Maybe I should re-title this post since I technically wasn't on the actual "trail". I was sleeping out though. I think that should count.
To remind everyone, this was the day after the post "Day 1". I delayed because of rain, choosing to drive to the trailhead a day later than planned. So, the day I was supposed to start hiking, I was instead waking up in a warm comfy bed and having fresh waffles made in the kitchen. So posh.
It was still raining outside when I woke up, but the forecast said it was supposed to clear up, so I pulled he trigger. I was tired of waiting and very anxious to get there, even if I was only going to sleep at the trailhead. Kevin, who lives in Tucson and is a good family friend, gave me a ride down to the Coronado National Memorial. We stopped to grab some gas right before we entered the forest and at that point winds were somewhere at 25mph and it was still raining. Do I want to wait another day, Kevin asks. No way. I'm all for this. Hah.
Skip ahead a bit, and I find out there is no overnight camping on the National Memorial. Kevin and I begin scouring the VERY rocky roadside for possible places that are outside of the Memorial boundaries and where I can sneak my tent in. After about 30 minutes of scouring, and only coming up with a 3% grade turnaround for a campsite, I decide to ask the Border Patrol(who are parked on the even, well groomed parking lot) if they know of any nearby places I could throw my tent down and hopefully get them to make an exception and let me stay in the parking lot. Of course, it was a no to the latter.
I ended up staying in a wash 1.3 miles down the hill from the parking lot. Walked around a little bit when the rain held off, but stayed close to camp in case it came back in full force, which it did. Of course when I was at the top of a nearby peak taking pictures. No problem. Made it down and jumped in my tent. By now it was 5:30ish so I was ready to pack it in anyways. Hopped in my sleeping bag, ate one of the two sandwiches Kevin had left with me and drifted to sleep.
I was awoken by a big Mag-Lite flashlight flitting back and forth over my tent. Almost like someone was looking for something. All the warnings I'd read about the volatile illegal activity ran through my head. Drug runners, automatic weapons, kidnappings. It all be came very real in that moment. My hand unconsciously went for my pocket knife.
"Mark! That you?" is what I heard next. Big breath of air that I didn't know I'd been holding flushed out of my lungs.
It was the Forest Ranger I'd talked to on the parking lot. Kevin had asked him to come check on me. Thanks for the near heart attack Kev! Haha, but really, I was glad he did. The patrolman and I chatted for a bit and planned to link back up before I left the next morning. "You never know, I may be the last person you see!" Ok, Officer Ominous, way to make we worry. We shook hands a final time and I went back into my sleeping bag.
The thing is, I closed my eyes that night not thinking about what the Patrolman had said, but rather about the downpour of shock-white snow that had been streaming down around us as he had said it.
"Tomorrow should be good," I thought to myself as a small smile crept on my lips.
To remind everyone, this was the day after the post "Day 1". I delayed because of rain, choosing to drive to the trailhead a day later than planned. So, the day I was supposed to start hiking, I was instead waking up in a warm comfy bed and having fresh waffles made in the kitchen. So posh.
It was still raining outside when I woke up, but the forecast said it was supposed to clear up, so I pulled he trigger. I was tired of waiting and very anxious to get there, even if I was only going to sleep at the trailhead. Kevin, who lives in Tucson and is a good family friend, gave me a ride down to the Coronado National Memorial. We stopped to grab some gas right before we entered the forest and at that point winds were somewhere at 25mph and it was still raining. Do I want to wait another day, Kevin asks. No way. I'm all for this. Hah.
Skip ahead a bit, and I find out there is no overnight camping on the National Memorial. Kevin and I begin scouring the VERY rocky roadside for possible places that are outside of the Memorial boundaries and where I can sneak my tent in. After about 30 minutes of scouring, and only coming up with a 3% grade turnaround for a campsite, I decide to ask the Border Patrol(who are parked on the even, well groomed parking lot) if they know of any nearby places I could throw my tent down and hopefully get them to make an exception and let me stay in the parking lot. Of course, it was a no to the latter.
I ended up staying in a wash 1.3 miles down the hill from the parking lot. Walked around a little bit when the rain held off, but stayed close to camp in case it came back in full force, which it did. Of course when I was at the top of a nearby peak taking pictures. No problem. Made it down and jumped in my tent. By now it was 5:30ish so I was ready to pack it in anyways. Hopped in my sleeping bag, ate one of the two sandwiches Kevin had left with me and drifted to sleep.
I was awoken by a big Mag-Lite flashlight flitting back and forth over my tent. Almost like someone was looking for something. All the warnings I'd read about the volatile illegal activity ran through my head. Drug runners, automatic weapons, kidnappings. It all be came very real in that moment. My hand unconsciously went for my pocket knife.
"Mark! That you?" is what I heard next. Big breath of air that I didn't know I'd been holding flushed out of my lungs.
It was the Forest Ranger I'd talked to on the parking lot. Kevin had asked him to come check on me. Thanks for the near heart attack Kev! Haha, but really, I was glad he did. The patrolman and I chatted for a bit and planned to link back up before I left the next morning. "You never know, I may be the last person you see!" Ok, Officer Ominous, way to make we worry. We shook hands a final time and I went back into my sleeping bag.
The thing is, I closed my eyes that night not thinking about what the Patrolman had said, but rather about the downpour of shock-white snow that had been streaming down around us as he had said it.
"Tomorrow should be good," I thought to myself as a small smile crept on my lips.
1 comments:
Hey Mark! Good to hear you are chuggin along just fine. One thing the blog is lacking is photographs. Don't know how easy that is, but, there it is. I think the day by day blog would be the best but I am not sure how you are connected.
See ya soon,
sKcreidc
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