Any workout which does not involve a certain minimum of danger or responsibility does not improve the body — it just wears it out.” —Norman Mailer
March 21
Hayduke Salt Creek/Dark Canyon Alternate, trail up Salt Creek to wash, then up to 4WD road intersection – 18.9 miles
Boy howdy everything ramped up today: views, artifacts, difficulty level, and weather!
First off… I spilled most of my breakfast protein drink (looks exactly like baby poop or throw-up) in the bottom of my tent. It was a big mess. I scooped most of the drink back up into my container and mopped up the rest quickly with a pair of underwear and off we went. And yes I drank the scooped up protein drink.
Indian granaries, beautiful open trail plateau walking, and the elusive All American Man attraction were great stops along the way.
Then we hit lunch and our last water for a day or so. Here we loaded up on water. Lots of it, because we are unsure of the next reliable source.
With heavy packs, we left the trail and headed cross-country up sandy washes, and over cacti littered terrain, and hit the hard stuff.
After a few sketchy climbs with very loose rocks, hauling packs up a chimney where big rocks nearly hit Bubs and I and weather turning colder and windy, I was mentally and physically pooped.
The last part of our trek was up the narrowest and steepest ATV road I have ever seen.
Drop n’ Roll checked the weather on her InReach and it is forecasted to snow and rain tomorrow. We have decided to connect our current route to another alternate to avoid slippery rocks.
I am super tired tonight, but my body and feet feel great. Bubs is really suffering from old and new blisters. She is a trooper.
That squash is awesome! Pretty cool that’s it has continued to propagate itself over the decades/centuries!
I know. Right?
It really was one of the highlights of our trip. Pretty incredible. It was a great tip from Mike.
Impressed you ate the spilled baby vomit protein from the bottom of the tent… but did you wear the Underwear?
-Wondering what app you use to compose blog posts offline? I’m a newbie blogger and leave in 4- days to hike AT 🙂
Dean in Denver
GoBugJuice.com
No way. I rinsed those puppies out at the next water source. Worked like a charm. I use the WordPress app when I have service. In my tent I write everything down in Notes on my phone, transfer all photos from my camera to my phone, and then put the photos in a folder that is labeled with the date. Awesome the AT! Have a great time out there!
Sitting here at my computer wishing I was hiking, but getting a vicarious thrill from your photos. Thanks for sharing.
Hey, thank you. Boy, can I relate with you. My job has many hours of screen time required. It sure is motivating to see what others are doing to get ideas. I depend on it.
Got to admit, trips like this are what I daydream about when work is stressful and overwhelming. It helps to get through the rough patches.
Wow! Your photos are great and it sounds like you need all you hiking skills for this trail! Be safe!
Thank you!
To hike the Hayduke, you need to be comfortable with hiking cross-country and class 3 and 4 climbing, not afraid of heights, hiking with heavy water loads, and good with map reading and navigation.
“Not a bad view…” you got that right. It is insanely beautiful. I started a real true love affair with red rock about three years ago. So you are feeding my addiction. You three are truly amazing. Be safe and be happy!
I wondered about whether the red rock would become tiresome…
For some… I am sure they never look back.
Ya have to be comfortable with sand.
My exposure is through the beautiful little town of Sedona (may just move there someday). Not much sand there though there is a lot of crushed red rock dust in places.
I don’t mind sand, but prefer it only at the beach!
My feet ache just reading the trip report! So awesome – keep the photos and narrative coming, they’re a real treasure.
Thanks Ben!
These are some long mile days especially for hiking cross-country. We have been starting at 7:15 (when it gets light) and ending around 6:30 (before dark) with really one longer lunch break.
I do miss the long days of summer. Oh and the nights are sure cold in the desert.