It really is ridiculous how quickly town days go. I had a double zero here in Kanab and would love another double just to get more done. I still need that big ol’ pause button of life, but I’ve done enough to stay afloat and need to be okay with that. If I keep repeating that to myself, maybe I’ll believe it! There will always be something to perfect in my mind, so I have to let things go. This double zero couldn’t have been more perfectly timed! I’ve put off a lot with little Internet or phone in the first month of this trip and caught up on a lot. There was a good deal of planning needed to get permits figured out for the Grand Canyon and the details of a side alternate loop we’ll be doing the next five days. Thankfully, Gavin likes looking at maps and looked at that stuff as I just look at it and want to throw it…
I am just 5lbs under weight and kept a constant level of fullness making sure I ate whenever a hint of hunger arrived. I got to catch up on my chocolate milk deficit. Even while eating my leftover Mexican food. I love chocolate milk even with Mexican food!
The last two mornings, I’ve tried to get a permit for The Wave. Only 20 people a day get to go and there is a lottery each morning for the following day. 10 already have permits online and only 10 are chosen each day out of usually at least 100 applicants…but the catch is that each applicant can have up to 6 people on the application (one person per group can apply), so there is a chance only two people will be drawn and all 10 slots will be taken. I will try one more time tomorrow morning before we leave as we will hike right by the entrance this leg. Many Haydukers “poach” it early in the morning, but it just isn’t something I’m comfortable with. I support the lottery process which is there to preserve The Wave. I’m not into the entitled thru hiker thing and really don’t think we are any different than people who travel from across the world and try for a lottery spot just because we hiked here. So, one more shot tomorrow and if we don’t get the permit, it will be something to look forward to another day in life. Here’s the process with people gathering and lottery balls being drawn. It takes about 30mins each morning.
I also took these days to skype with my sis and nephews who couldn’t all smile in one shot at once, ha! I also got to catch up with a couple friends over the phone and that was great:)
Our host Tumbleweed has gotten to experience the “wiredness” as I try to do more than I should all at the same time and it wore her out just watching it. Just being around me, she had to call Lori to bring over a beer or two for her to take the edge off, ha! Tumbleweed cracks me up! Great sense of humor!
Lori has been our town chauffeur the last two days and that has been awesome! She will also be dropping us off and picking us up for our loop this week, which is a real time saver! Lori and Tumbleweed are even going to go to Moab this week to get my car and I’ll have it to run errands when we return to Kanab after this bonus loop of the Buckskin/Paria bonus alternate. Then Tumbleweed will meet me in Zion in a month when I finish the Hayduke. Just so seamlessly wonderful! We had a really fun time here and felt totally at home. Gavin and I made dinner tonight for all of us to finish out the double zero. THANK YOU TUMBLEWEED AND LORI!!!
It rained much of the day today…real rain! The timing of this double zero couldn’t have been better! It will help our water sources, but our narrows will be much higher in a couple days when we go through. Nothing terrible, but definitely more water.
A few things I’ve been meaning to mention while I have the time to type on a keyboard…Lots have emailed and commented about the “alkaline” water I’ve mentioned on this trail and that I should just add acid or baking soda or something…it isn’t just that it’s alkaline, it’s that there are a lot of minerals, like salt that cannot be removed to my understanding. No matter what you do, the minerals and salt will still be there to give you the runs. I don’t know the science of it, but that’s my explanation in Wired terms.
Some have asked about my tent zipper that got ruined with all the sand. While in Tropic, I rinsed it out real well and got a pair of pliers and squeezed the zipper tigher slightly and it’s worked ever since. We have been in less sand, so hopefully it will work the rest of the trip.
I didn’t get to watch Greys Anatomy! Really not happy about it and will watch one or two episodes tonight, but it will have to wait, ugh! I think I know what happened in the finale as it was impossible not to see it all over the internet and Facebook. I sadly have not seen hardly any of Survivor this season either. I really thought I’d get more down time on this hike. I know it sounds horrible to talk tv while on the trail, but it’s just fun for me and I miss it greatly. I’ll be catching up later this summer for sure I hope!
Ok, off to get things finalized and hopefully watch some Greys!
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