I went to bed hungry and realized I still had over a day of hiking to the next town, so I made a side trip into the town of Morenci. But not before getting lost in the canyons of Eagle Creek. By the time I made it to the highway the sun was high in the sky and my feet were soaked. There were really two reasons I had to run into town: 1. I was out of food 2. My maps were soaked and unreadable from the storms and backups were on my phone which was dead. The food I could have dealt with, but without readable maps or a working phone it would have been tough. It became more of an adventure day and a time to check out a new town. In Morenci I found an all you can eat pizza buffet and went to town. Then I bought some groceries and worked to get it of town when my phone and external battery were charged. It took forever, but finally as the sun was setting I got a ride through the open pit mine to the road I came out on. The mine was a feat! Trucks with wheels taller than I am were everywhere, a giant pit sat there and hundreds of acres were consumed by the hundred year old mine. A mine so big it runs 24/7/365 I salvaged the day late, but I had a ton of bonus miles. The day this will post is also my birthday!
Miles 21
Total miles 5904
#greatwesternloop #JeffGarmireGWL #GreatWesternLoopfinishers #whatdoesGWLstandfor #howmanypeoplehavedonetheGWL #whohasdonetheGreatWesternLoop #Thelongestthruhike #JeffGarmireGreatWesternLoop #whatstatesdoestheGWLgothrough #WhatistheGreatWesternLoop #WheredoestheGreatWesternLoopgo #thelongestbackpackingtrip #whohasdonetheGWL