Hello Everyone,

Well, I finally made it to Adin and Camp 20, The Last Resort in Adin. Right now I am laying on the bed and missing my sleeping bag. I might have to break it out and use it on the bed.

Today was an early day for me as I wanted to make sure I would make Adin today. I made it a point to place everything under the tent fly last night just in case it was wet again this morning, but it was the usual dry morning. The temperature was 41 in the morning and was in the high eighties to low nineties all afternoon.

I knew that I would find water at a campground 15-20 miles before Adin, so I filled my drinking bottles and emptied the gallon bottles because I didn’t want to pull the extra weight. The road was a roller coaster of up and downs, and then one steep climb and then downhill most of the way to Adin. This stretch of highway 139 was probably the most scenic overall and the scenery and vegetation changed from sage brush, small valleys, open meadows, and sparse to thick trees. I saw deer throughout this stretch too. There was very little traffic and at times I didn’t pass a car for 10-15 minutes. If not for a bit of pain in my left foot, it would have been an almost perfect day.

About 15 miles south of Adin the trees were much larger and dense, with most covered in green moss. I wouldn’t count on finding north by the moss on the north side of the trees because they were completely covered in it. In that same area I came upon the spring I was told about, which also fed the start of a creek. It was quite a site to see all that water coming out of the pipe the Forest Service had placed in it, especially after having encounter no water on the whole 139. The water was piped into another larger corrugated upright pipe and some of the water was flowing over the top like a shower. Wow, I needed one and would have loved to stand under it! There was also a nice empty campground right next to it. If I weren’t meeting Mindee at the motel I would have stopped and camped right there.

Just past the campground there were at least four more springs coming off of the hillside and running into the creek. From there the creek became wider and ran along the road for the next 4-5 miles. I was drooling at all the hundreds of spots where I could have set up camp. It was just great to walk along the creek after all those dry miles.

I do have to say that even though it was very pleasant today, the flies were out to get me. I was never bothered by mosquitos or flies, but today was different. I guess it’s like cooking a piece of meat when you set the oven at 400 degrees and after an hour it is well done. I my case, it was the perfect setting for the flies, eight days no shower, cooked between the high eighties to high nineties, and it’s ready. I couldn’t be that bad, the firefighters told me they could only smell my sun screen. Maybe they were being polite?

As I was getting closer to town (population 272), a nice looking woman going the same direction stop alongside of me and offered me food, cold drinks, and a ride into town. I think she said it in a flirting way, and then I realized it was my wife, Mindee. No, I’ll walk the rest of the way I told her, but only after I eat the snacks and the cold drinks, please.

I told her I’d keep walking and to check into the motel and check on me later. Well, I didn’t get far because after less than a mile I ran into a nice young couple that were bike riding from Portland Oregon to Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon. Of course we had to chat for a while, a long while. Mindee came back looking for me and here I was talking with the couple. I told her I’d keep walking and to check on me later. Well, about two miles later a young man, 83, driving a deck out Mini Cooper, stopped me to say hello and ask all the details of my trek. Needles to say, I had just finished talking with him when Mindee showed up again. I figured I’d never get to town at this speed and I wanted my shower, so I accepted her short ride into town.

Ok, the Last Resort in Adin isn’t the Hilton. Looks a little rough on the outside, but clean. No outside direct entry and you have to go through a common hallway, sitting area? I couldn’t wait to get into that tub and soak and scrub my body, especially my feet. Only problem is they only give you one little tinny bar of soap, for both the sink and tub. I have lots of dirt to scrub off! You get two towels, but only one towel hook. Not a towel bar, or two hooks, but just one! I guess we will use the door knobs. Can’t really complain because it’s clean and cozy, but it’s kind of funny.

Tomorrow I plan to repack all my supplies Mindee brought up and make a few equipment changes. I have a great new sleeping pad that has a built in pump, but I am going back to my older and much heavier one that I have to blowup with my mouth because it’s just more comfortable. A good nights sleep is so important in how my day goes. Next to my feet, socks, and shoes, sleep is pretty close up there in importance.

The other thing I am going to do is rest, especially my feet. I plan to sit or lay here and maybe watch a little football, read my book, and soak my body in the hot tub again.

There is no cell service here, though we have wifi, so I will update my blog tomorrow. Thank you for the nice emails you have been sending me. Please keep sending me your positive thoughts and prayers. Even though I am in a motel, I am not taking the time to check my typos, grammar, spelling, etc., so please excuse them.

Ted

EDIT:
I forgot to mention that I trekked 20.34 miles today. So far I have gone about 293.20 miles on this leg of my trek.