Melanie by Willis Creek Trail Sign

We moved over to Tropic on Sunday, Easter Day! But before heading into town, we drove out to the Trail head for Willis Creek Narrows. This is part of the Hayduke route. On our way in we met two day hikers and a guy who had an ultra-light pack on. I immediately asked if he was a Hayduke hiker and he was! Our first Hayduker! His trailname is FireBeast and he's from Germany. He had a ride to the main highway with the two day hikers and he'd hitch into town from there. We told him to meet us at Rustler's restaurant. He only was going to stay a couple of hours in town and then get back to the trail. We told him we'd get him back there.

So, we completed our short day hike in Willis Creek Narrows. It was a lot of bang for the buck - in a short two miles we saw dramatic rock walls, swirling cliffs, and the tricklying creek in the narrows. As we returned to the parking lot, many people were coming in - it's a popular spot. Glad we got there fairly early.

We met FireBeast in Rustler's and had brunch with him. He's a youngster: 25 years old, a climber, hiker, mountaineer - so in great shape. He had a limited time for the hike, so will not go all the way to Zion.

Whoa...newsflash...Yeti just got a text that Fairweather, the Canadian hiker we were looking for, is in town at Rustler's having breakfast. We took ourselves over and joined her for lunch. We invited her to share our motel room so she could shower and have a place to stay. She'll do all the town chores...wash, Post Office, re-supply. It has been great to talk to her. She is a really strong hiker. In fact, she did Bull Valley Gorge - a slot that is filled with delightful yucky muddy water that you wade through. After finishing that, she backtracked and did Willis Creek Narrows coming out via Sheep Creek. She had plotted a route on dirt paths all the way to Tropic so she didn't need to hitch in to town.

Yeti and I are so pleased to have met another Hayduke hiker and we are going over our schedules. Fairweather may join us in Kanab and also be in the Grand Canyon at the same time. She told us that there may be a few hikers ahead, but we/she probably won't bump into them.