Tower Arch Trailhead(0)-Devil’s Garden Campground(10.9)
This entry will be a long one, since there is lots to catch people up on. Not all will be this lengthy, but I’ve been getting lots of questions (even from my good friends and family!) as to some of the details here. Since I have time this moring while Katherine does resupplies, I thought I’d take advantage of having my laptop to type some things out.
-The new app I’m using to blog is BlogTouchPro and it’s the best option I’ve found for blogging from Blogger sites. Again, I’m stuck with Blogger for now since that’s what I started with, and I recommend WordPress to anyone that has the option to choose.
-I want to give a reminder that the Hayduke is much more remote than the other trails I’ve hiked and my posts may be delayed(possibly more than a week) until I get service. They will still be daily, but they may come to subscribers in bunches when you get the email. I know I could space them out delayed, but I like to get up what I have all at once just to keep it as updated as possible. If you have the self control to do one entry a day, go for it…or just binge every week or so, ha!
-Don’t worry if there isn’t a post for many days…even a week! My “Where’s Wired” tab will have my check-ins plotted along the route each day and you’ll see I’m still out there and moving. Love that map!
-It can be difficult on this trail to know exact mileages, so my totals will be my best estimate many days.
-I drove down to Moab rather than flying because I will need my car after the Hayduke to drive to the places in California I plan to hike and visit. For us, the Hayduke starts in Arches National Park, which is just outside of Moab and ends in Zion National Park. To make a long story short, I have wonderful people willing to host me at each end (Moab and St George, UT) who are also able to shuttle my car from one end to the other (~5hrs) while I’m hiking. It really has worked out perfectly and if all goes to plan, my car will be in St George so I can drive to the Tahoe Rim Trail (7hrs away) at the end of the Hayduke. Thanks so much to all involved on this logistics end!
Last night, we arrived in Moab at 10:45pm having left Portland at 6am. There is a one hour time difference, but that made for quite the long drive of well over 15hrs. We stayed at the wonderful home of a family that is friends with a fellow hiker I know from the CDT(Maverick), yet never physically crossed paths with(again, love this hiker world!). Jason works for the BLM and kindly offered to host us two strangers in his home that overlooks Moab and is just half a mile from where the Hayduke Trail runs through town.
There are couple options for starting the Hayduke and it’s indicative of much of this trail…many options and routes to consider. The cool thing is that if you fly into Moab, it’s just about a 4mi hike to the start if you wanted to hike directly from the airport. One of the people that offers shuttles to the trail is Hayduke co-creator Mike Coronella. We couldn’t pass up an opportunity to treat him to lunch before we hit the trail. He runs his own guide company here in Moab, so check it out if you’re looking for some great guided trips! www.deepdesert.com His enthusiasm and love of this area is contagious and it was the perfect way to start the Hayduke. Thanks for the inspiration Mike!
I’m going to show our map for today so people can get an idea of how all this works…this is the first map of Li Brannfors’ mapset. He has amazingly track logged in great detail many trials including the Pacific Northwest Trail, Arizona Trail, and Great Divide Trail. He does this all for free and I have mad respect for what he does to share his info and alternates with other hikers. When Katherine did the PNT in 2013, she track logged the route again for Li to help him with mapping and she has volunteered to do that again for him on the HDT. Really a great thing to help future Haydukers! Anywho, back to today….
