Day 41: Weather Worries

May 31: I woke up and hit the trail early, but I couldn't tell you precisely what time it was I started since I failed to note it in my journal. Just that I "hit the trail early." But I definitely wanted to beat the storm that was expected to hit the area later in the afternoon, so I had an incentive to start as early as possible.

The night before, it sprinkled a bit, but it turned out to be nothing more than a light sprinkle. Lightning flashed in the dark clouds in the distance which caused Evenstar to get out of bed to set up her tent in the dark and perhaps throw out a few cuss words while I laughed. Looking directly overhead, however, I could still see the twinkling lights of the stars and given the lack of overnight rain in the forecast, I decided to hope for the best and merely threw my tarp over me like a blanket.

By morning, the sky was filled with dark clouds, but the sun eventually came out to play and the rest of the morning turned out to be quite pleasant for hiking, along with the awesome views along the route.

I also spotted another rattlesnake on the trail--my second in two days! This one didn't scare the crap out of me, however, since it was located about 10 feet off the trail and didn't even rattle until after I had already passed it and was already heading away from it. As soon as I heard it, though, I turned around to get a better look. =) I couldn't get a decent photo of it, however, since it was mostly coiled around a log and some brush that obscured it.

Early in the afternoon, Evenstar and I filled up with water at a spring. We predicted that Pez would probably camp here this night given the fact that he was starting from a few miles behind us and certainly hadn't started hiking before us since he needed a ride back to the trail before he could start hiking. And it was basically the only water source between the water cache where he left the trail and the town of Cuba which we didn't expect to reach until tomorrow. It was the logical place that Pez would stop to camp for the night. So I wrote in the sand where people clearly camp regularly "Camp Pez" in the dirt. We weren't sure if he'd notice, but we hoped for the best! 

It's hard to see, but I wrote "Camp Pez" in the dirt at this campsite since Evenstar and I predicted that he'd probably spend the night here.

Evenstar and I pushed onward, however, planning to get a few more miles in before calling it quits for the day. The trail had a few ups and downs, climbing up a plateau, then crossing it before going down the other side. Nothing was particularly strenuous until the last plateau of the day when the trail become a positive rock scramble straight up the mountain in what both Evenstar and I cursed as an "AT-style trail." WTF?! The trail had been such a pleasure to walk on, then they throw this crap in the middle of it? But at the same time, the climb up was kind of exhilarating as well.

Once I reached the top of the plateau, I immediately started looking for a place to camp. It was still early in the afternoon, but dark clouds were blowing in quickly and I had already done about 17 miles for the day. It was a good time to call it quits! I preferred a site near the edge of the plateau where I could admire the views but also among the trees so they would help block the wind.

So I walked another 10 or 15 minutes before finding a location that seemed suitable and set up camp. I set up my tarp between two trees then staked down the corners and edges and made myself comfortable. Evenstar arrived perhaps a half hour later and set her tent nearby.

The calm before the storm

And it wasn't more than a half hour later that a horrendous thunderstorm struck. Lightning! Thunder! Crack! Boom! A terrible wind tore through camp, ripping stake after stake from my tarp out of the ground. Three times I had to hammer a stake back into the ground, and I popped out the trekking pole I had used to prop up one end of the tarp to lower its profile and provide less of a surface for the wind to hit. I also popped open my umbrella to plug the hole at the one end of the my tarp where the wind was blowing rain water under it. It didn't seem safe to be at the top of a plateau in a thunderstorm, but at this point, there was nowhere else we could hide. At least we were camped among trees and not a lone high point on the plateau.

It was a wild half hour or so. I didn't know how Evenstar was doing in her tent, but I imagined she was having issues as well. But after a half hour, the intensity died down relatively quickly. The wind settled down, the lightning moved on, and we were left with nothing more than a light sprinkle the rest of the evening.

I actually came out a lot drier than I expected given the intensity of the storm, and Evenstar seemed to survive with nothing more than a few minor leaks in her tent. I was glad I had set up my tarp between two trees. If I had set the ridge line of the tarp directly into the ground, my tarp probably would have blown away completely. We had known it was going to rain this afternoon, but we had no idea of the intensity of the storm that wound up striking. That came as a surprise!

I had stopped to set up camp at 3:00pm, the storm struck about an hour later at around 4:00pm, then stopped a half hour later at 4:30pm--or at least reduced to a light sprinkle. Trapped under my tarp because of the sprinkle, I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening watching Queens Gambit on Netflix. Good times! I also wondered if Pez managed to see the "Camp Pez" note we left for him before the storm certainly wiped it clean.

And thus ended my 41st day on the trail.....

 

I absolutely loved the scenery along the edges of the plateaus!

 

 

 

 

 

 

There's a rattlesnake in this photo. Can you spot it?

 

 

 

 

 

Evenstar fills up with water at our one water source for the day.

 

 

 

The climb up this plateau was more of a rock scramble than a true trail!

