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At times, hiking and backpacking is fun - that's what it's
supposed to be, since it all falls under that thing called "recreation". Other
times, though, it ceases to be fun when it becomes more work than it is worth.
That is how I view the Highline Trail #31: too much work, and not enough
enjoyment.
In order to blow a week of vacation time, John announced that he wanted to do
some hiking. (It was either that or give him $700 of money we didn't have so
that he could spend the whole week skydiving - I think not!) At first, he
wanted to do a solo trip: five days alone in the backcountry, hiking the
entire length of the Highline Trail. Pardon me for worrying, but it is my
personal belief that NO ONE should hike alone, unless you seriously have a
death wish (John's editorial -- bullshit! now back to Heather). I've heard too
many stories of hikers dying out in the wild while hiking alone, and I
certainly didn't want that to happen to my husband.
As a compromise, John decided to take his father with him on the hike. With
that problem solved, though, there was still a whole barrage of problems that
needed to be sorted out. 1) How were they going to get to the 260 Trailhead?
2) Who was going to pick them up at the Pine Trailhead after the hike? 3) What
if they decided to give up - shouldn't they have a vehicle at the midpoint of
their trek? 4) How were they going to carry six days worth of food and
clothing between the two of them? 5) What about me? I wanted to go, too, but I
didn't have any vacation time.
It took an entire month of planning, with some arguing here and there, to
finally sort out all of those details. They finally decided to plan the trip
so that it would begin on a weekend - that way, Erika and I could join them
for the first leg of their journey. With us there, they wouldn't have to carry
as much food with them, because we would be there to carry the food for the
first two days. Of course, that started a whole series of Sherpa jokes to
which I took offense - I was there to have fun, not to work!
Unfortunately, the whole hike was just that: WORK! Even before we could hit
the trail, we spent several hours shuffling cars between trailheads. First of
all, we parked Bill's van at the Washington Park Trailhead, which was the
midpoint of the hike (where they could bail out if they needed to). Then, we
parked Erika's car at the Horton Creek Picnic Site, where we would retrieve it
Sunday morning. Finally, we parked John's van at the 260 Trailhead, off of
Highway 260. After Erika and I were done hiking, we would have to return to
the 260 Trailhead and move the van to the Pine Trailhead, where it would be
waiting for them should they complete the entire fifty-one mile length of the
trail. Whew!
While we were waiting for Bill and John to arrive at the Horton Creek Picnic
Site, Erika and I decided to take a drive up to the Fish Hatchery, which was
still closed due to the early hour of the morning. Upon turning around to
return to the picnic area, we saw an elk cross the road. Then, after returning
to the picnic area, she and I took an early morning stroll to Tonto Creek,
where we found a dead skunk - he sure was a stinky fellow! Needless to say, we
didn't stay long enough to enjoy his aroma - not to mention it was kind of
chilly outside. We ended up sitting in the car, with the heat running, for
most of the wait. Fortunately, they arrived sooner than expected, and by 8:30,
we were on our way to the Two-Sixty Trailhead.
With that said and done, we began hiking at 9:00 a.m. Saturday morning,
October 2 - ironically, that is the one year anniversary of our first
backpacking trip (into West Clear Creek #17). We were getting started earlier
than we thought. Our original plan was to hike only to See Canyon that day,
but John decided that we could go further than that. (That would, of course,
enable them to make better progress towards their goal.) Fortunately, the
first leg of the trail, up to See Canyon, was very easy. It took us less than
three hours to reach the See Canyon.
We stopped in See Canyon for lunch - and so that John could filter water. We
were still seven miles from our next water source - Horton Creek - so it was
important that we top off our camelbacks and fill up both of our water jugs in
order to have enough water to get through the next day. However, the way we
were going through water, I had a feeling that it just wouldn't be enough.
Erika was already suffering from heat exhaustion and had drunk most of the
water in her camelback, and John's bladder was almost completely empty by the
time we arrived at See Canyon. John, on the other hand, was convinced that we
could make it all the way to Horton Creek by the day's end, so he never gave
the water situation a second thought.
After See Canyon, the trail became more difficult. From 260 to See Canyon, the
trail had been mostly flat, with only a few ups and downs. Then, upon leaving
the See Canyon Trailhead, the first half mile of the trail was a steep climb
uphill. Over the next three miles, we encountered one steep climb after
another. Eventually, by the eighth mile, all of us - with the exception of
John - were becoming weary. Though John still wanted to make it to Horton
Creek, he announced that we would set up camp at the next site we found and
call it a day.
