Rain continued to spit, and the prospect of sticking around until the afternoon was ever less appealing. In the end, we left the camp around 0930. We passed by Zlot's campsite on the way out, but there was no sigh of life, eventhough he'd said that he would pack out at 0700.
Stopped over at Najavo Falls for a bit. I was rather disinclined to take off my hiking boots and get wet, so I relaxed a bit at the bottom, then moved to the top of the trail to bask in the sun. Meanwhile, Scout, Portenia and Highland Hiker scampered in and out of the bridal veil-ish falls.As we were getting ready to make for the village, who should join us at this juncture, but Zlot! What timing. Unfortunately, he was carrying his entire pack, as the helicopters were supposedly not running on Saturday. The hike to the village was slow. Not difficult,just slow. JLITH and I took the rear, and soon the others were out of sight. I took JLITH to task for moving so slowly that even I was restless. Apparently she had a pulled muscle in her leg, but stiffened her upper lip and soon we caught up with the others.
Breakfast at the village cafe. What we all really wanted was lunch, but it was too early. Anyway, almost anything was better than the short rations we'd been on the past few days, and we dug into our breakfast burritos with relish. The patio was nice and cool. It afforded us a nice view of the towering red rock, farms, and busy helicopter landing field. No flights on Saturday? Lies, all lies. JLITH gazed longingly at each helicopter as it left. After the second one, I told her that she'd better do something about it next time. Accordingly, when the next helicopter arrived, I saw her approach it. As the propeller was still beating, I was not surprised when she boarded it ... to talk to the pilot, no doubt. All of a sudden she was waving, and the copter was lifting up. I was so astonished, and the laughter just bubbled out uncontrollably.
The hike out was long and hot. Except when it was not. Scout was often times far infront. He's so fit that even when he's just sauntering, he moves much faster than the rest of us. Highland Hiker, Zlot and I brought up the rear. Now that we were past all the water fun, HH was dealing with her too small boots again. Zlot was carrying his full pack. And me? My only excuse is that I was slow, and very sore. Stopped for a minute at the tadpole pool. I pointed it out, and got enough ooh's and aah's to ennable me to catch a brief respite. Zlot also shared some of his liquid gold ... ie: Gatorade!
Passed by this intriguing rock display. The "mounting" is a huge boulder, maybe 12 feet high, with numerous, shallow "mini-caves" into which passing hikers have placed pebbles. The result is a Museum of Rock, which vaguely resembles a thimble or spoon collection that one would expect to see in a senior citizen's home.It did end up raining on us. Quite decidedly so, to the tune of everyone else getting out raingear to put over their backpacks small or large. Me? I took off my outer shirt and gloried in the shade and coolness. The showers didn't last for long, but they cooled us off, and made the dust more complacent. We had a few more showers, which was rather disconcerting, as the sun was shining when it occurred, but the rest of the way was mostly dry.
At one rest spot ... and everyone was resting, except for Scout, who was leagues ahead ... Zlot said that we should alter the hiking line-up. He suggested that the slowest person (me, of course) should be the frontrunner, setting the pace so that one could carry on a conversation, and not get too winded. Also said that it would be best so that no one would go into anaerobic metabolism. I didn't like the idea of slowing everyone else down, but since I knew that HH was moving a little slower beause of her feet, and that Zlot was dealing with carrying a full pack, I acquiesced. And so we continued with me in the lead, until we reached the base of the ascending portion.
We all took a long break at the base. We drank and ate up. Portenia, instead of giving me a bite of her Cliff Protein Bar, gave me the whole thing. It was good ... tasty, without the mealiness of your run of the mill protein bar, and less carbs.
On the long trek up, Scout soon outdistanced us. Portenia soon followed suit. However, I was kept in good company with HH and Zlot. We took our time. Zlot even gently urged us forward with the promise of a series of benches, "just around the corner." After another brief respite, we continued climbing up the awful switchbacks. We spotted JLITH waving from the top, and then soon saw Scout coming down the mountain. He offered sips of gatorade, and to carry stuff. I, being the weak one, happily took him up on the offer. about two switchbacks down, JLITH also joined our group, with cool gatorades for each of us! Good girl. We all made it to the top in short order, and started getting ready to drive back to civilization. Goodbyes were said to Zlot, and the rest of us headed out to Kingman for the all the comforts that In-N-Out could provide ... food, drink, flush toilets and running water to clean up in! The drive was long, but much better made in daylight than in the dark.When we finally arrived in Kingman, it was almost dark. I opened my car door, swung out my legs, and realized afresh how painful is was to move. We all hobbled into the joint and made a beeline for the restroom. Fifteen minutes later, freshened up and coated with Portenia's menthol gel, I emerged to gain my just reward. And at about 0130 in the morning, I reached home. Showered. And fell into the creature comfort of my own bed. Heaven.
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