No alarm today, but sleeping in to recuperate from yesterdays grind. I woke a little after 0700. I took my time to get ready and after filling up my water bottles at the nearby river, I was the last one to leave. Today Grizz would meet up with a buddy of his (Miles) who would later join the large group of hikers at the campsite. We’d been talking about this the previous day, but for some reason it wasn’t really clear to me where we’d get off trail, to meet-up all together.
This resulted in me getting off trail at an RV-park close to the trail. Only to find out there were no other hikers there. Without cell-phone service and no way to contact them, I got ice-cream and lemonade instead and headed back to the trail. About 3 miles North there was another side-trail leading to a restaurant. Maybe I’d catch them there. Indeed when I arrived at the patio, all the hikers were gathered outside, ordering lunch. Happy to get a warm meal I joined them.
Being the last one to arrive, I was once more the last one to leave. I hiked only a mile alone though, because there was a nice little attraction along the trail: A large underground tunnel, created by lava-flows from volcanic activity some 20.000 years ago. Everybody got out their headlamps and descended into the dark and surprisingly cool caves. It was a pretty exciting experience! The rocks on both the floor and the ceiling were jagged and sharp, and the cave had a magical air to it. It felt reviving to be surrounded by cool air for a change.
Because this is a popular attraction, getting big crowds on weekends, there was a parking lot with a water-spigot. I filled up on a lot of water because it would be approximately 15 miles to where we’d catch up with Grizz’ friend. Miles had brought with him several gallons of water for us to stock up on tomorrow. This was a great relief, otherwise it would have been almost a 30-mile water-carry. Anticipating not again being the last one to arrive, I was the first one to leave the caves. Also, a lot of the hikers had emptied the contents of their packs into Miles’ truck, so that they could slack-pack the 15 miles into camp. Since I feel I came out here here to carry my own gear, I kept my pack as is and even increased its weight with several liters of water.
And so began the long and late afternoon hike through a landscape of smoke and ash. Thee aftermath of bye forest fire eradicated land.
These last 15 miles were once again not easy, but I put my head down, music on and because the terrain was fairly level I managed to bang out the miles pretty fast. There was even a very welcome surprise along the way; Trail-magic!! I got a cold and refreshing coke and a fresh orange for breakfast tomorrow! After the short intermezzo I hiked the last 2 hours without stopping, of which the last hour through the dark. Around 2130 I finally saw the dim lights of the hikers that had passed me earlier. Pretty shattered again, I sunk down on the ground to have dinner. Following up the 34-mile day with a 28-mile day had not been easy, but my legs carried me through again. Time for bed now, yessss!
Woke up cold, the smell of smoke and ash
Of fires bright and burned away
Your notes still ringing in my ears, I guess
A choir louder every day
All my words are caught beneath my tongue,
All my lines still hid somewhere deep in my lungs and,
Oh, my chest says it’s not over just yet
Oh, my mind guesses; it’s not clear, ask again
Both my feet seem to wanna lead straight to your door
But oh my eyes see you’re not here anymore
Smoke and Ash – Canyon City