Just before finding that campsite, while I was scouting ahead to try to find a
suitable spot to call it quits for the day, I encountered a pair of women who
stopped me to ask me for help. These two - a pair of school teachers from Mesa
- were totally lost and had run out of water and they needed to get back to
Kohl's Ranch before dark. We came to find out that neither one of them had
ever hiked before and that they had not bothered mapping out their route prior
to beginning their hike. After dropping our packs off at our campsite, John
and Bill offered to hike with them to the
Derrick Trail #33, which would take
them back to the Upper Tonto Creek Campground. As the four of them left, I
remarked to Erika, "Those two women have no business being on the trail."
Please, people! If you're going to hike, don't be stupid! Take enough water,
wear the proper boots and clothes, and for God's sake, take a map! And if
you're inexperienced, start small and work your way up to the bigger
challenges. And if you can't handle that, then, for your own sake, STAY OFF OF
THE TRAIL! Hiking can be dangerous - and yes, even fatal - if not done
properly.
I've made my point. I'll get off of my soapbox now.
So John and Bill rescued these two hikers and took them to the Derrick Trail
junction, which was 1.5 miles from our camp - we thought that we were closer
to the trail junction, but we weren't! They were gone so long that Erika and I
went looking for them, and we found them as they were on their way back. By
that time, Bill was dehydrated and getting a little delirious - they weren't
planning on being gone so long, so they didn't bring water with them! That
incident frightened us a little; John even thought about aborting the trip if
his father didn't feel any better in the morning.
After setting up camp, we relaxed and ate dinner, and it wasn't long after
that that we decided to retire for the evening. Utterly exhausted, we all
crawled into our tents and fell asleep.
In the morning, I awoke to a screaming backache - not the kind of thing you
want to have in the backcountry, especially when you still have a long way to
go and a lot of crap to carry out on your back. We were also faced with
another problem: we didn't have a whole lot of water, and most of the
camelback bladders were empty. Erika and I still had a half a bladder each, so
Bill and John used what was left of the water to fill up theirs so that they
could make it to Horton Creek. Then, we proceeded to drop camp.
Dropping camp meant that it was time for Bill and John to figure out what they
were going to carry with them and what they were going to give to us to carry
out. We were going to have to carry out one of the tents and some other
things, and they would be taking the food from us. I was dreading that part,
because I had a feeling that I would be stuck carrying out a pack that would
be too heavy for me, but as it turned out, my pack wasn't heavy at all. Even
with my bad shoulder (in which I have tendonitis), I could still lift the
thing and put it on my back myself.
One question still remained, though: which route would Erika and I take to get
back to the car? Having looked at the map, she and I decided that our best bet
would be to take the Derrick Trail #33 back to the car. However, Bill and John
argued that we should stay with them all the way to Horton Creek - which was
about four miles away - so that we could refill our camelback bladders. From
there, we would still have a four mile hike back to the car, making it an
eight mile day.
Before the actual decision was made (though, as far as I was concerned, the
decision was already made!), I went to put my pack on and discovered that my
bladder tube had leaked - I now had an empty camelback bladder, and there was
no extra water to spare! You can bet that, at that point, I was so frustrated
that all I wanted to do was go home. (Sore back and legs, no coffee, and now
no water? And, on top of that, I was experiencing the onset of the worst
"estrogen-moment" of my life, though I didn't know it at the time...yes, there
were a few tears shed that morning.)
John sacrificed enough water to last me until we reached the car. That was
also when they decided that Erika and I should take the Derrick Trail back to
the Horton Creek Picnic Site. So, at the Derrick Trail junction, we said our
good-byes to the men. Then, we completed our short hike back to the car.
In all, it only took us two hours from the time we left camp to the time we
reached the car. We were done hiking so early that we decided to stop in
Christopher Creek to have breakfast and coffee. After eating - and drinking
coffee - I was much happier.
There was still work to be done before we could head home. There was still the
matter of moving John's van to the Pine Trailhead. However, we accomplished
this so efficiently that we were ready to leave Pine by noon. And thus we left
the high country, leaving our men to brave the elements for several more days.
Monday morning at work, I received a call from John, who said that they had
decided to give up. Their reason was that the Dude Fire area, which spanned
about ten miles, would have been too brutally hot for them. The area still has
not fully recovered, and as a result, the trail is too exposed, which would
have made it too hot for them to hike for extended periods of time. They did,
however, remain on the Mogollon Rim for two more days and day hike the
remaining thirty miles of the trail, using the vans to shuttle themselves
between the trailheads. At night, they car camped at Washington Park. I'm glad
that they did it that way, because isn't it better that they come home safe
and sound than not at all? |
