I had a sound sleep again. I woke up to my alarm and looked outside to see a beautiful sunrise over the desert from my campsite. It was drizzling and the sky was overcast. I ended up sleeping in and didn't even start my walk until after 10am. It was cozy in the van and the windows were closed. Weather said it was 60F and breezy.
Skies cleared up quite a bit by 10 am. My only walk option was taking a dirt road along the park's southern perimeter in a northeasterly direction. I ended up walking six miles round trip in what turned out to be a rather boring walk. Since dogs are not allowed in national parks, the dirt road was my only option and it didn't offer much variety of scenery for me. The road belongs to the Southern California Water District but public use is approved. I stayed on the road to avoid any more contacts with chollas. There were still no wildflowers anywhere, but the creosote and some of the ocotillo were in bloom.
My plan was to eat at the Chiriaco cafe afterward, but I wasn't hungry yet. Crowds were lined up at both the truck stop and the cafe and I ended up leaving to head east back into Arizona. I was fighting fatigue, either because of the return to heat or my lack of caffeine, or maybe even both and I wasn't in the mood for crowds. When I got to Quartzsite, AZ, I stopped at the Carl's Jr for dinner and three refills of my Large soda cup. The dogs each got a double slider cheeseburger as a treat and rested. I ended up staying there for over three hours; I had no desire to drive in the heat and waited until 7pm to drive on to Casa Grande, where I planned to spend the night in order to start a sunrise hike in the Casa Grande Mountain Park. The drive from Phoenix to Quartzsite, AZ is rather boring, whether done during the day or at night.
Eric sent me a text message as I chilled: his deployment is slated for July 11th and will last six months. He will get ECAC (Evasion, conduct after capture) and SERE (survival-evasion-resistance-and-escape) training beforehand, training that the USAF gives all airmen who will deploy and be outside the wire. Yikes.
Ellen also messaged me, wanting to know if I were interested in hiking Carr and Miller peaks on Saturday in the Huachucas. I said "Yes!" but that now means tomorrow must be an easy day hike, to rest up for that challenging 14-miler. Am I up for the distance?
I made it to Casa Grande and found a spot to sleep for the night in the car parking area outside of Love's Truck Stop. Didn't really fall asleep until 1:30am as the place was busy and I was too exhausted to fall asleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment