Hayduke Trail – Day 8
March 21, 2023
Miles Today/ Total: 17.1 / 122.9
I was tired when I got to camp last night and fell asleep about 7:30. When I awoke a few hours later I was surprised to see that it had snowed about 1/2”. The good news is that it was through for the night and there was no more rain or snow.
With the cold start we were slow to get out of our sleeping bags again, but we’re soon on our way down the trail. We had more 4WD roads and as soon as we started hiking it began to snow on us. We continued walking the roads for the first 6 miles where we refilled our water before taking off cross country. We soon rejoined a 4WD road and reached the Fable Valley Trailhead about noon.
From here the trail was a good hiking trail and well marked for the next few miles. The snow had continued all day and the trail was on a bench overlooking Fable Valley. The views were good when we could see them through the snow and clouds.
When we reached the bottom of Fable Canyon the real fun began. The trail disappeared and we spent quite a bit of time finding, losing, and re-finding the trail again. Our feet were soaked and cold from walking in the snow, mud, and stream beds. The exit from Fable Valley was at the end of a side canyon that ended 30 feet below a large pour off. The combination of snow and mud (wet sand) made the way out difficult to find. We climbed around for awhile looking for a way up and finally retraced our path about .3 miles back where we could find a good place to camp for the night.
The snow had continued through the day, mixing with rain on occasion. As we set up our camp the rain became heavier and we each retired to our tents for the evening. We’ll need to try another route in the morning and see if we can make it out of Fable Canyon.
