Day 228 (HDT 42)

Day 226 (HDT 42): 15 miles

The Hayduke gave us one final kick in the ass on our last day on trail. We descended down to the East Fork of the Virgin River early in the morning. As soon as we got down there, we realized we immediately had to cross the river. Vibe check.

It was still probably around 20 degrees. It would have been irresponsible and dangerous to walk through the water with our shoes and socks on and have them wet in the freezing cold air. So we took off our shoes and socks and cross the river. It was cold, but the real pain was getting out of the water when our feet were exposed to the cold air.

We did this maybe 3 more times before stopping to reconsider our options. It looked like we would have to cross the river over a hundred times in 5 miles. With stopping to take our shoes off for every crossing, this would be impossible and take too long. And it was too cold to safely walk in the river and get our shoes wet.

I looked at the map and saw that if we backtracked a little, there was a forest road near the river that we could walk out to highway 9 and then walk to Zion. This seemed to be the only reasonable option which didn’t have a high likelihood of dangerous consequences while still letting us reach Zion. The river was also running high with all the water from snowmelt, so I’m not even sure if we would’ve been able to hike/cross it farther downstream.

So we began to hike back from where we came. We crossed the bone-chilling river a few more times before finally being near the road.

I cruised the little bit left and arrived at the border for Zion National Park. Done. A to Z. Arches to Zion. Hayduke Trail finished. Ready to be done, happy to actually be done. Tired. Beat up. Satisfied. Cold. That weird feeling of an unorthodox finish. Hunger. Relief. Free. Burnt out. Accomplished. Catharsis.

I felt a lot, but above all else, I felt happy to have finished, proud to have accomplished my overarching goal, and overjoyed to be done with another incredible year of hiking.