Hayduke Trail

I shot a lot of timelapses for my Figure it Out on the Hayduke Trail documentary. These timelapses are very “expensive” to shoot on a thru-hike because they consume a lot of battery power and memory card space, both of which are rare commodities when I’m out there for a week at a time. Timelapses are my favorite things to shoot though so I carried extra batteries and SD cards to make up for it.

I started the Hayduke Trail with a DJI Mavic Pro drone and planned on carrying it the whole 800-miles. Just a few years ago that would have been unheard of but the whole drone package weighs 4.5 pounds and packs down pretty small.
Still, after about 70 miles I was about to embark on a 100 mile section that would involve long water carries. There would be many more sections like this on the Hayduke and I had to decide between food and water or the drone. There simply wasn’t enough room in my pack so I had to leave the drone behind.
Here’s what I got in the first 70 miles though.

The final episode of the Figure it Out series. I thought I was just going to stroll on through to the end, but I should have known better. The Hayduke wasn’t going to let me go that easy. Due to my own mistakes and some vague directions I ran into the hardest navigational challenge of the whole hike on the last day. By the time I reached the western terminus in Zion National Park, I realized that all the best parts have already happened. Reaching the end just means the hike is over and I have some mixed feelings about that.

This is the second half of my time in the Grand Canyon. It starts with the famous rim-to-rim hike from the South Rim to the North Rim. From there #2 and I make a final and very challenging decent into the Grand Canyon. This section has been hyped up and we were nervous going into it. It was a lot of work but it turned out to be pretty fun. Then I make my final ascent out of the Grand Canyon and head across the Arizona Strip to Colorado City.

After 2 shorter sections, episode 8 is another Hayduke length section at 100+ miles. This is our first taste of the Grand Canyon. It’s something that I have been both a little nervous and really excited for. I have seen some very impressive canyons in the previous 600 miles but the Grand Canyon is in a class of its own. The sheer size is intimidating, not to mention all the steep and loose terrain.

This is a long one but it’s only half of the time we spent in the Grand Canyon and there’s even more to come after this.

Kanab to Jacob Lake is another shorter section around 60 miles. But it didn’t disappoint on the scenery since we got permits for The Wave! An incredibly unique feature carved out of petrified sand dunes. Then I cross the border into Arizona and hop on the Arizona Trail which will take be all the way to the Grand Canyon. This is also where I climb up the Kaibab Plateau and the landscape does another drastic transformation. The desert is left behind and it’s almost like being in mountain meadows.

Section 6 is a relatively short one, just 60 miles from Tropic to Kanab. Bryce Canyon National Park is definitely the highlight of this section.
After Bryce it was a quick couple days of road walking to Kanab, where I have a chance to reflect on my hike as a whole so far. Somewhere around the halfway point of the Hayduke my attitude shifted as I fell into the rhythm of the trail. Hiking became more effortless and I began to enjoy the process of thru hiking on the Hayduke a lot more.

Escalante to Tropic is the longest section on my Hayduke hike at 140 miles.
It started off rough with a few wrong turns and frustrating terrain. The water was pretty bad for a while and the temperatures were starting to rise. The first few days had beat me down and I was feeling pretty bad. Then I found a couple slot canyons which turned out to be my favorite parts of this hike. I’ve never seen anything like those before and that raised my spirits a lot. By the end of the section I was in such a good mood that I didn’t even want it to end. This says a lot considering it was the longest one so far.

Section 4 is another 100+ mile section from Hanksville to Escalante Utah. Weather and long dry sections made this part challenging, but sometime the hardest part was maintaining a good mood. halfway through the section I was feeling beat down and having a hard time enjoying the hike. Through these struggles I learned that my mentality has the biggest effect on my experience of the trail. External factors influence my mentality but I’m in control of the experience I take away from it.

Episode 3
This is my first section alone and it’s a doozy. 100 miles from needles to Hanksville. I was equally nervous and excited to begin this section alone. I knew there would be long sections without water and a few sketchy climbs in and out of canyons. It was intimidating but it was what I was looking for.

Section 2 is from Moab to Canyonlands National Park. Fitty and I are on our own now after our friends leave. Now the Hayduke begins to show some of its true character as we get into some very remote territory.

Section 1: Arches National Park to Moab. Fitty Shrimp and I were joined by Sarah, Ashley and Travis for our 3-day section in Arches. It was a good time and a nice soft introduction to the Hayduke. Fitty and I would continue on by ourselves little did we know the rest of the Hayduke would be much different than our start in Arches.