So what are you doing? Well before I answer that question, let us start out with a little bit of music. Go ahead and start listening to “Space Oddity” by David Bowie.
The last two years were rough for everybody, in the grand scheme of things I turned out okay given all that has happened but I certainly didn't end up where I thought I would. I expected to live a more traditional life after the CDT, move to a new city, get a good job, settle down, get a house, take up woodworking, yell at neighborhood kids for being too loud…you know adult things. Unfortunately that all didn’t exactly work out the way I had hoped for, so I am doing what makes me happy. For the past 6 months, I have brainstormed a list of potential adventures, the list was long and some of it was kind of silly (yes attempting to hike all of the major trails in one year was originally on the list (yes people have done it)). I managed to whittle down the list to a more reasonable level and came up with the following- None of it is set in stone but it looks like this: Take the months of February and March off to learn to downhill ski in Tahoe (I dont completely eat snow anymore). In April and May, I will hike the Hayduke trail (more on that in a minute). Mid-June to August I am going to ride my bike 2,700 miles from Banff, Canada to the US-Mexican border along the Great Divide Route. Then I am going to try and sneak in 200 miles on the Sierra High Route before meeting up with my Dad in Reno to hike 165 miles on the Tahoe Rim Trail for a few weeks ( I promise not to kill him) before then setting off for the Wind River High Route in Early September. Assuming Winter didn’t come early I am going to then mountain bike 500 miles on the Colorado trail and play in CO hiking up a bunch of 14ers and fly fishing in early October before I call it a season unless I get a wild hair and add something else to the list.
The previous long trails I have hiked on were all a part of the National Scenic Trail system (NST), the Hayduke is definitely not part of the NST and is more of a route than a trail. It is a remote desert hike across the Colorado Plateau. The Hayduke was originally created by Joe Mitchel and Mike (no relation) Coronella in 1998. The original route is about 800 miles long, I have added some alternates that will put it closer to 950 miles long. While hiking I will go through 6 national parks (Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, and Zion) Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Grand-Staircase-Escalante National Monument, and numerous wilderness and Primitive areas. It is a very desolate hike making resupplies difficult. My good friend Lizzy will be driving me out to the start of the trail and on the drive out we will be caching about half of my resupplies by burying buckets of food and water along the way.
Soooooo…. how do you prepare for a “random route across the remote desert”? Well, I am glad you asked. Step 1 is to comsume too much coffee and have panic attacks about hiking a random route across the remote desert. Step 2 is read a bunch of blogs and the Hayduke guide book by Joe and Mike (which ill actually be carrying). The book is more like a vague MapQuest and a lot of the blogs only give what are known as “bread crumbs” and you have to piece together (the some times contradictory) information. Part of the lore of the Hayduke is there isn’t a ton of information out there and a lot of research and planning needs to be done before you start out on the journey. With that being said, there is actually a documentary on the Hayduke that I recommend which gives you a glimpse into the terrain called “Figuring it out on the Hayduke”, crack a beer and watch it and let me know what you think. Only time will tell if I did enough prep work, I keep wavering back and forth if I am setup for success or holy unprepared.
Quintessential Hayduke Overview
My GPX Map that will help me navigate across the plateau with alternates.