Pandoras Box

Day 16

Today we woke up, and luckily our tent was in good shape regardless of the gusty winds last night. We packed up in spitting rain, and was off for our 15 miles for the day.

Soon after we started, we walked passed a big white contraption that was fenced off, with solar panels, a biohazard sign on the side, and it beeping every half second to alert us of it's presence. There was also cameras surrounding the thing.... sketch. Not 15 feet after that, we ran into our first rattlesnake! It was a baby, and still asleep, so it caused no problems. Didn't even rattle or move. It was cool to see though, seeing as it's the first time Andy and I have ever seen a wild rattler. If any of you are curious, and know of Andys snake phobia, he was ok. He said he would have gotten a heart attack should it have moved.

Some sand walking later (which isn't fun by the way), we went under I-10 where we found a huge cooler full of sodas! There was some watermelon too, but not sure how long it was there for, so passed on that. Thanks T-Rex!

A couple hours after that, we came to Mesa Wind Farm, a privately owned wind farm right off the trail. There was a l title sign that said omers welcome during business hours, there's food, bathrooms, and water. It happened to be at our half way point, so we were going to break there anyway. We walked slightly off the trail to get into the building, and it turned out to be their break room for those who worked there. Here was a big list on the whiteboard with goodies and prices. After a chicken pot pie, chimichanga, sausage and pancakes on a stick , and a few waters later we were off. It was delicious and the best lunch break yet! Thanks Mesa guys. The one downfall was eating all that food just opened pandoras box. We weren't full! It just made us hungry to have real food. Still much appreciated though.

Shortly after we left the wind farm, there was a a decent uphill climb that we had to go up, but then it was nice downhill. We hiked another 7 or so miles, and got to the side trail that brought us to Whitewater Preservation, a branch of The Wildlands Conservancy. It's beautiful here with trout farms, a wadding pool, and a huge whitewater river close by. There are some huge trout here, but unfortunately, we aren't allowed to fish! Oh well, its beautiful, there is water, and bathrooms here. NO cell service what so ever, but the rangers here were nice enough to let me borrow their wireless for a few minutes.

Another windy windy night in store. Word on the street (path?) is gusts are getting up to 70 mph! We noticed one of the straps on our tent fly starting to break,but luckily got it in time to fix it and all is well.

Overall, great day!

--Ian