Start: Sandridge Wash
Finish: Colorado City, Zion’s Backyard B&B
Daily Mileage: 10.7
Trip Mileage: 923.7
Elevation gain/loss: 341/409ft
Definitely not my best night out here, and my worst campsite by far. I did hear some coyotes howling and yipping early in the night, but after that, it didn’t bother me. I also saw two big dogs or wolves pass by my camp in the night. I saw their footprints in the morning, and they were enormous. Not sure what they were; I just saw a glimpse of white.
The wind did calm down overnight, but it came up again in the morning when I was packing up. It was pretty cold in the morning, below freezing for sure. Since I was heading into town, I just put on all my insulation layers except my puffy and set off down the flat, straight road. I did find some broken glass under my tent when I packed it up in the morning. That’s pretty awesome. I didn’t see any obvious damage to the tent though.
Not much to say about the walking today. I went down the perfectly straight, flat road for several more miles until I hit the highway. Then I turned and walked down the perfectly flat and straight highway for six more miles to get to Colorado City. Both were as uneventful as you would expect. I didn’t try to catch a ride to Colorado City since I thought I might do an alternate and hike through Colorado City.
When I got to town, the first thing I came across was the grocery store, which had a fast-food restaurant inside it and Wi-Fi and pretty much any grocery you can want. I got a burger as soon as the fast-food place opened, along with fries and a drink, and then I set out to do my shopping. I didn’t really need much food since I’ve only got two days to finish the trail. However, because I only have two days, I decided to have as much fresh food as possible since the weight doesn’t matter as much. Also, for my last night, I wanted to do something special. At the meat counter, I asked if they had a frozen ribeye. They did, and they vacuum-packed it for me. I’ll keep that in the freezer overnight and let it thaw during the day when I’m hiking tomorrow, along with stuff to go with it and a couple of other luxury items.
I called the B&B where I was staying to check out a couple of things, and Kristi said that she was actually headed to the grocery store shortly and she could just pick me up and check me in early. Can’t really beat that. Shortly, I was at the B&B, which also had laundry for the first time in 15 days. However, the very first thing I did was take a shower. Fifteen days is too long for that. I got all cleaned up and settled and figured out the logistics for the rest of my trip.
When my laundry was done, I went to the town brewery/pizza place. It was halfway between lunch and dinner, but I definitely got the hiker hunger, so that didn’t stop me from having another meal for sure. I had a 12-inch pizza and some beer. Then I headed back to the B&B because they invited me to join them for dinner: trout and a baked potato and some lemon cake for dessert. I had four meals today, plus my snacks—the life of a thru-hiker in town. Highly recommend Zion’s Backyard B&B.