It has been very hard to keep Oscar charged with the solar panel because we either had very cloudy days or we walked during the best sun and camped in canyons where there wasn’t any direct sun at end of our day. So I came into Tropic with many days worth of journal to type and a dead battery. With the storm clouds blowing in the second day, I only completed a few days’ notes and got a few pictures up. I will continue to write and my best guess is that most of these will be posted in three weeks from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

We spent some of our time here fixing and mending clothing and equipment. I’ve had to re-sew every single button on my sun shirt, though this is its third and final trip. Dave’s had to sew a few. We’ve each had to mend socks, and I’ve mended almost all the fingers on both our gloves. My shoes were so badly falling apart I asked Dave’s mom to send my backup pair with our re-supply boxes here. Some of the stitching on both of our long pants has basically disintegrated, though the fabric is doing well. Tarp cords are fraying and water chemical bottles are leaking. Insoles have compounded to nothing and shoe laces have worn through. Our clothes, especially our sun shirts where our backpacks rub, will never again resemble their true colors.

The trail may be claiming our stuff bit by bit, but so far we’re holding together well. My knees continue to be stiff and sore at the end of the day but they recover overnight. Dave’s got some toe issues and blisters but is keeping up with them using the first aid kit.

This is definitely a tough and rugged walk, but incredibly rewarding. And we’ve got some exciting stuff ahead, including Bryce, the Grand Canyon and Zion. Goody!

16 miles

We had a pretty easy day walking up the Paria to Sheep Creek, then left the official route by staying in Sheep Creek a few more miles to where an earthen dam and road appeared. We walked the dirt road toward the highway, and hitched a ride into Tropic from just before the highway. Plenty of people were out there despite it being early/off-season. By hitching these miles (off-route), we saved ourselves a day of walking and will take two rest days! This will help our joints recover in preparation of some long days ahead.

We found a sweet little room at Bybee’s Stepping Stone motel, and enjoyed really good pizza from a place across the street.

20 miles, 8.5 hours

I woke to the birds singing in the early dawn light and got our tea water boiling. We save time and fuel weight by eating a cold breakfast but we must have a hot bottle of something to drink!

We had a lovely morning walking down the rest of Hackberry Canyon, full of color and the smell of willows with a warm breeze. I love days like this, where we’re just walking, not scrambling, climbing, sliding down scree, or sinking in quicksand. Ah! These wonderful days make those harder ones worthwhile.

The creek flowed down a narrow channel that at times spread across the bottom of the canyon so we got our feet wet many times, but in this warm weather it’s quite pleasant. After a while Hackberry joined Cottonwood Creek, which was a bit larger but nearly as easy. Three miles later we were heading up the Paria River, with a wide canyon, plenty of cows and a chain of ATVs screaming and puttering past us. The canyon walls changed in color, height and shape as we walked up, and the water was very silty in a greenish gray color. We had to cross countless times but the water was only shin deep.

We camped just off the Paria in Snake Canyon, which had a small clear trickling stream.

16.5 miles, 8.5 hours

We were so happy to have a warm and sunny day today! Feeling cheered by the morning sun, we scooted down the road toward the Gut, a big wrinkle pushed up in the land. When we walked up to the top, before heading down into the Gut I checked for cell reception on my Blackberry (Oscar) and had fun hearing the chime for each new email. The reception wasn’t enough to send out email, but I knew I’d have fun reading the one I’d received.

After the Gut we came to Round Valley Draw, and soon after the entrance to the first real slot canyon of the hike. We had to squeeze ourselves down in, removing our packs to fit. Right away we came to a big drop with a knotted rope tied off at the top, so I climbed down first and Dave lowered the packs and then followed.

The morning light brought out the orange colors in the grooved, curving walls and in places they seemed to glow. Other sections were so narrow and deep hardly any light made it to the bottom. I’ve never seen this in person and I kept getting all excited just to be there in the middle of it. It took a while to make our way through and we enjoyed every minute of it, though it was challenging in places.

Hackberry Canyon was wider and dry with a flat, sandy bottom. Tall, tan sloping walls were dotted with dark green pinyon and juniper. The sun on the sandy bottom was so bright, it was like watching a high-contrast western film. After a few springs contributed their trickle, a good stream took over the bottom of the canyon.

We are now lying on a sandy bank by the stream, under a huge amphitheater in the curve of the canyon. The cottonwood leaves are rustling in the breeze, and the sweet smell of willow thickens the air.

18 miles, 6.5 hours

The sky cleared last night in time to provide a freezing night, complete with nearly solid water bottles. This morning we had a few glorious minutes of sun before the clouds and wind returned.

The route was all on dirt roads today, so the miles went by quickly and easily. I love walking fast and covering miles. We got to our buried cache near Grovsners Arch in the late afternoon and enjoyed a good snack (a hearty feed) and then Dave walked the half mile off route to where the book mentions a well and stock tank where we could get some water. Soon Dave returned saying we had a problem: no water. The valve was shut off and padlocked, possibly because the cattle weren’t brought up here yet. This is public land, a national monument even, and the water was padlocked.

The next water source was 13 miles away, and we had wasted plenty of daylight digging up the cache and eating (you cannot imagine the hunger we have walking these rugged miles each day). So we packed up and headed down the quiet dirt road, hoping to flag down a motorist, most likely a tourist out here.

It only took about a half hour and some nice folks from Wyoming stopped and gave us all the water we wanted. Wonderfully friendly people! Then we found a clump of juniper trees to shield us a bit from the wind and we set up camp.

TRAIL NOTES:
The water tank a mile off-route from mile 78 was dry, though may get turned on later in the season.