 

Day 40: Kidnapped by Indians!

May 30: Given the rising temperatures, I made a point to wake up particularly early and was on the trail and hiking by around 6:30. I wanted to take maximum advantage of the cooler morning temperatures!

The scenery throughout the whole day was absolutely stunning. I felt like I was walking through southern Utah with all the interesting rock formations and among the cliffs, and I absolutely loved the day's hiking. I had no idea this area was so pretty! Later I heard that parts of Breaking Bad were filmed nearby, and they did have some pretty nice scenery. I couldn't say that I recognized any of the mountains from the background of the show, but it seemed comparable. It was a delightful surprise for me as I was just expecting more of the same mostly boring scenery of the last few days.

 

A few hours into my hike, I came across a rattlesnake sunning itself on the trail, and it scared the crap out of me since I didn't see it until I was about two feet away and it started rattling. After jumping about 5 feet high, I backed away and pulled out my camera to get photos and videos. 

Evenstar and Pez were both behind me, not being quite as ambitious as I was leaving camp so early. I know Pez hadn't seen a rattlesnake as of yet but probably would enjoy seeing this American icon. After hundreds of miles through New Mexico, perhaps he was having doubts about their existence. I wasn't, however, going to catch the snake to show him later. Nope, hopefully the snake will still be lingering near the trail for Pez to enjoy later when he passes by. =) Not too close, of course, but close enough that he could see and hear it. Evenstar hadn't seen any rattlesnakes either on this trail, but she had seen them before on other trails so it wouldn't be such a novelty for her.

I managed to pull off 14 miles to the water cache by 1:30pm--not a bad showing! I only planned to do another 4 or 5 miles the rest of the day. Easy peasy!

Plenty of water at the water cache!

So I wound up taking a four-hour break by the water cache. A few trees nearby provided some solid shade, and there was definitely plenty of water at the cache for anyone who arrived. Pez and Evenstar eventually caught up, and Pez had indeed seen the rattlesnake after it scared the crap out of him when it rattled its tail. Evenstar missed it completely, however, even after Pez tried to write a note in the ground warning Evenstar of the rattlesnake.

While at the water cache, a vehicle pulled up and a guy named Hugh stepped out along with a quiet kid named Cody. They were there to restock the water cache and had a truck bed full of water. We chatted with them a bit. Evenstar mostly chatted with Cody, entertaining him. Hugh lived on the nearby Indian reservation, but worked as a truck driver and had driven all over the country, and eventually Hugh offered to take us to his house for the night. He'd feed us then release us back onto the trail the next morning. I joked that that was their idea of "catch and release." =)

This windmill didn't work anymore.

Evenstar and I had our hearts set on doing a few more miles for the day, mostly to shorten tomorrow's hike when rain was expected. If we could finish before the rain started, that would be awesome! Pez was tempted by the offer, however, never having met Native Americans face-to-face before. He was a lot more curious about their culture and, I think, they were a little curious about Germany. But Pez also didn't want to leave us, but we urged him to go. "Our little boy is growing up," I joked with Evenstar, as if he were our kid and leaving on his own for the first time. But we thought he'd really find the whole experience interesting. Even something like being invited to spend the night with a stranger was something of a novelty for him. He had experienced trail magic, but not of the type where a stranger invites you to their house for the night! Evenstar and I had both experienced this so it was less of a novelty for us.

So Pez ended up leaving with Hugh and Cody, while Evenstar and I continued onward a few more miles along the trail.

We eventually set up camp at the base of another plateau late in the afternoon. A few trees helped break the powerful winds that started blowing through the area. It also looked like a good place to hunt for scorpions, so I pulled out my blacklight which I had largely not been using most of the trail. I told Evenstar in a wise tone of voice, "Where there are rattlesnakes, there are scorpions."

She wasn't sure if I was joking or not. "Is that really true?" I admitted that I had no idea, but it sounded good. I couldn't think of anywhere I had ever been where there were rattlesnakes but no scorpions, and I definitely saw a rattlesnake today so.... maybe. Probably? =)

I didn't find any scorpions, however, and eventually gave up my search and dived back into my sleeping bag.

And thus ended our 40th day on the trail. Pez, we hopped, would catch up soon. Probably not tomorrow since we were already a few miles ahead of him and he couldn't start hiking again until he got a ride back to the trail while Evenstar and I could start hiking immediately. But hopefully within the next couple of days, he'd catch up again.

The scenery during the day was spectacular! Filled with canyons and interesting rocks and mountains.

When I found out that scenes from Breaking Bad had been filmed nearby, I wondered if I'd recognize some of these mountains from the show.

I hadn't seen any dogs on the trail recently. A coyote, perhaps? I don't know....

This view of a canyon made me think of the Canyon of the Crescent Moon from Indian Jones and the Last Crusade. Would I also find the Holy Grail down there? (The answer: No. Definitely not.)

Rattlesnake on the trail!