Start: The Loop
Finish: Needles Outpost Campground
Daily Mileage: 6.7
Trip Mileage: 105.7
Elevation gain/loss: 308/280ft
I had to set myself up to nero (nearly a zero-mile hiking day) today, and thought I only had eight or nine miles left to go before I hit the Needles Visitor Center for Canyonlands National Park. I was up with my pack on as soon as it was light enough to see. I immediately hit a 4×4 track which would take me to the visitor center with a couple turns. I cruised down the 4×4 track with the notion of “town” in my head, not really looking around too much. It turns out that I was only about 4 miles from the visitor center and it was a very quick morning hike. Right as I got to the visitor center it started sprinkle, perfect timing!
I got my backcountry permit for the next day and pumped the ranger for some general trail info around the area since she did a lot of backcountry backpacking. I also got some of my lingering questions answered about a couple things I’d seen in the desert so far like the alkaline water and how to minimize damage the cryptobiotic soil which I have to occasionally cross. Then I hung out at the visitor center for a little bit to use their Wi-Fi for the first time in 5 days until it died. Then I headed over to The Needles Outpost which had my resupply package and where I would spend the day and night.
I got to The Needles Outpost really early and got my campsite and package and set myself up to sit around all day and not do too much. I’ve been on the trail for a week so I can take a nero!
I had checked with the store before I started my trip and they said they had denatured alcohol for my camp stove. When I got there, they said they had sold out, unfortunately. They didn’t really have any other options that would work in my stove. The store owner had one ancient looking can of Sterno which I thought could work good enough for my needs. Not ideal but you just have to go with the flow and take it as it comes when you’re thru-hiking.
I caught up on my internet, talked to some people, and read for most of the day. Since I didn’t have stove fuel and wasn’t sure how long the Sterno would last, I resorted to buying a couple cans of food from the camp store to eat cold for my dinner. Not the usual town stop hiker fare!
I got a refreshing 5-minute shower, the first one in 5 days after hiking in the heat which is great. However, there was no laundry so my clothes are still a shade of red / brown. And they probably still smell.
That’s about it for today, just a relaxing rest day. It did end up sprinkling about half the day so it was not a bad day to have off.