Rick Making Some New Friends

Once again, we woke up to rain. Actually, it didn’t start raining until around 7:10. I went out in it at 7:40. What a mess. It rained all morning and luckily I had wide shoulders and sidewalks in Roosevelt, so I didn’t get too wet from trucks. I spent about forty minutes in McDonalds nursing a cup of coffee before I set out on the last hour before lunch. After lunch and a break, the skies cleared up and the afternoon was just terrific.

We made it through Roosevelt and will make it through Vernal tomorrow. We figure we are about three days away from Colorado. I’m getting antsy. It seems like forever getting across Utah and it is mostly because of the rain delays we’ve had.

It was good mostly flat walking today, with a couple of small uphills and downhills. Tomorrow as I approach Vernal, there is a several mile uphill getting into the city. Once into Vernal and through it, the walk is mainly flat to CO. Tomorrow I’ll hit 1,000 miles! 😀 Can’t wait.

Miles Covered: 17 (in the rain)
Total Miles: 995.5
Money Found: $2.90
Total Found: $31.64

Well, the generator is fixed once again. It seems there was a broken valve spring and retainer, but no other damage. I’m glad it wouldn’t start or we might have damaged a piston or something else inside the engine. Anyway, I really want to thank the good people at Cummins Rocky Mountain in Grand Junction, CO for their prompt and professional work they performed. I dealt with Beth Cox there and she kept me informed on what was wrong and what was being done. Many thanks to her and her co-workers. I expressed my feelings yesterday about Onan and they really haven’t changed, but that in no way reflects the way I feel about the people at Cummins R.M.

A view of Douglas Pass, Colorado

The drive to and from Grand Junction was on CO Hwy 139. We had to go over Douglas Pass and the drive was very pretty with a lot of varied scenery. Yesterday it was very overcast and a lot of the beauty was lost to us. Today we saw what we missed. The pictures below are of the top of the pass, some moose we saw, and some very strange round holes in the sides of the rocks along part of the trip.  If anyone knows why these holes are there and what made them, I’d like to know.

I’ll resume the Walk tomorrow.

Yesterday the generator died and would not restart no matter what I did. So – we are now sitting in the Cummins/Onan service center in Grand Junction, CO (seems like I’ve done this before) waiting until tomorrow morning when they can look at it. The one good thing about it is that the generator is only six weeks old, so I think this repair is on them (I hope).  😳

We drove over from Roosevelt, UT this morning. We woke up to rain again and were thinking about taking the day off anyway. Since the generator still didn’t start this AM, our decision was made for us. On the way over we stopped in Dinosaur, CO for a cup of coffee for me and a Post Office visit for Valda. She came back to the RV and handed me a check. Seems Milly in the P.O. was so impressed with what we are doing she gave Valda a goodly sum of money to be used for gasoline purchase. At the price of gas around here, it will come in handy. Thanks, Milly!

The next day I walk, or the day after that, I should go over the 1000 mile mark! I think I’ll surpass $30.00 in ‘money found’ before I leave Utah also!

Where do I begin? Today, we woke up to rain. It had actually rained off and on all night but I started out in it around 8:00 AM and didn’t get too wet considering. The road was fairly wide and I just turned my back to the big rigs that throw spray all over you. I have complete rain gear and stay as dry as if it was sunny. 😀

The weather around here hasn’t been too good lately. I’m glad I made it over Indian Canyon Summit in the sunshine though. The terrain from Duchesne to Vernal has been and will continue to be flat for the most part. There are some strange-looking rock formations I’ll pass as I go on toward Colorado. Beyond Dinosaur, it’s anybody’s guess. I do know that I’m glad I’m not walking from Dinosaur to Grand Junction. It is a narrow road, poorly maintained, and goes up a summit that rivals Indian Canyon. It was nice to actually go over one of these in a vehicle.

At Noon, Valda started the generator and flipped on the microwave. Bad idea. 💀  The generator died and would not restart no matter what I did. I don’t think the generator problem will be too severe, just time-consuming. And, it seems that any time something happens, we have to drive 400 miles round a trip to get it fixed. I’m glad Onan isn’t a sponsor – I think it would be pretty hard for me to endorse their product. I guess it’s all part of the game.

Miles Covered: 12.75 (in rain)
Total Miles: 978.5
Money Found: $0.75
Total Found: $28.74

Wow, what a day. The hike (yesterday) itself was uneventful, but today was a different story.

We picked up the hike and had gone about six miles when a grey/whitish car passed me going the same way I was. Now I don’t remember this particular car passing me, but about one minute later I rounded a curve around a huge rock and the car was off the road and on its roof. I thought it was a farmer’s truck down in his field, but as I got closer I could tell it was the back end of a car where it shouldn’t be. I walked over and the driver was standing there, looking quite dazed. He said he fell asleep and he is lucky to be alive. He lost his shoe and cell phone and he later told me he didn’t have a driver’s license. I called Valda and she came up and called 911 and about twenty minutes later the police arrived. We gave him a bottle of water and offered him food but he said he was okay. He didn’t want an ambulance. His name was Scott and I really hope his day got better as it went along, but I doubt it did.

We made it to Duchesne and are now ten miles east of the town. We are staying in the driveway of a lady who lives on US 40. I knocked on her door and asked her if we could park here. She had a bad case of laryngitis and she may have said no, but I couldn’t tell, so here we are. 😀

Personal to Wayne R of Salt Lake City who stopped me today and gave me a cash donation to Gateway. It is much appreciated!

