Diana dropped me off at the Gordon Hirabayashi Trailhead around 8:20 this morning. The plan was for me to hike SOBO. Then, after she picked up Amy at the airport, they would meet me at Italian Trap Trailhead late afternoon.
Heading south from Gordon Hirabayashi, the trail was a nice mix of ups and downs. There was so much water, though! By noon I’d splashed through at least a dozen creeks. And this is supposed to be a dry trail!
What Will Happen?
I had phone service around noon and tried contacting the ladies. No response. So I soldiered on.
Now the trail seemed more uphill. It was cool to see snow-capped Mt. Mica in the distance, but growing ever closer. If I could see the snow from here, it certainly was a good call to detour around.
Eventually, I reached our rendezvous point. It was around 3:45. But uh-oh, we had a problem. The road was a creek. Clearly, my friends wouldn’t be able to drive to this “trailhead.”
I tried sending them some Garmin messages, but got no response. So I figured the wisest move was to backtrack two miles to Redington Road, a decent road. I probably wouldn’t have cell service there, either, but I certainly couldn’t hike all the way back to Gordon Hirabayashi where there was coverage. Before heading out, I sent them a message as to my latest plans. But I didn’t get a response.
Que Será Será
As I hiked those two miles, I figured I’d be camping alone tonight and would have to retrace my steps to Gordon Hirabayashi tomorrow, where I’d have cell service and could reconnect with them.
So I was thrilled, one mile in, to see Amy and Diana marching toward me! I couldn’t believe it. Well, the roads confused them and they thought they were at the proper trailhead – ha! But no matter, since we were together!
We found a camping spot around Redington Road and split a bottle of wine. Cheers to good friends!
Snowshoe
P.S. We heard lots of coyotes tonight!
17.7 miles today
149.3 miles to date
650.7 miles to go
