Day 6 – 3/19/16
10.7 miles
99.4 miles total
It’s town day! Well, sorta. We did a few more miles cross country up high on the plateau before dropping down a canyon and then going up another to pop out at a jeep road which we followed into Canyonlands National Park, Needles District.
We then detoured a mile cross country to once again leave the park to go to Needles Outpost, a small store and campground just outside the park.
We picked up the resupply box we dropped off here on the road trip out and shipped our packrafts ahead to Hanksville (fingers crossed they make it!). We both had way too much food this last leg and it’s looking like it’ll be that way again. Hiker hunger please kick in!
Then…*drumroll*…Rockin‘ arrived! She’s joining us for the next 10 days. We had a nice evening catching up and preparing for the next leg. I even found the hole in my Neoair – fingers crossed for tonight!
Love it seeing you all together. Great shots! Looking forward to this past week’s posts!
Another hiker reunion, cool!
Cool shots indeed. The gas pumps harken back……..
Forgot to mention, really great to see Rockin’. -Hope you three have fun together.
What lovely juniper you are camping next to.
Hah! I was there in Needles at the same time, though in the NPS campground and doing lots of dayhikes. Tell Rockin’ hello!
On to a concern I’ve had: I have been reading different Hayduke blogs and I’ve been wondering about when someone says ‘off trail’ if that means walking on the cryptobiotic soil. I would love to do the Hayduke someday or parts thereof, but would never want to walk on the crypto and destroy any of it. Footprints will last for years and with the death of spots of crypto, sand blows and destroys more, and it takes years and years to re-grow. So, I’ve wondered how you all deal with avoiding crypto–do you just walk on rocks or??
Enjoy your time in one of the most incredible places on earth!
Do you eat beef? Ok, so here is my take on the crypto issue. The Hayduke route is largely “off trail” but usually following canyons bottoms/washes where crypto isn’t a concern. There certainly are parts where stepping on crypto is inevitable – we do try our best to walk on rock or in sandy washes, or at least step in each other’s footprints to minimize damage. If you really want to talk about soil/land damage, then we need to be talking about livestock grazing on public lands in the west. The damage cattle do is enormous, far far more than Hayduke hikers following a very narrow corridor could ever do. Not saying we shouldn’t care about walking on crypto, but there is a bigger picture to consider as well.