8-24-06
Start: Somewhere on Lockhart Basin Rd., UT
Destination: .6 mi. from UT 211
Elevation: 5630 ft.
Miles: 26.7
Weather: Scattered storms
This was the hardest two-day stretch we've had so far. It was tough. This morning we knew we had underestimated how much water we were going to use, so we were already conserving. We each started out with only 2 liters each and we had over 20 miles in the heat to hike. Not cool.
We actually got on the trail at 5:30 am - we couldn't see a darn thing. The only way I knew where the trail was, was by spotting the sage brush lining the jeep road with my headlamp. It got light enough to turn our lights off at about 6:30.
We didn't stop at all today except for a few short snack, water, and shade breaks. We were really getting nervous about our water shortage when we had about 12 - 15 more miles, and almost no water left. It had rained this morning in some places, so we came across a puddle on a rock. We scooped it up and filled one of our liter bottles. It was orange, but with a couple of purification tablets, it was gold to us! Mom and I took turns chugging it until it was gone. It didn't taste too bad - a little like mud, a little like iodine, and it had a gritty texture to it. But it felt good to drink!
Then about an hour later, we heard an engine. JEEPS! We flagged them to stop, and I walked up and said, "Do you have any water you could spare?" I realize now that it may have been nice to at least introduce myself. Oops. Anyway, there were two jeeps (the only life we saw all day), and 3 guys among them. They got out and filled our bottles with not just water - ICE COLD water! They let us chug until our tummies hurt, then filled us up again. Then they gave us each a cold Gatorade on top of it! Trail angels - and guess where they were from? Wisconsin! Isn't that cool!? Fellow Wisconsinites to the rescue - in the middle of the hot canyons of Utah - weird...
It's kind of humiliating asking for water, but it had to be done. We just didn't realize how fast we drink when we're hiking under the blazing hot sun. Now we know!
We hiked our butts off today to get to UT 211 at 6 pm - that's where Grandpa and Mary were meeting us tonight. We went as fast as our legs could carry us all day. Grandpa actually stated up our road at 6:30, and .6 miles in he met us. We weren't going one step further. We'll do that .6 to the highway tomorrow!
So tomorrow we hike a short 10-12 miles. Then I'm meeting with a guy from Montecello that G'pa and Mary coordinated. They were running for us all day! This guy knows our trails, and said he'd have someone drop water for us, and even check on us while we're out there! I'm excited to meet him and get our (lots of) water drops set. Our support team is doing a great job for us! Grandma made brats, pasta salad and strawberry shortcake for us for dinner! YUM!
I'm pretty proud of mom and I for hiking 47 miles in two days in the conditions we had (bad storms today, too). But I am certainly feeling it right now. I'm so tired that my eyes sting and my stomach hurts. So off to bed!
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