Day 25 – 4/7/16
10.3 map / 11.8 GPS miles
360.3 / 387.6 miles total

We were super fortunate to have Glen offer to take us back to the trail this morning – a 30 some mile drive from towns a dirt road. On the way, we played a game we learned from the family (with 4 kids) that gave Bubs and me the ride into town. It goes like this: whenever you drive over a cattle guard, you have to have your thumbs up, or else the people who did have their thumbs up get to pinch you. Apparently, I suck at this game, arriving at the trailhead with black and blue arms. Major thanks to Glen for the ride and all his support!! 

We started out with a big climb, up 2700′ with 6 days of food for me and Bubs, 8 days for Joey (Bubs and I have cache before the next town). But since we were carrying snowshoes or packrafts for the past week (now not), our packs didn’t feel any heavier than “normal”. We did manage to all miss a super obvious turn and went a half mile uphill the wrong way before realizing our mistake and backtracking. Extra training?

At the top of the climb, however, we had to load up on water for a potential 30 miles waterless stretch. The packs feel heavy again. 

We are now on the Kaiparowits plateau, at ~7400′. It’s back to being cold and there is rain in tomorrow’s forecast. It’s always something on the Hayduke!