No coyote howling last night, but they are sure going for it tonight. I am lying on a bed of pine duff, watching the stars come out and listening to the coyotes sing, perfect. If only the whole day had been so nice. This morning was COLD!! The frost lingered for three hours after the sun rose. I didn’t mind the cold though. It helped us to conserve water. The trail was nice too, meandering through washes and parks, over hills and along ridges. The crappy part of the day was the sever mile burn out at around 11:00 am.
We had received notice of the trail closure from and 2009 Hayduke Trail Hiker (Thanks Ryan!), and we figured out where the closure was when the trail died in an endless mess of fallen logs, 3 year old saplings, thistles and thorns. (Un)luckily it died right next to the road, which we followed for seven gruesome miles.
I hate road walking: half the cars are nice and give you plenty of room, a few notice you at the last minute and serve to the side, but the rest glare at you and whiz by you as close as possible, if as they must hug the white line. Why? I don’t know. Apparently their goal is to try to terrify us into thinking we will soon be a raven’s delicacy—like the coyote and deer we saw.
Finally, we reached the road where Ryan said the closure ended. Sure enough there was a large sign at the trailhead. Lindy decided to walk the next 6 miles to Jacob Lake on the road. Sharon and I had had enough and gladly decided to walk the next eight miles to Thruway 89A then hitch.
The eight miles to the Highway went fast. Sharon and I decided that the signs were mislabeled in order to boost the confidence of thirsty hikers. “Wow, I’ve walked one and a half miles in 12 minutes. That’s an eight-minute a mile pace! I’m moving!”
We needed to go into Jacob’s Lake to refill water bottles. (We had 40 miles of dry hiking to HWY 89 and Kanab.) Sharon and I got a lift in the first vehicle coming our way (back of a black pick-up truck). I love riding in the bed of a pick-up truck; it’s the best way to travel a road by far. After meeting up with Lindy, a large dinner and loading up on 1-1/2 gallons of water each, we set out to try our luck at the intersection. No sooner had we posted ourselves, than a white pick-up pulled up. We were all grateful, even though we had to ride in the cab this time.
The driver was moving and his cab was full. All in all, it was a good way to end the day, especially with this magical evening.
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