During our rest days in Ely we caught up with Barrett Jordan and his dog Buster, also hiking the ADT from west to east. I first learned about Barrett when we entered Nevada and he contacted me via the blog not to drink the water as we exited Virginia City. During our “Trail Angel Day ” one of the “angels” informed us that Barrett had laid over in Belmont, which suggested he was behind us. We were pleasantly surprised when we met the only other person doing what we were doing that year.
The ailing economy cost Barrett his IT job and hiking the ADT was his answer. Besides his IT training Barrett had a variety of handyman skills and served in Desert Storm. We caught up to him in part because he stopped to do handyman work to support his hike, in part because he carried an even heavier pack than ours. Food for Buster and the superfluous gear of a first-timer with military training contributed to his pack weight.
Fortunately for Barrett over the next few days he could shed his backpack as he hooked up with us to slackpack the rest of Nevada. As a lover of dogs Cindy was thrilled to have Buster along. Buster was a mix of breeds but looked like an oversized chihuahua to me. At times Barrett slung Buster over his shoulder but, even without carrying the dog, his natural pace was slower than ours. Perhaps this was due to being a smoker?
Our first night out of Ely we stayed at Cave Lake campground. The only other lake we encountered in Nevada was Washoe Lake at the foot of the Carson Range, near Nevada’s western border. Cave Lake signaled the foothills of the South Snake Mountains, by Nevada’s eastern border. Barrett and Ky swam in the refreshing lake shortly after our arrival. I could not muster the energy to join them, totally out of character for a guy who twice broke the ice in alpine lakes to take a dip. I faulted the still lingering lethargy from bad water. I could hike 25 mile days in 100 degree heat, presumably by placing myself on autopilot, but would still feel lethargy for a couple more days.
After dinner I grabbed from the support vehicle my Martin backpacker’s guitar, which I brought along for performing at Lion Clubs talks. As I sat on the picnic table and played an original instrumental, “Humility, Faith and Courage,” a man from the campsite above us came running down enthusiastically and said:
“I just had to see where that beautiful music was coming from …. Barrett!”
The man was Ted Oxborrow, then the Nevada ADT coordinator, who was at Cave Lake in support of Brian Stark, speed record holder for hiking the ADT, as he attempted to set a new speed record hiking the Nevada section. Ted had come out to assist Barrett in central Nevada and recognized him at our campsite immediately. Now he was supporting Brian Stark, record holder for fastest hike of the entire ADT. He invited us up to his campsite where perhaps a historical photo was taken of four thru-hikers in the same place on the sparsely hiked ADT at the same time.
Our last few days in Nevada went smoothly, alternating between foothills and desert valley, with no further rain. Even so, our last few miles heading south from Baker was along the strange sight of flooded desert in late July. This final portion of Nevada also headed us directly into southerly winds so strong they bent over trees, but no longer did we suffer from chapped lips or heat exhaustion. We had acclimated to the desert.
In response to my blog posts about hiking through Nevada I received requests from both sides of our families to hear from Cindy. This came across as a little strange. Though we had not made Cindy’s affliction public in regards to the hike our families knew something was wrong. I dutifully asked Cindy if she wanted to contribute to the blog and she predictably declined. Even if she accepted, at this stage of the hike I would be forced to dictate her entries for my blog as I did for her own journal.
Yet there were two positive developments for Cindy’s health as we hiked through Nevada. Hiking with Barrett actually elicited conversation from her, hearkening back to her old thru-hiking days when she was known as “Gabby Galvin.” Plus having Buster along brought great cheer to a long time dog lover.
One moment in central Nevada best reflected the tonic for Cindy our hike had become. As I sat struggling with the maps, trying to figure out why the trail disappeared again and which pass we should cross, Cindy pursued her interests in flowers and rocks. Our conversation went something like this:
Me: We are lost again.
Cindy: Look at these beautiful wild flowers!
Me: I’m not sure where the next water source will be.
Cindy: Oh, I love the colors on this rock. I’ll add it to my collection. (Cindy was the only thru-hiker I knew that voluntarily put rocks in her pack. Usually that resulted from pranks thru-hikers played on each other.)
Me: We’re going to die out here!
OK, so that last part was hyperbole. Nevertheless, so far all the stress from the journey fell on my shoulders, while removing the stress we thought responsible for Cindy’s alleged anxiety disorder. Returning to our passion for long distance hiking to reboot our lives and Cindy’s brain health might be working!!
At least for now. Utah would be a different story.
