April 11, 2022
- Start: DeMotte Park Camp (AZ Hwy 67 )
- End: Jacob Lake (mile 754.8)
- Distance: 26 miles
The weather forecast wasn’t wrong. The air was frigid last night, making me glad I’d protected anything vulnerable to the cold deep inside my sleeping bag. My contact lenses… My water filter… I’d even thrust one of my water bottles into a waterproof sock and then buried it deep in my quilt to ensure I had enough thawed water for breakfast this morning.
As I crawled out of my tent, it was a cold, breezy morning. And deep down, I knew it was only going to get worse as this cold front pushed through with the snowstorm behind it. I’d need to start the day with a steaming hot cup of coffee to get myself through the mental block that had me just wanting to burrow down into my quilt and wishing it all away.
ROADWALKING
Our plan today was to try to make it all the way to Jacob Lake before the impending snowstorm rolled in. But that meant a big day of walking. 26 miles to be exact. And I suspected most of it would be on the paved asphalt, just like yesterday. It was going to be a roadwalking extravaganza!
Elliot and I were both packed up and completely ready to go by 7:20, but it took Volt an extra 25 minutes to get his shit together. He seemed to be moving super slow this morning, which would turned into a theme for him today.
Today was also the first time in nearly 750 miles that I found myself needing wear my down jacket while hiking. Normally my rain jacket layered over my sun shirt is a warm enough combination to deal with the cold morning hours on the AZT. But today, it was just so cold and windy that I absolutely needed something more. It was the ultimate reminder that we were at high elevation even if the terrain didn’t immediately appear like we were in the mountains.
Elliot and I were making good time and easily walking close to 3.5 miles per hours on the rolling hills and flats of the Kaibab Plateau. Our only real impediment was the crosswind blasting us from the west. And unfortunately, it seemed as if the wind’s intensity was picking up with each mile of progress we made.
There was absolutely nothing out here on the landscape to slow the wind down either. Trees were sparse. There were few hills. The surrounding environment was as wide open as a midwest prairie. And the constant barrage of wind, with gusts above 40 mph, pounded into me as if it was trying to blow me across the road like a tumbleweed.
Within 30 minutes of our start, Volt was no longer even in sight behind us. He dropped back on his own and seemed to be noticeably quieter this morning. Something was definitely off with him, but I couldn’t put my finger on it and didn’t want to push him.
If I had to guess, I suspect he’s feeling the doldrums because we’re are almost at the end of this adventure. We only have another two or three days left until we reach the Utah border. Then he has to return home to ordinary life again.
The end of a first thru-hike is always hard. It leaves you with a lot to feelings to digest. The trail changes you. But maybe I’m just projecting my own feelings onto the end of his journey. His slow pace could simply be that he’s utterly bored by this insanely long roadwalk after those epic views inside the Grand Canyon!
THE WIND
A bit before 9 am, Elliot briefly stopped beside the road to get some water from one of the snow melt ponds. When I saw what he was doing, I checked my bottles too. But I made the decision to keep walking when I confirmed I still had a liter left. The bitter cold was just too much for me to linger and keep him company.
Up ahead, the snow was thinning out on the landscape and seemed to disappear at times. But the wind whipping around us was just ridiculous in both its ferocity and its temperature. Any doubt I remaining in my mind about whether the snowstorm was still inbound has been erased by the brutal cold pushing through. Winter was not done with us yet, it seemed.
I trudged on by myself until mid-morning when I finally found some shelter in a copse of trees. It was the first substantial obstacle to break the wind enough that I could actually stop and eat something. Yet when Elliot caught back up to me, it was still cold enough that both of us remain bundled up in our down coats and our rain pants to stay warm. And that was pretty much how we would stay dressed all day.
Fighting with the wind seemed to drain my energy. I felt as if I was locked in a battle with this invisible force that was pushing me sideways, and there were times when it took all my effort to remain upright and put one foot in front of the next. The wind was like a determined adversary today, but I wasn’t going to let it win, dammit! I would keep walking for as many miles as it took to get to Jacob Lake.
Just before noon, Elliot and I made it to the AZT’s Telephone Hill trailhead and decided to stop for a break. Trees were non-existent here, so we huddled down on the ground using the trailhead’s bear box to break the wind as we ate lunch among the sun-bleached bones scattered around us.
I got a tiny bit of cell service during the stop, and my first goal was to check if Jacob Lake Inn had availability this evening. But I couldn’t seem to get their webpage to load, so we’d have to just wing it and hope they had at least one open room when we showed up unannounced this evening.
My single bar of connectivity did allow me to check the weather though and the news wasn’t good. The snow was still heading our way and there was a current high wind advisory for the area warning people to tie any unsecured objects down. The wind was blowing at 30-40 mph, with gusts up to 65 mph this afternoon. Great, I sighed to myself. Just awesome. More wind.
Wind Burned
The remainder of the afternoon was pretty unspectacular. Elliot and I continued to battle the cold wind and force our way north as a slow and steady pace. The snow thinned out to patchiness as we trod on the pavement through a large burn area spanning both sides of the road.
