Lies. The clouds returned and the snow fell harder, several inches now on the ground, wind blowing hard.

We got to the East Rim Viewpoint, where our maps noted there was a privy and all ran inside to take a break from the cold and wind. Might as well drink the beers before they freeze.

It was 3pm and we’d already walked 20 miles. Evaluating conditions and mileage left of this section, we determined we could afford to stop here for the day. Yes, we would sleep in the privy.

With all the extra time, I used my Delorme InReach to get a weather forecast. It looked bad. Continued snow and cold temps through tomorrow, then a cold cloudy day followed by another day of potentially significant snow. It sounded miserable. We were cold even in the relative warmth and dryness if the privy.

I’d been joking (though somewhat serious) all afternoon that if we saw a truck at a road crossing we were hitching out of here. And then I thought of my Delorme InReach. I bought it mainly for its “oh shit” button feature, which alerts Search and Rescue in an emergency. Obviously, this was far, far from an emergency, but the device also can send and receive text messages via satellite. Hmm, Carrot and Dan had a car in Kanab and were planning to do some caching from there…what if they were actually in town, with the car, and could come pick us up?! The idea was ridiculous, but I sent a message anyway.

Three hours later, the privy door opened, headlamps shining down on us – Carrot and Dan! We were rescued!!

It was not an easy pick up. The main highway to the North Rim is gated for the winter and they had to navigate a spiderweb of dirt Forest Service roads. When we were out walking, the snow hadn’t been sticking to the roads, but now, at 8 or 9pm or whatever it was, several inches were coating the ground, drifts collecting even more.

They dropped us off in Kanab at a hotel with vacancy and we instantly fell asleep. I’m kinda in shock over the whole thing. Embarrassed that we bailed, that I used the InReach so impulsively, that I started a whole new chain of events without really thinking it through. My tail is between my legs. Then again, this is how I feel when all nice and warm and dry in town. I know I’d feel differently if we were still at 8900′ being snowed on and having to walk on, wet and cold, with no relief for days. Now what?