Day 085 – 8/17/11 Takeout Beach to Dewey Bridge CG

Distance = 19.5 Miles; People Met = 8

This was a surprisingly good day for meeting people, offset at the end by another setback in our struggle to find a suitable route from Moab to Grand Junction.

We fist met Mary, who works on the vineyards for Castle Creek Winery; which is a restaurant, dude ranch and museum as well. Mary lives out of her car, not entirely with regret, and confirmed what the Stolfas had mentioned to be a specific problem to Moab, and what I know to be a general problem everywhere. Tourist towns attract wealth. That wealth pays more for high end housing than what they are really worth (because they can). Other housing inflates accordingly in what has been well documented and termed “spending cascades.” Add to that the limited wages of the service industry in tourist towns and you have a recipe for being homeless.

Mary at Castle Creek Winery

Bill and Marcia Hastings from the Lake Luzerne area of New York were checking out the Utah canyon country for the first time while on a vacation, driving from Colorado to where there son had recently moved to Truckee, California. We ended up at the same road turnout at the same time and chatted. They were so thrilled about the Utah landscape they were just entering! That was kind of good for us to encounter. It’s getting to be more of the same ol’ same ol’ for us so to see it again through fresh eyes was good.

Bill HastingsMarcia Hastings

At Dewey Bridge CG we ran into several BLM workers. Ed, also a musician, appeared to be in charge and he was more than happy to give us ice water, and kept encouraging us to fill up some more.  Dylan was from New Hampshire originally and seemed particularly glad to encounter other native Easterners on such a journey.  I did not speak much with Dennis, and there will be more on Keith later. That leaves Eric, a Native American who was going to give my card to his wife, a school librarian on a Reservation. He thought the kids might be interested in people hiking across the country for Housing, Health and Hunger. Hmm. The kernel of another idea.

Eric, Native AmericanEd, MusicianDylan, from New Hampshire

Bill Finley, the retired anesthesiologist and BLM campground host, met us at the CG in order to bring water caches into the Dolores Triangle with his jeep. In a word, we failed. The Dolores River would have been easy to ford for hikers, but not for his jeep. Meanwhile, I thought we might be able to carry enough water to get us through the Triangle and into Colorado — if I did not make any wrong turns in an area that proved to be a maze of canyons. Once again I opted for the low risk, low reward alternative. What an old fart I’m turning into! Cindy’s family is probably glad I’m that way now. As for my side of the family, hmm.

Bill and Oscar Meyer Exploring the Dolores River

After a bit of a layoff I had particular trouble with my swollen foot that day, and the good doctor Bill witnessed that. Bill is also an adventurer (climbing, rafting, mountaineering, etc.) who confirmed my theory of the hydration benefits of Ramen noodles. When he saw me limp he said: “That scares me, man.” I told him it always gets better when warmed up. Nevertheless, he recommended I take the ibuprofen in the morning, before activity, rather than at night to sleep better. Since I now have a means of elevating my foot at night I figure it is just as well I take his advice. We’ll see how that goes.

Thanks for everything, Bill!