Ben

Every year I get a four to ten wanderers that are hiking either The Discovery Trail or the Hayduke Trail. Usually 20 to 40 years old and determined. Generally they are tired and worn out by the time they get to me. Today on the drive to town to pick up firewood I met a guy named Ben walking to the top of Hurrah Pass and again on the way back from town where he was hiking in towards Moab. Ben is doing The Discovery Trail which starts in Delaware and goes to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. I ask Ben how he was doing the whole trail by himself. Most that I run into come out the year before and scout the difficult sections and then bury water and food setting GPS coordinates so they can find the stuff on their hike. Ben said he's doing the trail both ways and expects it to take him of course twice as long. Usually it's about 15 months. Ben walks in 10 to 20 miles and then walks back to his vehicle. Drives up to the end of where he turned around when he was walking and repeats the process the next day. Sometimes, like around here going down Lockhart Basin it's pretty much impassable from my end with a vehicle. So he parked at the impossible part, walked in 15 miles and then hiked back. The next day he went down to the other end and did the same thing the next two days so in time he's getting every bit of The Discovery Trail and doing it in both directions. Ben is 71 years old. Was nice to have met you Ben.