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Mud Puddle / Re: The Grand Enchantment Trail, Volume Three: No, I’m Not Addicted… Really
« Last post by Brad Young on March 23, 2025, 07:56:33 AM »Day Two:
It’s never fun to wake up with wet gear. But the gear had served its purpose; we all stayed dry and warm (except for condensation which can be considerable with one person and two dogs, or even in a bivy sack/mini-tent):
Although our stuff was damp, and so was the desert, the prediction was for “clearing.” The day’s hike promised to be quite nice:
Up and around a side hill and canyon (very pretty) before crossing under the huge power lines we’d been seeing for miles:
A little supplementary breakfast on a knoll, and then… another eight miles of basically flat desert (with some downs and ups out of occasional washes):
Hiking through this area struck me as the desert equivalent of what we call “forest marching” on the PCT. More of the same and more of the same on the way to a goal (continuing to make milage on the trail). It isn’t very exciting, but it can be satisfying.
It’s a telltale sign of such hiking that a clump of boulders deserves a special name and designation on the map (“The Boulders”):
A break at the gas pipeline road:
Clearing now, we’re slowly stripping off layers:
We spot the trailhead and then Vicki (she's the little white dot, up and left from center):
And the dogs spot Vicki too:
We drop packs off at Jon's truck and walk another two-tenths to another road crossing and we’re done for the day. A very interesting 25 or so miles with very not-hot conditions. And the National Weather Service tells us that nice temperatures and clear skies are to come:
It’s never fun to wake up with wet gear. But the gear had served its purpose; we all stayed dry and warm (except for condensation which can be considerable with one person and two dogs, or even in a bivy sack/mini-tent):
Although our stuff was damp, and so was the desert, the prediction was for “clearing.” The day’s hike promised to be quite nice:
Up and around a side hill and canyon (very pretty) before crossing under the huge power lines we’d been seeing for miles:
A little supplementary breakfast on a knoll, and then… another eight miles of basically flat desert (with some downs and ups out of occasional washes):
Hiking through this area struck me as the desert equivalent of what we call “forest marching” on the PCT. More of the same and more of the same on the way to a goal (continuing to make milage on the trail). It isn’t very exciting, but it can be satisfying.
It’s a telltale sign of such hiking that a clump of boulders deserves a special name and designation on the map (“The Boulders”):
A break at the gas pipeline road:
Clearing now, we’re slowly stripping off layers:
We spot the trailhead and then Vicki (she's the little white dot, up and left from center):
And the dogs spot Vicki too:
We drop packs off at Jon's truck and walk another two-tenths to another road crossing and we’re done for the day. A very interesting 25 or so miles with very not-hot conditions. And the National Weather Service tells us that nice temperatures and clear skies are to come:
