{"id":1111,"date":"2009-05-25T16:45:36","date_gmt":"2009-05-25T16:45:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.acrossutah.com\/wordpress\/?p=1111"},"modified":"2019-02-07T00:19:44","modified_gmt":"2019-02-07T00:19:44","slug":"day-30-royal-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.acrossutah.com\/wordpress\/day-30-royal-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Nevada to Colorado: Part 5"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the Across Utah 2009 Trip Report<\/a><\/p>\n

Day 30 \u2013 Royal Day<\/strong>
\nMay 25th, 2009<\/p>\n

For the unaware, I am a huge Prince fan and crazy things go through one’s mind after walking 30 days straight. So… see how many Prince songs you can find in today\u2019s update. 2 make it more challenging 4 U, I have removed all Prince-speak. Also, spelling, spacing and punctuation doesn’t matter. <\/p>\n

Got up and had a good breakfast with my parents. Then it took quite a while to re-org my gear and add new supplies. Then I spent some time working on the computer- writing updates and pulling photos. Then I said \u201clet\u2019s go.\u201d Crazy as it sounds, it was already 2pm. We drove a long ways up the road and dropped my gear. Then we went back to our camping spot so I could start walking from there. Quick lunch of roast beef sandwich and cream cheese danish. Mom gave me a kiss goodbye and then they went one way and I went the other.<\/p>\n

Almost immediately it began to rain. But it didn\u2019t last long and then it cleared up a bit. I could see fresh snow on Boulder Mt.<\/p>\n

When I got to The Gulch I picked up a permit at the trail register so that I could camp another night in the monument. I wanted to get off the road and explore Upper Gulch, but it was late so I decided to push on.<\/p>\n

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Almost 7 miles into the day I entered Long Canyon. I adore this extraordinary canyon and it was fun to walk. I even spotted an arch I have never noticed before. When it comes to beautiful red rock canyons, nothing compares to Utah. So many of the beautiful ones are along my route. There were a lot of people driving through this stretch: mini-vans, motorcycles, even one guy hot-rodding in his little purple Porsche. If I didn\u2019t know my cars or colors as well, I may have mistook it for a little red Corvette (Ok- that one was forced.) It was strange to think of how slow I was going compared to those driving through the canyon, and then even more so compared to the those in the jets overhead possibly going half way around the world in a day. Hours later when I reached upper Long Canyon it was sunny. I followed 5 deer for a ways. They were much happier than the one I saw 17 days ago in the Barracks.<\/p>\n

The view on top was great. The Circle Cliffs were visible as were the Henry Mountains in the distance. They didn\u2019t have any snow like they did a month ago, so I guess sometimes it snows in April in the Henrys, but not in May.<\/p>\n

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The road continued to be paved at this point. In a scandalous move, in a protest to the national monument, the county paved this previously dirt section years back. It was quite the controversy and still riles many environmentalists. It was a sign of the times and IMHO there are too many paved roads on planet Earth.<\/p>\n

The mudhills in the area were fascinating. Deep red and purple. Soon I was out in open country with amazing views all around. It was great. I was walking down the middle of the road. Since it was Memorial Day, earlier had been somewhat of a manic Monday, but now all the holiday tourists were gone and I was alone.<\/p>\n

The sun was now down and the sky streaked red, deep blue and purple. Rain could still be seen falling from thunderheads in several directions. I kept hiking until it was almost fully dark. In the darkness I kept thinking I saw animals scurrying across the road. But I was just tired and probably somewhat delirious by this point.<\/p>\n

Finally I made it to the spot I had dropped my gear. The ground was really soft and wet from the rain. Tonight the tent would get dirty. Mind you no worse than before. I found a semi-dry place under a juniper and made camp. For dinner, dried starfish and coffee. Just kidding- Chili Mac. Total miles for the \u201cshort\u201d day was just over nineteen. 99% of that was along the road. But it was a good day. And now the stars were out and I could tell it\u2019s gonna be a beautiful night.<\/p>\n

19.1 miles<\/p>\n

Original Comment<\/strong>
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