3/8/14 – 193 miles.
When you’re hiking you have a lot of time to think. Usually I just daydream, which gets me into trouble when I come to an obscure trail junction, but sometimes I get a song in my head that I just can’t get out. For a while it was a song from the old movie Ghost, that I watched with Richard and Dianna last week, called I’m Henry the 8th. Its one of those songs you can’t quit because it ends with, “second verse, same as the first”. Then, embarrassing as it may be, those wild, college frat kids were singing some baudy, pirate song that starts out, “I put my hand upon her knee, yo ho! yo ho!”, and it gets more bawdy with each verse. I can’t get the stupid thing out of my head!
It was cold when I woke this morning. One of the things I wish I had remembered to pack is a pair of light gloves. Every morning these last days in the mountains I have taken down my tent with socks on my hands. Its not easy to do but better than numb fingers. The hike up to Summerhaven was through an awesome canyon. Giant boulders made for a mase of passages, tall trees shaded a gentle stream, and the best thing, it was nearly level walking. The trail finally entered a parking lot and from there it was an uphill walk for about a mile to reach town.
I entered the first restaurant and changed clothes in the restroom. I would have eaten there but they had things like cookies and pizza and I was really hungry for a hamburger. So I slipped out the back door and walked to the Sawmill
restaurant up town. It cost $20 for a bacon cheeseburger and Coke but I guess it was worth it. It tasted good.
I stopped at the country store and bought a couple supplies, and then went over to the Community Center and used their Wifi to upload to my blog and read my emails. Then I went in their restroom, changed back into my stinky hiker clothes, filled my water bottles, and hiked out of town.
It was an awful trail down the Oracle Ridge. This is the place where Kristen “Pockets” in her trail journal tells of spraining her ankle, and I can surly tell why. The path was covered solid with fist-sized rocks that left no place solid to put your foot. Imagine walking accross a truck full of potatoes. The views were spectacular but every seconds attention had to be on your feet.
It was so rocky and steep that it took me a long time to find someplace to put up my tent. I finally found a fairly level spot, moved some stones and cow pies, and bedded down for the night. Tomorrow I will meet R&D and take a zero in Oracle.
This sounds like a happier trail than the AT was, meeting R and D every few days. I know I’d enjoy that. Sorry you have such cold nights; it’s about 80ยบ here every day.
You wished you had gloves on the JMT too. One of these days you will learn!
I wish I was with you, though I wouldn’t want to have missed my trip to Asia either.
Have you firmed up your plans on exactly how far you will go? Or is it one day at a time?
Yeah Daryl. You have it right. Sometimes I think I would like to do more of the AZT and then sometimes I think what am I doing out here – I’m not a kid anymore. We might have time for a weekender trip after you get back if you want.