Our next destination is Tonopah, AZ. It's 47 miles away, but because of limited supplies, we need to get there in 2 days. After a restful night in Gabriel Palma's house, we headed out early for a long walk. Stopped by the general store to fill the coolers, then started down Salome Rd for a long day.
The desert we have seen in Arizona is much different from our experience in CA. It made me wonder, "what defines a desert?" One is desolate with no life, the other is green with grazing cattle, vegetation, and wildlife. The difference: water. As we were told, AZ sits on a huge aquifer (Students: do you know what that is?" It also has an aqueduct system much the same as CA. So, while hardly any water falls from the sky, AZ has plenty from other places.
Another thing out here is "open range" cattle grazing. That means cattle graze in areas without fences, and sometimes will wander across the road. Lots of signs warning motorist to watch for cows.
We hadn't walked long when a car pulled up and stopped. Two very nice women introduced themselves as Dawn Patterson, and her mother, Ina Cremer. Ina is originally from England, so she and Alan has lots to talk about. Dawn had seen us walking the previous day while out riding her motorcycle, and wanted to know more about these 2 guys pushing a cart thru the desert. She also told us we were welcome to stay in their guest house (with a pool), but walkingmen have to be wary of temptations such as this......interferes with our mission!
Dawn and Ina were on their way to Phoenix for some shopping, so headed out. We continued on our way to Tonopah. Several hours later, a car approached from the opposite direction and pulled off the road ahead of us. It was Dawn and Ina, back from shopping, and bringing us some cold water and grapes. (The way people want to take care of us, we must look pretty worn out and rough!) We talked for a while longer, and then move on.....again resisting the invite of the pool and guest house.
The remainder of the day was just walking......a total of 25 miles, our longest day yet. But we needed that to reach Tonopah in 2 days, and we did find a nice campsite. We rested and refreshed for a while, put up our tents, and soon asleep under the desert stars.
The desert we have seen in Arizona is much different from our experience in CA. It made me wonder, "what defines a desert?" One is desolate with no life, the other is green with grazing cattle, vegetation, and wildlife. The difference: water. As we were told, AZ sits on a huge aquifer (Students: do you know what that is?" It also has an aqueduct system much the same as CA. So, while hardly any water falls from the sky, AZ has plenty from other places.
Another thing out here is "open range" cattle grazing. That means cattle graze in areas without fences, and sometimes will wander across the road. Lots of signs warning motorist to watch for cows.
We hadn't walked long when a car pulled up and stopped. Two very nice women introduced themselves as Dawn Patterson, and her mother, Ina Cremer. Ina is originally from England, so she and Alan has lots to talk about. Dawn had seen us walking the previous day while out riding her motorcycle, and wanted to know more about these 2 guys pushing a cart thru the desert. She also told us we were welcome to stay in their guest house (with a pool), but walkingmen have to be wary of temptations such as this......interferes with our mission!
Dawn and Ina were on their way to Phoenix for some shopping, so headed out. We continued on our way to Tonopah. Several hours later, a car approached from the opposite direction and pulled off the road ahead of us. It was Dawn and Ina, back from shopping, and bringing us some cold water and grapes. (The way people want to take care of us, we must look pretty worn out and rough!) We talked for a while longer, and then move on.....again resisting the invite of the pool and guest house.
The remainder of the day was just walking......a total of 25 miles, our longest day yet. But we needed that to reach Tonopah in 2 days, and we did find a nice campsite. We rested and refreshed for a while, put up our tents, and soon asleep under the desert stars.
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