It’s crazy how once you spend time on a long distance trail, say like the Pacific Crest Trail, you seem to see similar trails EVERYWHERE.
Say, like when we were hiking out of Hackberry Canyon, spotted an old cabin along the trail and went inside to take a peek.
Hanging over the mantle was a guest log and when I went to write our names in it I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read the entry before ours.
We were on the Hayduke Trail, how did not I not know? I had first heard of it as I read the journal of the trail by Carrot Quinn and how badass it was. And I had just done a little snippet!
Named after George Washington Hayduke III, a fictitious character in Edward Abbey’s novel The Monkey Wrench Gang, the trail seeks to pay homage to Abbey for his tireless defense of these fragile and threatened public lands and to heighten awareness and promote the conservation of the wild places that he and so many other people have come to need and love.
The entire trail runs 800 miles and links 6 of the major national parks in Utah and Arizona, Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Zion with the national monuments and BLM lands in between like Grand Staircase Escalante and Glen Canyon National Monuments. The Hackberry Canyon is in section 8 and ends at Willis Creek. You can find out more on my post, Figure It Out On The Hayduke Trail.
As we had begun our trek in the day before, I had seen 3 hikers hiking out who looked like thrus (hikers that hike an entire long distance trail) based on their packs and attire but I figured they were just out on a training backpack trip. It must have been them!
I’m not entirely sure that the Hayduke is on my list of long distance hikes to conquer, I’m still working up to hiking the desert of the first section of the Pacific Crest Trail in California. But the more time I spend in the Southwest, the more I believe that hiking through the backcountry of some of our greatest treasures would be one heck of an adventure!
Have you heard about the Hayduke Trail? Does it sound like one you’d like to explore? For more about hiking in this beautiful area, read my trip report on Hackberry Canyon!
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