Day 10
5 miles hiked
During the night the clouds rolled in over the stars. There is a weird yellow glow from Tucson. Pop. Pop. Mark's head and shoulders are now elevated 6 inches higher. What the heck?! The seams popped in his airpad. It's funny, but he looks uncomfortable.
Later we awake again and get in a stupid squabble over who is hogging our zipped together sleeping bags. I unzip our bags from each other and we each fumble in the dark to zip them up individually. Pathetic.
Apologies in the morning and then bending over my pack putting my foam pad on top I feel a snap in my lower back and fall to the sand as spasms hit. I don't have back troubles. What is wrong with my body?
Stubbornly we hike on with Collassal Caves as our objective for the day with me making phone calls to get a permit for Saguaro Natuonal Park for Sunday night and then, on a whim, I call and book a cave tour for first thing tomorrow morning. All while hiking with a limp and a sore back and a steady wind. This sign makes us laugh as our speed is no cause for concern. Of course it's for cyclists, but still any laugh today is a good one.
Passing under Interstate 10.
The wind blows. We walk haltingly along and meet a friendly faced birder with binoculars.
Soon we are at the Gabe Zimmerman Trailhead and after a quick pit toilet stop we enter the canyon of Cienega Creek and sit in the sand and quietly filter a couple liters of water to drink. We spy a Saguaro and more as we climb out of the creek bed. Suddenly we are in red rocks and Saguaros. We had only crossed a creek and under a train track and now a whole new world appears.
A train blows by and I notice a big bump in my shoe's footbed. Weird. I pull the shoe off and shake it out and then pull out the insole. It's there. Hard and round. We hike on and now I begin to get a new hurt. In the ball of my foot. This is beginning to be quite funny and then again not so funny. Are we on vacation or on a death march?
"Can we get Uber?" I ask. Mark checks his phone and for 35 bucks we can get dropped off at REI in Tucson while riding in style in a Porsche Cayenne. Great decision. We plan on going right back out hiking after our shopping, but after a beer or two at Sir Vesas we decide to get a hotel after calling and rescheduling our permit and tour. Done and done. Best decision. We are on vacation. Although we are now way over budget for this hiking trip.
We probably should just hang up our shoes and go home, but we decide to sleep on it and perhaps go out tomorrow with new shoes and a new pad and maybe a knee brace.
We get the royal treatment at REI. Nicest staff. Thanks Brian, who was wearing the name tag Jason. Apparently even the REI people have trail names.
Today's takeaway: Modern connectivity can have its usefulness even while out enjoying the outdoors.
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