Scratch

On Friday morning Jax and I are headed out on our morning hike and we're not too far down the trail when Jax alerts to something ahead. Then his nose goes to the ground and he's off. I figure it's deer since there are tracks everywhere and while I'm trying to calm him down he's getting more excited. Then he takes off running.

I hear a woman's voice "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." I round the corner and Jax is licking her face. She's camped right by the tee on Hole #11 of the disc golf course. She's nervous she's trespassing but to me she has walking sticks so she's a Hayduker or Discoverer. Hayduke she says, trail name Scratch, but she's turning back. She went further last night and missed the lodge but there was ash in the air and she didn't know what that meant for her future ahead. She said the Hayduke is not really a trail. It's more navigating washes and canyons than it is following a trail. She feels like she's not prepared or ready for an adventure like this. I give her directions just another quarter of a mile to the lodge to fill up on water and she's going to hike back Jackson Hole way so not likely we'll see her again.

Jax and I continue our hike.