Day 3: The Bluff Campground to Utea Park Campground
Distance Covered: 29 km
What a day. Back to back 29 km days have us feeling wiped out. We both have blisters going, although Emily “wins” by having one on her right pinky toe that’s filled with blood and pus and wraps around her whole toe. It looks like she’s going to lose the toe nail. We will lance it tonight and see what happens. I have the “Inception” blister with a blister within a blister within a blister. That’s three layers of skin.
The issue seems to be the combination of long miles right from the start, wet feet from stream crossings, and a little more weight than we practice hiked with. I’ve been hiking all summer in these same shoes and thought I worked through all the blisters so it’s caught me by surprise.
The long days have been unexpected. We anticipated 12 miles or so each day (20 km). With 60 km in two days, we’ve squeezed in an extra day of hiking. We are getting up at 6:30, taking our time and leaving at about 8 AM. We walk for a couple of hours, take a break, and rinse and repeat. We’ve been getting to camp at about 4:30, so we’re not staying out late. The flat, monotonous beach just lends itself to more distance.
We made a reservation at the hostel in Aripaha two days from now. In theory, we could do 30 km tomorrow, show up a day early, and maybe take a rest day. We are considering doing 20 km instead and then just 10 km the next day to give us two relatively easy days.
Scenery wise, if you like beaches this is the place. There’s beach for miles and miles.
There was only one shallow fresh water stream at the beginning that stretched our reserves. Emily was down to about half a liter. I had more since I carry extra “just in case”. Might have been a little tight to cook dinner and have anything left if there hadn’t been some at the end. But then a trail angel drove up the beach! Steve had the day off and decided to go out to offer food and water to anyone hiking. He gave us cold water from cold glasses and topped off our water bottles. He is a blueberry farmer so that’s interesting.
In sad news, Emily spotted what appeared to be an adolescent seal on a dune. It looked to be in bad shape and had dragged itself to a safe place. We mentioned it to Steve and he said it was not uncommon for seals that were sick to do this and that they didn’t often survive. One of the things you get from being outside so much is that you see nature how it is instead of how we want it to be.
We reached the Utea Park campground where it’s a $10 “donation” per person. In exchange, we got a nice spot for our tent, a kitchen, showers, and hospitality. A bargain, really. It was nice to be able to boil water on a stove in a kettle. And there is really nothing else out here for another 18 miles. It’s like an oasis on the beach.
Picture-wise here are some beach shots. The first one is interesting (to me) because the colors make it seem like there could be big ridges and valleys. However, the beach is flat to within millimeters. If you don’t see it, maybe you haven’t spent enough hours walking on a monotonous beach…
The shells are pretty cool. If you like shells, this is the place for you. Tens of thousands of them! Of every shape, color, and size. Whole “streams” of them too. Many of them have been of particularly stellar quality with colors fading from one to another like sunsets.
