Heading East. in A small but passable life.

Since last I wrote, I’m still sitting here. I did manage to go to the pool for a couple of hours right before sunset last evening. The thermometer in the shade said it was 105 degrees. I was able to lie in the sun for a whole 15 minutes at a time before I had to jump in the water to cool off some.

I booked a flight back home for the 15th of October. It was supposed to be either the 20th or 22nd but something got messed up somewhere so when the confirmation number arrived by email it was the flight on the 15th for the same price- $74. Oh well.

I’ll have a decision to make when I return. Plan A: Shop on Friday the 16th and journey to the trailhead early on the 17th. Or Plan B: Wait to journey to the trailhead on the 23rd or 24th. Jassy has only Friday or Saturday mornings off work. and I’d like to get to the trailhead early enough to hike some miles before dark.

I’d like to be out of the woods by the time rifle deer season starts, which is the 14th of November. Even if I start at the later date I should have no problem. I should be able to hike the 211 miles in about two weeks. I don’t plan on any “zero mile” days.

Or Plan C: Blow off the Ozark Trail for this year. But hell, I’d rather try and fail than to not go for it.

And while I’ve been sitting here, mostly dinking on the interwebs, I came across another interesting trail- the Arizona Trail. It runs from the AZ/UT border south to the AZ/Mexico border. 800 miles! I found a youtube video of a guy that did it solo in 60 days:

So now I’m thinking . . . When would be the best time to start?

Anyway, midpoint on that trail is just right down the road a bit from where I’m now sitting.

I also found a video of a guy that did 92 miles in the Superstitions in 7 days:

And that area is just across the highway from here.

And yes, Mom would have a shit-fit about me doing anything “out in the desert” alone.

Anyway, I’m heading home, throwing a couple of weeks worth of grub into the Tatoosh backpack and then heading out. I’m ready for some true Fall weather. All I need to buy is grub and some stove fuel. If I can afford some batteries I may take that old video recorder I used to make those other videos years ago. It may be more hassle than it’s worth though. We’ll see.

We had out of town visitors show up Friday. An uncle and his wife. He’s Moms only sibling left out of five. And a cousin and her husband. She’s the daughter of Mom’s only sister. Since they are all closer to Mom’s age than mine I’ve let them go off and do “old people stuff”. They’ve mostly been going through boxes of old pictures and eating too much. Mom woke up grumpy this morning from not sleeping well last night because of eating too much yesterday. You’d think she’s old enough to know better.

The moon thing is supposed to start at 6:07pm AZ time this evening. We’re going to go out and see if we can see this event. I’m kinda hoping the moon will rise over the mountains. That would be cool.

Anyway, the brownies I’m baking are smelling good. I think I’ll go turn on the oven light and gaze at the deliciousness for the last few minutes of cook time!

Last updated September 27, 2015