Alternate Title: Plan Goes Awry AGAIN...
Today started out good and with a plan...this whole leg has not gone according to plan and we are two days ahead of schedule. That has thrown us off permit in the Grand Canyon and I am normally particular about that, but in talking with rangers to get permits, it seems that they are understanding about Haydukers and how difficult it can be with all the variables over such long legs. Being two days ahead is great in my book and I'm excited to take a zero to catch up on things before we head out on a pretty difficult 10 day stretch on the north rim. In theory, I can pitch a tent anywhere, but in the Grand Canyon, there are long stretches of very exposed areas and it has been windy with chances of rain or storms each day. The goal for today was to try for a 21mi day. That's more than we'd ideally want to do, but choices were limited given the non-exposed camping options and how that would set us up for the following day. Gavin and I have different hiking styles and mine (go all day without stopping much) tends to wear on people over time. Gavin is reaching that limit and we are both trying to accommodate to meet somewhat in the middle...but more on my end. I knew 21 was ambitious, but I tend to force goals regardless of sanity and sometimes I find it fun to see what I can do. Gavin likes that sometimes too, but we each need to do it our own way to make it happen. I go straight through with few breaks and he stretches the day out more with breaks factored in. It has not been easy for either one of us to adjust, but we are both trying...We started out at 7am with more of the Beamer Trail. It was much different than yesterday and was not so much on the ledges of the Colorado. It was low and on the beach more in sand. Underwhelming, but smooth enjoyable morning hiking.
Then we got on the Escalante Route. It took us high along the cliffs looking down on the Colorado and also came off the edge and wound back some too. The miles are reportedly 25% longer than noted in the Hayduke maps and we found it to be true. By lunch, we had to reset our goal to a location at 19mi, which seemed totally doable. We were both happy that we were finally meeting in the middle, making good miles, and both doing it comfortably...we knew it was too good to be true.
Right after lunch, we had a steep hike up and then we were going to drop back down relatively quickly. The trail would along the top of a canyon there were a pile of logs blocking the trail. Gavin mentioned it, looked for another option, didn't see anywhere else to go, and headed on over the logs. I did the same and looked at the GPS track a bit to make sure it was on track. It was a bit off, but close and it had been like that for many of the Grand Canyon trails. I put it in my pocket and spaced out for a bit taking in the awesome views from high above. I then remembered that we should have gone down by this time, so I checked the GPS again and we were well off by half a mile. Dang it! I yelled up to Gavin and we took a minute to look at the map and tracks. It noted a high and low trail, so we figured we were on the high trail and decided to keep enjoying the great views and hike on. Here is a shot from above looking down on where we are headed.
Then we cliffed out and couldn't go any further. We checked the map to now see the small note we both missed about going DOWN the pouroff into the narrows we had passed a mile back. Ugh! We were doing so well! We hiked back and went down the picturesque narrows (having lost 1hr 20mins) and then realized that the comment about the low and high trail referred to the low and high part of the beach, UGH! While we were up there, Gavin found a really nice camera that was shockproof and waterproof. We hit the power button and it actually worked with the last photos having been taken almost exactly a year ago. Put out the word for anyone who lost a LUMIX camera last year up on the cliffs between 75 Mile and Papago Creeks. Here is the narrows and a photo pointing to the cliff we were up on instead of the beach. It was a BIG mistake!
On a side note, I want to mention something about the water in the Colorado River. It is definitely not thirst quenching and we can't quite describe why. It's just flat and almost seems to make me more thirsty. Gavin's been putting flavoring in it to help drink more. Also, it's pretty gross to think about all that is in this river and I don't even want to put my feet in it. In particular, the park asks that you just pee directly into the river rather than on the beaches or campground areas because of how dry it is here. There's no way it will dilute or wash away on the dry ground, so that's what people do. I've witnessed men and women doing it and that really brings it home. We are all pulling water from the communal pissing tank. Thank goodness for the Sawyer Squeeze filter! I just can't help but think of this everytime I take a gulp of piss water!