Day 189 (HDT 5)

Day 189 (HDT 5): 19 miles

After waking up in the middle of the night to a densely beautiful sky of stars, we got rolling early this morning. There was one sort of meandering descent down into a wash early in the day, but it was pretty easy. After that it was a cruise to the Needles Visitors center where we grabbed our permit for our sole night Canyonlands and Fancy Feast got her 2nd junior ranger badge.

Then it was about a 2 mile walk to Needles Outpost. This place ruled. Amber, the worker was super nice and accommodating for the few thru hikers that do come through here. While the Hayduke trail is still not hiked a ton, this spot is basically a necessary resupply now since Hite Marina is closed.

While there, I drank 9 mountain dews (maybe a little too much) and bargained with myself about how much food I really needed to bring for this next 103 mile stretch. I donated a lot to the hiker box since I still had a lot leftover. I also bargained about how much water to leave with. When we got back on trail, it would be 25 miles to some possible but not certain water but 35 miles to certain water. With a night of camping in the middle, I decided to leave with about 7.5-8 liters. It’s probably overkill, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.

That being said, the pack felt pretty damn heavy with over 16 pounds of water and a lot of food. I’m definitely feeling it in my back and shoulders.

While at the outpost, we made friends with a guy there named Shaun that was also past hikertrash from the PCT and he gave us a ride back to Big spring trailhead. From there, the day was lovely. We had actual trail marked with frequent cairns and it was beautiful.

We eventually hiked in Cyclone Canyon, which was glorious as the sun was beginning to set, and entered Butler Wash in Red Lake Canyon. Butler wash become really rocky at the end of the day and the canyon looked like it was going to stay pretty tight for a while so we made camp on top of a large rock that seems to be safe in case water started to flow for some reason.

Song of the day: you’re gonna go far kid-offspring