We considered trying to get back on the the AZT, which paralleled the highway within our line of sight, but it didn’t seem worth the effort. There were still patches of snow and ice on the trail. And a hand-lettered sign affixed to a folding traffic barricade (that the wind had blown flat) directed AZT hikers to detour to Highway 67 anyway. So we pounded the pavement, mile after mile, as the soles of our feet grew more sore.
At one point, I was walking along in a daze when an animal bolted full speed across the road. It was barely 30 feet in front of Elliot and me, but it happened so fast that we turned to each other to confirm what we’d seen. Had that been a coyote? Or a gray wolf? Neither of us could tell. It was moving too quick.
At the Murray Lake trailhead, we wandered down the tree-lined forest service road in search of bathrooms were we could empty our bladders without the wind assaulting us. But the pit toilets were locked, so we returned to the road and continued walking north on the boring highway shoulder.
It was just a dreadfully boring day. The scenery was lackluster. The wind was too fierce to listen to headphones or even hold a conversation. The only thing we could do was walk, and walk, and walk.
As we closed in on the tiny town of Jacob Lake, Elliot briefly detoured off the asphalt once again for a side trip to the Jacob Lake lookout tower. The metal structure climbed 80 feet into the sky and loomed over the landscape like the Grandview fire tower back near Tusayan.
Elliot was bold enough to drop his pack and ascend up to the cab at the top, but I was having none of it. There was no way I was climbing up that open tower in this brutal wind.
JACOB LAKE
And then we were just a single mile away from Jacob Lake. It was 4 pm and we’d walked a full marathon (26 miles) in the icy wind. But we made it!! And now all we needed to do was find out if there was vacancy in the motel.
The unincorporated community of Jacob Lake is a mere speck on the northern Kaibab plateau. There are few reasons to even stop here if you aren’t headed to the Grand Canyon, and even fewer full-time residents. In fact the only real structures there were the North Kabab visitor center, a tiny Chevron gas station, and a building that pulled quadruple duty as the post office, motel lobby, small gift shop, and a cafe lunch counter.
As luck would have it, mid-April in Jacob Lake wasn’t busy yet. The motel had availability for us, but it wouldn’t be cheap. So Elliot and I agreed to share a room to save on expenses. After all, this was now the second time the elements had unexpectedly pushed us indoors on this trail and I hadn’t budgeted for that!
The desk clerk handed over our keys, but then crushed our hopes when she informed us the cafe was closed today due to short staffing. We could come back around 6 pm and get the makings for a cold sandwich, but they weren’t going to fire up the stoves until morning. What a bummer. Hot food would have been so nice.
I quickly texted Volt to let him know we’d made to Jacob Lake even though I suspected he wouldn’t have cell service until he was nearly into town. We hadn’t seen hide nor hair from him since we early this morning, and I hoped he was faring okay out there on his own. He could be 10 minutes behind us or 10 miles back for all we knew.
To my surprise, Volt texted back a few minutes later saying he was three miles away still. His feet were killing him and it would be at least another hour before he arrived to join us. So Elliot and I retreated to our room to take hot showers and try to warm back up again while we waited for Volt to arrive.
We’d just gotten back to the main lobby to get some food when Volt blew in the door. He was in a gruff mood and announced in the most serious tone that was getting his own room tonight and then he was quitting the trail! He was DONE!!
This unexpected news hit me like a slap in the face. I understood his desire for his own room. Who wouldn’t want to spread out and relax after this insane day? But he was quitting the trail??? We were literally 30 miles from the Utah border. That outburst made no sense at all. Was he crazy?!?
I chalked Volt’s tantrum up to his foot pain and having an incredibly rough day. There was no way around it. Our feet were toast from the roadwalking. Our faces are chapped from the wind. And it seemed like every muscle hurt. Today just sucked! We suffered through 43 miles of highway roadwalking plus the 7-mile climb out of the Grand Canyon over the last 48 hours. It was a lot of pain to endure.
Nonetheless, I cannot believe Volt was serious about quitting! He just needed to rest and maybe take a zero. We’re a full day ahead of schedule now thanks to the big miles we put in yesterday and today. Once he’s warmed up, showered, and has warm clothes on (and maybe a beer or some wine), maybe he’d change his mind.
At least I hope he will…
Highlights
- Seeing that coyote (or wolf) run across the road way amazing. I’m not sure I’ve ever been that close to one. I tend to use the ‘rule of thumb‘ trick to stay away from wildlife in the backcountry.
- We made it to Jacob Lake and the motel had vacancy! Thank goodness I don’t have to set up my tent in 65 mph wind or sleep in the snow tonight!
Challenges
- Roadwalking for 26 miles was one of the worst things I’ve had to do on the Arizona Trail. It was way harder (mentally) than hiking up an insanely steep mountain, or postholing in the snow, or even the rocks!
- Today’s weather just sucked. It was bitterly cold with 30-40 mph winds and gusts to 65 mph!
- Volt’s declaration that he wants to quit is a bummer. I’m going to do my best to try to talk him out of a decision I know he’ll regret. But that’s a task for tomorrow…