It has been a busy week! A week ago yesterday was my last day of work. I started my drive from Tucson, AZ on Sunday at 2 PM after handing in my keys to my apartment. Sunday night was spent camping in Sedona, AZ in Oak Creek Canyon. I arrived after dark and quickly realized I was not in the desert anymore! It was cold and snow was still covering the ground in patches. After a dinner of dehydrated chicken burrito and rice with tortillas, I quickly settled in for a chilly night in my 15-degree Marmot sleeping bag and my Tarptent Notch.
 |
| Sedona, AZ Camping |
On Monday I crossed the border into Utah but did not make it any farther than Bryce Canyon. I have wanted to explore this area for a long time and after delaying for many hours, I finally decided that this trip was not the time to get too deep into canyon country. I was on a mission and the PCT was calling me. I ended up doing a quick 2 mile hike into some of the most beautiful scenery in Bryce Canyon National Park - and I just barely scratched the surface. I am definitely planning a return trip to Bryce Canyon, Arches National Park and the many other brilliant places in southern Utah when I can devote more time to exploring these amazing landscapes.
 |
| "Hoodoos" in Bryce Canyon |
Monday night was spent camping in a flat spot off a dirt road west of Bryce Canyon. Dinner was Mac-n-Cheese shells with smoked salmon out of a tin-foil packet. Yummy! Temps were colder than the previous night as frost greeted me in the morning and my 2-gallon water bottle froze during the night.
 |
| Car Camping near Bryce Canyon, Southern Utah |
 |
| Hiking in Bryce Canyon |
Tuesday was a day of driving. Canyon country turned into pasture-land as I made my way up I-15 through Utah, south-eastern Idaho and finally into Montana by the end of the day. Montana is a lush and fertile place with streams and creeks running through valleys of cow and horse pastures surrounded by snow-capped peaks on all sides. These looked like the happiest cows alive! I wished I could stop and do some fishing and just enjoy the wide-open space. After searching for a motel in Butte, Montana and not wanting to pay $75/night for a Super-8 motel, I headed west about 15 miles and ended up at an RV campsite with about a half-dozen tent-only camping spots - none of them occupied. $23 paid for a site complete with a free shower! I'll take that over a Super-8 in a sleezy part of town any day! By Wednesday at 2 PM I was pulling into my mom's driveway in Spirit Lake, Idaho.
These last three days have been spent re-packaging all my resupply boxes, seam-sealing my tent, shopping for final supplies (more fuel cannisters, extra mini-bic lighters, Kathoola Micro-spikes ordered online and a new spork) and NOT shaving! With just a few days until I touch the border fence and start hiking north, I can say that I am as mentally and physically prepared as I will ever be for this journey.
I will share more when I am on the trail. Bring it on PCT!
