Life, always unpredictable and never boring...

Day 212
10-5-2006
Started: San Rafael Desert, UT
Finished: Hanksville, UT
Today's Miles: 32.0
Total Miles: 3109.0

What a truly amazing night we enjoyed under the stars in the San Rafael Desert in Utah. We woke long before the sun peeked over the horizon this morning and we planned to put in a big mile day in order to make it to the town of Hanksville before the post office would close. The desert was peaceful this morning and we enjoyed watching as three deer trotted gracefully in front of us across the wide open spaces. The skies though were not so peaceful this morning and we were once again starting our day surrounded by storm clouds. It wasn't long into our morning hike that we were once again outfitted in full rain gear and watching large bolts of lightening flash before our eyes off in the distance. We did manage to dodge the first couple of storms that rolled right past us but the rest of the day we found ourselves being bombarded with strong thunderstorms. At one point Randy became quite concerned about the nearby lightning because of a picture he recalled seeing in his last Physics class in college. The picture was of a young girl standing on a rock outcropping and the girls hair was standing straight up as if she had just rubbed her head with a balloon, causing it to become static charged. The caption of the picture explained that just moments after the picture was taken and only seconds after the young girl walked off the outcropping that the very spot she was standing was struck by lightning. Randy's concern was a reaction to seeing Sheri's hair start to stand up in the same way the girl in the pictures hair was standing up. He immediately asked Sheri to stop and looked around for the nearest low spot hoping to get off the spot where lightning might strike next. Luckily we didn't have any bolts come down right on us and Sheri's hair laid back down shortly after Randy's moment of excitement. Between rain storms we had a few visitors stop and talk with us today. We were pleasantly surprised when Dave, a local Outdoor Guide who we met while in Moab last week, stopped to say hello. He was on his way to the town of Hite to pick up some mountain bikers who were out riding for the day and when he saw two hikers walking on the side of the road he thought that it had to be the two of us. A short time later and in between a few heavy bouts of rain, thunder and lightning we were greeted by a smiling face named Brian. Brian lives in Bolder, Colorado but works with different groups to help rebuild and protect wilderness areas. He is here in Utah for a gathering of like minded environmentalist who are all trying to do their part to save wilderness areas from being damaged or destroyed. He saw us hiking and couldn't help but pull over and find out our story. He offered Sheri a cold drink out of a cooler he had in his truck and then wished us safe travels. He warned us that the weather report for the next few days wasn't looking very good and that flash flood warnings were already in effect for the area where we were heading. What kind of luck is that? We find ourselves in the desert and we are having to watch out for floods? After saying bye to Brian it wasn't long before the rain started getting pretty heavy. The rest of the afternoon was some wet hiking and we were quite glad when we reached Hanksville. We planned to hit the Post Office and then get just out of town to find a place to camp. After coming 32 miles to make it to town we were ready to be off our feet. Our plan didn't quite work out because one of the packages we were trying to pick up hadn't arrived yet. We did get a great care package from our Illinois Trail Angel, Eaglebear. He sent some tasty foods and some gear that will be good to have out here in the desert. It is so much fun to have met such a nice guy and we love the fact that he has continued to follow our progress and kept in touch with us as we Journey across the country. Thanks so much Eaglebear! Because our other package hadn't arrived we decided we would camp right here in town and check the Post Office again in the morning. The only campground in town was happy to have us and allowed us to pitch our tent on the highest ground we could find. We tucked up under a tree with the hopes of staying as dry as possible, but as much rain as we are getting we think it's more or less a losing battle. We met a couple of our friendly neighbors here in the campground including a nice guy named Tom. Tom shared stories with us about his adventures on his bicycle. He told us he could completely understand why we would want to do a hike like the one we are on and explained that he had actually lived on his bicycle for seven years when he was younger. He would ride from state park to state park and camp out on public lands traveling when he wanted to and just hanging out when he didn't feel like riding. After talking with Tom for a while we decided to take advantage of having the campground store available to us and we went inside to get a small bite to eat. After dinner we retired to our soaking wet tent and are hoping not to float away in the night. You go to the desert and you find a flood, we guess at this point we should know that we need to be prepared for anything and everything at any and every time. This hike is a lot like life in general, always unpredictable and never boring!

Your Friends on the ADT,
Randy and Sheri
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