Day 211 (HDT 27)

Day 211 (HDT 27): 28 miles

At the end of the day I learned that I overslept this morning cause my phone changed to Arizona time. I broke my watch a few months ago and never got a new one so that’s my only source of time. I only realized it at the end of the day cause it was dark by 6pm and I felt like it had been 7 lately. Hoping that we’re was no way it changed that fast, I asked Fancy Feast what time her watch said and yup, my phone changed.

Even with a later start this morning, it was still a little chilly, around 28 degrees. We started off the morning by getting a picture with the AZT northern terminus. Life is crazy. I was starting my AZT thru hike there exactly 1 year ago today. Time is a flat circle.

What different journeys the 2 are. I think the AZT is up there for trails with the best reward to work ratio. There’s a lot of reward on the Hayduke, but you earn every bit of it.

After tagging the terminus, we diverted off the official Hayduke which uses the AZT for a while to do Skurka’s alternate to stay off the Kaibab Plateau. We had both done the AZT last year, so we didn’t feel any remorse about missing that section and welcomed some (hopefully) warmer nights at lower elevation much more.

The whole day was walking on dirt roads, mostly in Vermillion Cliffs National Monument. There were a lot of cars passing by, and late in the day one stopped and asked if I needed water which was perfect for me and we chatted for a bit. Another one stopped and asked where the nearest gas station was. I told him nowhere close, but then mapped out and showed him it was 64 miles to Kanab which he was confident he could make.

I took a little detour today to go check out Double Barrel Arch which was cool. I climbed up to it and hung out for a while taking a break and snacking. From there I went cross country to reconnect with the road and continue on the day.

When we crossed highway 89A, the road we were hoping to walk had a “no trespassing” sign on it. So we started walking down the highway to get to a public road we could walk. Thankfully, a lovely girl named Whitney from Australia gave us a ride 2 miles down the road
to save us a bit so we could still make camp at a decent time.

We started walking this dirt road and soon reached a chunk of private property we had to walk around. As I was outside the property lines but approaching a house, I began to hear some angry sounding dogs. I tensed up and was ready for some bullshit, but thankfully they were penned up which gave me great relief.

We went a little farther on BLM land past the residence and made camp as it got dark. I can still hear these dogs barking nonstop. They must be mad at the world.

After crossing 89A, the landscape really opened up to a massive flat expanse. I loved it. Seeing that with the colorful sky after the sun set was like being back in New Mexico. A whole lot of flat nothing with no life, but that amazing desert sky.

Song of the day: heaven or hell-Kanye west