Miles Hiked: 27.8
AZT Progress: 766.8
Last night I could hear coyotes howling and when I popped my head up to look around I could see them running across the snow field on the other side of the road. It was so cool to see! I’ve only ever heard the coyotes or seen them but never have gotten to watch them howl and run at the same time. Everything was frozen and the morning air was freezing. I barely slept at all. I was shivering all night despite using both my new sleeping bag liner and two hand warmers. My water bottles were frozen and my sleeping bag had a layer of frost on it. Even once I started moving my legs were freezing until about two hours in. Once the sun was up and warming the pavement, I took a break at a pull out to dry out my sleeping bag. The snow was slowly subsiding on the sides of the road and I wondered how getting back on the trail would be. Once I could see it next to the road I tried to hike on it a bit but quickly changed my mind once I started post holing. At this point the road just seemed like the best option. Martin caught up to me 12 miles into the day at Telephone Hill trailhead. We hiked the rest of the afternoon together. Finally the trail was closer to the road again and we could see it completely dry. Martin decided to get back on it and I followed him. It was amazing to be back on dirt again after all of the pavement. There were still patches of snow here and there but it was nothing compared to the snow we saw earlier in the day! We made it to the Orderville Trailhead at highway 89 around 4pm where we hitched for 10 minutes before getting a ride 2 miles to Jacob Lake Inn from a former thru hiker. At the Inn we got a room, dinner, and I got some more snacks for the last day on trail tomorrow. The Inn had cookies that I heard were some of the best, they were so good that I got four chocolate chips!
Happy Trails!
-Early Bird
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