Hayduke Route 2023 — Where in the World is Sara?

HAYDUKE ROUTE

April 4 - may 28, 2023

Arches to zion

730 miles

“so ready to have my mind blown, my heart burst, and my love pour all over this landscape”

arches

canyonlands

capitol reef

bryce canyon

grand canyon

zion

I knew going in that this hike would be challenging. It’s next level when it comes to backpacking. There’s no marked footpath to follow like other long trails I’ve hiked before but rather cross country navigation up steep canyon walls and down drainages with impassable pouroffs. It’s a route, not a trail, with various alternates, bypasses, and extensions. Haydukers like to say it’s a “choose your own adventure” kind of hike. And of the 11 Haydukers I met either on trail or in towns, I guarantee none of our hikes looked the same. Sometimes I was on established trails in national parks, other times I was following game trails and bushwhacking through vegetation, but more often than not I was following boulder choked or muddy washes through canyons. Every day for 55 days I woke up in my tent not knowing how many miles I would hike, what obstacles I would come across, or where I would camp that night. I also could not imagine the hardships nor the joy I would experience. The daily walk into the unknown is what makes thru-hiking the epitome of adventure.

Being open to the unknown requires a certain level of confidence and that goes for all aspects of life, beyond the realm of long distance hiking. Although when it came to this specific hike, I was unsure. I didn’t know if I would be skilled enough to do it, especially solo, and that’s why I had put it off for so long. The Hayduke has an almost mystic reputation of being one of the more challenging long hikes. Even though I’m an experienced backpacker there’s always that feeling of imposter syndrome which makes you doubt yourself. But in this case, it’s much more than that because when you’re putting yourself out into some of the most remote areas in the country, navigating around hazardous obstacles, in an extreme desert environment with exposure and lack of water, being unskilled, unprepared, or unsure could end really badly.

For at least the first month of the hike I joked that every day the Hayduke was trying to kill me. If it wasn’t post-holing through snow, it was fording raging creeks. If it wasn’t scrambling down dumpster-truck sized boulders it was dropping down into slot canyons. Each day I rose to the challenge and found a way to get through, which made every day feel like a victory. “I made it. I did that” were common affirmations I told myself along the way. And as time passed, I looked back to what I had gone through in somewhat disbelief. So when I found myself in Zion, at the end of the route, it all felt surreal, like someone other than me had hiked there. Cause what had previously seemed daunting months prior when I was deep in researching and planning mode was now reality. I made it. I did that.

There really is too much to share about my hike, and that’s why I’m attempting to write a book about it *exclamation mark. But here is a rough list of some of the low points and much more of the high points of my two month hike.

The bad…Lost tent poles, water filter didn’t work, lost sentimental bandana off cliff, ripped the entire butt of my pants, shoes disintegrated after 4 weeks, expensive express packages from Alabama, mice got into my food cache, missed turns and extra miles, deciding to turn around when I didn’t feel I could safely continue, slid down slick rock, fell in creeks, tripped over rocks, 6 liter water carry (13 pounds), 15 mile post-hole through snow, sobbing breakdowns due to post-holing through snow, fording hip deep raging creeks, cross country navigation anxiety, risky down climbs on cliff edges, expensive hotels, undelivered treats from a friend, rotting cow carcasses, stumbling upon a dead horse, sun exposure, less than a mile an hour progress through boulder choked washes, alkaline water that tastes bad and makes your poop soupy, 2.5hour wait for a hitch, sketchy 12ft vertical drop into slot canyon, scratched up from bushwhacking through thick vegetation, 3.5 days without seeing anyone.

The good…Getting dropped off at the terminus and picked up the next day by a new friend, cold water from passing OHVers, hiking with others on my birthday, hiked with AZT hiker I met last year, hiking company in stressful Dark Canyon section, hour ride to town by trail builders, top 3 burritos in my life in Hanksville, milkshakes at Stan’s burger shack, shared meals with Haydukers in towns, fellow Haydukers found my lost tent poles and returned them to me, bison running across trail, campers taking my trash, fruit and oreos trail magic when mice got into my food cache, hedgehog cactus bloom, Stevens Arch, fellow backpackers taking my photo, beer and snacks trail magic at Hurricane Wash, cold drinks and snacks trail magic at Grosvenor Arch with international teachers, water and conversation from bike packers, slot canyons, Hackberry Canyon narrows, meeting day-hiker Madhu in Willis Creek Narrows, camping with Madhu and garbanzo bean dinner, ride to Tropic and breakfast with Madhu, postcards from friends, care package and new pants from parents, hot tub, shared meal with fellow Hayduker, new shoes, skoolie hitch to Kanab, friendly and helpful Kanab motel owner, dinner with fellow Haydukers, zeros, hiking with Haydukers through Buckskin Gulch, picnic table dinner and chats about books and movies, cowboy camping with new friends, Arizona Trail nostalgia, Jacob Lake cookies, Arizona Trail thru-hiker chats, found a scope that I used as binocular in the Grand Canyon, prickly pear cactus blooms, 5-mile float/hitch down/across the Colorado River with a commercial raft group, I don’t normally eat meat but when you’re given sirloin steak in the Grand Canyon you take it, double rainbows, 100 miles under the rim in the Grand Canyon, helpful and patient backcountry rangers, Hermit Creek waterfall, plant ID guide, Havasupai Gardens campground, returning to civilization and hearing someone call out my trail name when I wasn’t expecting to see anyone I know, parents picking me up, parents buying me all the prickly pear items and books I want, California Condor sighting, hotel hot tubs, Water Canyon rock formations, day hiking, confidence gained, obsession with Grand Canyon rising, gratitude overflowing.

Gear list

Proof that the canyon is magic. ✨ I’m not exaggerating when I say witnessing this double rainbow form and fade away right in front of me in the Grand Canyon is one of the, if not most, spectacular experiences I’ve had in the outdoors. It’s one of those moments when you feel overwhelmed to think about how many moving parts led you to be right there at that exact place and moment in time. And that’s why it feels like a gift, as though the canyon was communicating solely with me. Perfectly aligned. I was already in love with this canyon but now I feel as though these rocks are my dna, they built me. The river is my blood, it courses through me. This canyon is my body, it holds me.

The finish of my Hayduke Route hike didn’t turn out the way I had hoped or planned, but if that aint what it’s like to thru-hike. Once I got to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon I had to adjust my plans due to the North Rim and North Kaibab trails being closed due to the record setting snow levels. They weren’t slated to open until June 2nd. There is another alternate you can take down Tonto West to South Bass trail where you would have to hitch across the river on a raft and then follow North Bass to reconnect. However, high snow is followed by high snowmelt which flooded the creeks and made them impassable. There was a man at the front of the pack of Haydukers and he reported back that he reached a point and couldn't continue so he backtracked to the South Rim. The next section is known to be the most difficult of the trail and no one had been through yet this season. Being solo I decided to just shuttle around. Some Haydukers (and Arizona Trail thru-hikers) stopped their hike at the South Rim. My parents flew out and picked me up at the South Rim and took me closer to Zion where I had a few days of hiking to finish in the park. But I still didn’t even finish at the route’s end point at the Weeping Rock due to Memorial Day crowds, so in typical Hayduke fashion I hiked to an alternate ending at Lee Pass.

The skipping of miles and being shuttled around was hard to accept and made the finish feel incomplete. I know that this isn’t a trail to be purist on but it was a disappointing way to finish. I hope to get back and hike from the South Rim to Zion.