second choice destination
Posted by Zonie on April 08, 2024 at 05:05:54
Sunday night and Monday morning we got about an inch of rain. Unfortunately it had the whole work week to evaporate before I could get to the mud. The next storm system didn't pan out, and we had only a trace of rain Friday. Today I went to the west segment of Reach 11, but after considerable hiking found only a little mud.
I didn't give up, and I drove further north to the state trust land. There the dips are deeper and hold water and mud longer. Soon I was rolling around in a big puddle of refreshing mud. It made an amazing difference to how often I hit the canteen. I had gone mostly through the gallon canteen on the previous hike, but my thirst almost vanished when I was soaked and muddy. It wasn't a very warm day by our standards, only 76°, but the sun was strong, the humidity was low and it was windy. I was amazed how fast the mud on my bare skin dried.
As I splashed my way further east, a long train of quad and dirt bike riders headed west, and all waved at me. I guess people are used to seeing me muddy. I was a bit surprised that despite the heavy rain the main water hole at Coyote Central was about to split into three separate mud holes. I retrieved two tires from the pit and washed off most of the mud from my overalls.
As I headed back over the ridge, I was hailed by a man standing by a pickup truck. He asked how I was. I said all was well. He asked, "Have you met Brandon?" I said I had not.
He said, "He's the guy who lives in that field over there." Apparently a homeless man is introducing himself to people in the area. The man by the truck introduced himself as Joe, and I said I was Kevin. At that I continued to head back to my car. Residing permanently on state trust land is technically forbidden, but then again so is discharging a firearm there, riding motorized vehicles there, and littering there, and all of those things happen all the time.
Although the sun was setting, my clothing was drying almost as fast as that of characters in some old Westerns. It's expected to get up to 95° Thursday, and there's no more rain in the forecast. There might not be much left next weekend outside Coyote Central.