ODT 5 – September 21 -Rome

Daily Miles: 21

Total Miles: 89

We had a clear night last night and could finally see the stars. We still woke up with wet sleeping bags and a wet tarp, but when we are camped in an area where the highest thing is a three foot tall bush, there is no protection from the condensation.

The morning started out with a big climb back onto the rim of the canyon. Looking at the vertical wall of the canyon, it was impossible to see how we were going to get up, but as we got closer and started up, we found a little jeep road which curled around the steep wall and got us up to the top.

A lot of the rest of the day was spent walking the relatively flat mesa above the canyon. It seemed like you could look in every direction and only see a sea of golden grasses. It reminds us of a prairie at times, but then we’ll see a mountain or butte in the distance.

At lunch time, we all took out our wet gear to dry out. The sun was out today and we had no problems getting everything dry. We felt like we could eat more freely today, since we only had 21 miles into town when we left camp this morning. We weren’t sure we would make it into town tonight, but knew we wouldn’t need much food tomorrow to get to Rome.

Around 3:30pm, when we were taking a break, we realized we only had a little over 6 miles left to town, so we made the decision to get into town tonight. That definitely got us walking a bit faster, and we made it to Rome by 6:15pm. We got cabins for the night and had dinner in the cafe.

Unfortunately, JJ’s resupply hasn’t arrived yet and the nearest grocery store is 100 miles away! There is some snack foods he can buy here at the convenience store, but their selection is very limited. The owners were nice enough to bring some of their own food from home for JJ to take on the trail. It is even harder for him, because this next stretch will be our longest…7 days.

Somehow the hours always go so fast when we’re in town. It is already past “hiker midnight” and we haven’t even started to sort out our food for the next stretch. We’ll have a busy morning tomorrow getting everything packed up and all our tasks completed (we’re planning to order a tent before leaving town). Too much to do!