Pretend hike on the ADT in the state of Nevada.
Sammy
First Block
May 26, 2006
American Discovery Trail: Nevada
July 15
Dear Journal:
Tomorrow will begin day one of our trip on the ADT (American Discovery Trail.) Lindsay, Debbie, Jamie, and I set out to the town of Baker, the first town on the western border of Nevada, where the trail begins. Each of us is carrying a backpack with only necessities in it to make the pack as light as possible. All of us have taken into account the type of shoes we will need to wear, due to the miles of hiking required. We have packed a couple different pairs, each pair specializing in different terrain types. All of us have also packed heavy and light clothing because of the unpredictability of the weather. Two tents, rain gear, a water purifier, cooking supplies, a cooking stove, and a few luxury items have been evenly split among the four backpacks. We are very excited to set out tomorrow; we will be departing from Baker at around 7 A.M. Wish us luck!
July 16, 17
Dear Journal:
Wow, what a wonderful way to start out our trip on the ADT. We couldn’t have asked for more. We began our expedition by visiting Great Basin National Park, Baker’s famous tourist attraction and Nevada’s largest national park. The people in the town of Baker couldn’t have been friendlier; we felt welcomed everywhere. We ate breakfast at a little town restaurant named Bonnie Blue’s House of Pancakes, and began the hike to Preston, Nevada. The weather was pleasant these past two days – the highs around 77 degrees, the lows about 52 degrees. Along the trail of hiking day number two, we enjoyed the scenery to Preston. We saw lots of Nevada’s state flower, Sagebrush, and even some of its state grass, Indian rice grass; that was about it for vegetation though. After arriving in Preston, we stopped around 6 P.M. at the house of the Smiths’, a family located on the trail. We enjoyed a home-cooked dinner with their family, consisting of turkey, macaroni-n-cheese, salad, and garlic bread. After dinner and an hour or two of conversation, the girls and I decided to head up to bed early for the long days ahead of us. By the way, these beds feel wonderful – nice and warm and soft, after hiking 87.4 miles. Anyways, we’re off to Duckwater tomorrow; we’re hoping we can conquer this part of the trail in three days. Hopefully the trip will be just as exciting as these past two days have been.
July 18, 19, 20
Dear Journal:
These past three hiking days have been memorable days to add to the list of lifetime experiences. Throughout these past few days, it’s been more of a chill, relaxing treat – days spent enjoying the weather and scenery of Nevada with the girls. Even though we didn’t stop at any major tourist attractions, it’s still been a learning experience. We’ve heard the numerous chirps of the Nevada state bird, the Mountain Bluebird. Traveling along the trail, we understood why Nevada is known as the driest, most arid state; dust and dirt surround you almost all of the time. Today’s temperature was about 86 degrees, leaving us with some nice suntans. =) We hiked a whopping total of 99.5 miles, taking a major chunk out of the trail. When the sun began to set, we decided to set up camp in the town of Moores Station. We enjoyed a campfire dinner and some gooey smores for desert. After watching the last embers of the fire die, we decided to ditch our tents for the night; in sleeping bags under the stars, we are going to enjoy Mother Nature.
July 21, 22, 23, 24
Dear Journal:
A little before the break of dawn, we awoke. After cooking some eggs and bacon and drinking some coffee, Debbie, Jamie, Lindsay, and I set off on the hike to Ione, passing a few campgrounds along the way. We visited the state park of Berlin-Ichthyosaur Park. The name of this park is named after Nevada’s state fossil, the Ichthyosaur. We also learned why Nevada is known as “The Silver State,” today. Along the trail, we passed a sign saying “Silver Mine: 10 miles ahead.” Nevada’s mines are known for producing large amounts of silver as well as gold and copper. We stopped for lunch in a local diner, and set off again to reach the town of Ione. After hiking a tiring total of 123.8 miles over a four day time period, we finally reached Ione at around 12 A.M. Exhausted from the extreme heat and long trip, we decided to buy two, fairly cheap rooms in the Best Western. I set our alarm for 7 A.M. tomorrow morning; who knows if we’ll set out for Eastgate tomorrow or not; I guess we’ll see. Goodnight.
July 25
Dear Journal:
The alarm went off this morning. We all awoke with groans and decided that today should be a rest day. Allowing ourselves to go back to sleep and wake up around 10 A.M., our bodies felt refreshed and healed from their continuous running. After each of us enjoyed a stack of blueberry pancakes from the café downstairs, we decided to explore the town of Ione. We did some light shopping in some of its old stores, owned by families for centuries. The stores held memorabilia that could only make you smile. Still being full from breakfast, we skipped lunch and walked down to the river a mile or two behind the hotel. In the clear water of the river, we saw Nevada’s state fish, the Lahontan Cutthroat Trout. Seeing the numerous fish in the water, we agree to go fishing. Debbie and I walked to the small, local grocery store and bought some worms to use as bait. Using the portable fishing poles we brought in our backpacks, we fished all afternoon, releasing the fish after we caught them. The hotel’s café satisfied our hunger for dinner, and after watching a movie on our rooms’ television, we turned the lights out early. Tomorrow we’ll continue our trip with well rested bodies to the town of Eastgate.
July 26
Dear Journal:
We hiked 40.7 miles to the town of Eastgate today – the hardest we’ve pushed thus far. Nothing really interesting happened on the trail; most of its scenery was dry dust and dirt. We arrived in Eastgate around 8 P.M. We set up camp at a local campground and enjoyed a nice, warm evening by the fire. We decided that to reach our next destination on the trail, the town of Virginia City, it would be best to split the trip between three days. We plan on beginning the hike early tomorrow morning; hopefully the weather will be nice. Local reports are calling for rain. Wish us luck.
July 27, 28
Dear Journal:
The weather hasn’t been the greatest these past two days; the high being 70 degrees mixed with a muggy atmosphere – no rain though, so we’re grateful for that. We were successful in hiking half the trail to Virginia City, covering a total of 50 miles in two days. The morning of the 27th, we ate a delicious breakfast made by Jamie consisting of eggs, sausage, and biscuits. After our bellies were full and our bags were packed, we began the hike. Around noon we enjoyed a light lunch of sandwiches and continued to push forward. We decided to stay at the Rogers’ home, a friendly and welcoming family who lived on the trail, for the evening. We set off early this morning, after enjoying a home-cooked breakfast of waffles and eggs and saying our goodbyes. We pushed ourselves to reach the half way mark to Virginia City, and our goal was accomplished. It is now 6 P.M. and we’ve already set up camp. There’s a river near the campsite, so we’re going to go enjoy a swim to cool us off. I’ll write tomorrow telling of our trip to Virginia City.
July 29
Dear Journal:
WE FINISHED THE TRAIL. =) Today was a wonderful day; we were blessed with beautiful weather, the high being 71 degrees. We set out early this morning, around 7 A.M., and reached Virginia City at around 4 P.M. We decided to sit down in the town’s park and enjoy a late picnic lunch. With pasta, sandwiches, and sweet tea, we enjoyed nice conversation and an afternoon breeze. After picking up our blanket and leftovers, we decided to finish off the trail today and push ourselves to the California border. With only 44.6 miles left, we hiked until 11 P.M. Exhausted from today’s hike, we’re staying in a nice hotel, reminiscing about our trail experiences and the memories we’ll never forget. We called our families and told them of our accomplishment, proud of ourselves for completing the task. This trip was an amazing experience, one I’ll never forget; it brought me closer to the girls, and we’ll have memories to talk about forever. Happy Trails. =)