The picture below is of poor Scott’s car. By the way, Valda takes most of the pictures I put on the blog. Doesn’t she do a good job? 😀

Miles Covered: 20.25
Total Miles: 945.75
Money Found: $0.37
Total Found: $27.16

Today we woke up on the top of Indian Canyon Summit, elevation 9114′, and proceeded to hike toward Duchesne. It was a great walk, 20+ miles – all downhill. 😀  We walked through the prettiest scenery I think we’ve seen since we started. It was all mountains on both sides of us and the views were just breathtaking.

Thanks to my nephew Kevin K of Atlanta who informed me that domestic elk are raised for their meat. I didn’t know that.

Miles Covered: 20.25
Total Miles: 945.75
Money Found: $0.37
Total Found: $27.16

Well, I trudged and trudged and sweated and sweated and finally made it to the summit at Indian Canyon, elevation 9114′.  I saw a sign for the traffic coming toward me and I looked at it and it said 8% grade next 4.5 miles. Now the 8% grade was not a shock, but the 4.5 miles sure seemed like about 10 to me. What a climb. I imagine this is how the Rockies will be all the way through Colorado.

I met a rancher this morning, Quint Pickup (that’s his last name). I was walking on Emma Park Road, a county road that wound its way through his property. Quint raises cattle and it looked like he had a few oil wells too. Anyway, he stopped to see if I needed help and we talked for a few minutes. I asked him if he had to deal with cattle rustling, and he told me he had a Brahma bull rustled last year right under his nose. He said he thinks he knows who did it, but proving it is another thing. I enjoyed talking with Quint and appreciate his concern for my safety.

I also met Don of Vernal who stopped and inquired about my needing a ride. Don is a 62 year old grandfather who has had cancer in his family. We talked for a few minutes and he told me he was going to have his daughter contact a couple of TV stations in Salt Lake for a story. It’s people like Don and Quint that make this walk enjoyable.

Tomorrow we start out downhill. We have about 30 miles to Duchesne where we connect with US 40. We’ll be on US 40 the rest of the way through Utah and into Colorado. We will then go away from 40 and pick it up once more in Indiana. I couldn’t believe we have broadband here on this mountain, and hope we have it again tomorrow.

This was a neat picture I took a couple of days ago.  I was riding in the RV and am surprised it turned out so well.  It was through my max zoom and was probably about a mile away.

Miles Covered: 17.5
Total Miles: 925.5
Money Found: $0.47
Total Found: $26.79

I had company again today. Chris took a break from filming and walked most of the morning and all afternoon with me. He put in about 11 miles and I put in 14. This is absolutely the last day for a while that I don’t do at least 17-20 miles. I promise. It just has been one thing or another keeping me from that goal, and now that I’m out of the Provo area and my walking buddies have all gone home, it should be back to the ole’ grind. It was a good little break and I really did appreciate the walking company.

We have made it to the junction of US 6 and a shortcut road that takes us to US 191. We should arrive in Duchesne in two to three days, then it is on to Vernal and Colorado. We hope to be in Colorado in eight or nine days. The terrain today was mostly downhill after we went 3.5 miles uphill to Soldier Summit. It was really pretty with a river following us on the north side of the road, and mountains on our right and left. There are railroad tracks that follow the river for a good part and the occasional train. The snow caps are way off in the distance but the mountains near us are formidable. We had to go through about three miles of road construction today and that was not fun.

We met a fellow today, Dennis Finch who runs the Hilltop General Store in Colton, UT. Now Dennis is a character. He had first hand knowledge of the history of the area and showed us a picture of his grandfather and Butch Cassidy, taken in 1931. Now if you all remember the film, you know ole’ Butch and Sundance bought the farm in Bolivia in the early 1900’s. I’ve seen pictures of Butch Cassidy before and it was for sure him in the picture I saw. Dennis said Butch died an old man in the area and only his relatives know where he’s buried. He said Sundance died in prison under the false name of Beebe. It was a real interesting few minutes with Mr. Finch

Coming down to the start point today, we passed a pasture on the side of some large hills filled with sheep. They were all over the hills. It was quite a sight. Later when Chris arrived, he told us the sheep had gotten through the fence and were heading for the highway with the shepherd giving chase. We also came upon a herd of ‘domestic’ elk in a fenced in area. Don’t know what you do with ‘domestic’ elk. All in all it was a good day and hopefully a better one tomorrow. We still aren’t sure about the broadband until Duchesne.

Miles Covered: 14
Total Miles: 908
Money Found: $1.04
Total Found: $26.32

Rick Hammersley walks along Riverbottom Road in Spanish Fork during his walk across America Tuesday, May 27, 2008. Photo Courtesy of MARK JOHNSTON/Daily Herald.

Today we almost made it to Soldier Summit on US 6. After a day off yesterday, we resumed our Walk through the mountains just East of the Spanish Fork area. US 6 is cut mainly through mountain passes and of the 30 miles we have done since getting back on the highway, about 28 of them have been on an uphill grade. Now the grade is gradual (until you drive it), but it is still uphill. After doing it all day, you feel quite ready to call it a day.

Miles Covered: 15
Total Miles: 894
Money Found: $0.23
Total Found: $25.28

Rick walking with Ed Mason, our Xocai Healthy Chocolate Sponsor, in Utah

Yesterday, we met with Ed Mason, our Xocai sponsor and he took us to a meeting in Salem, UT where I spoke for a few minutes on what ‘The Healthy Chocolate‘ has done for me. I tell you, the longer I eat it, the better I feel. There have been good things that have happened to me, health-wise, that I had no explanation for until I heard what the chocolate could do for you. Now I know why my back has stopped hurting in the afternoon and I don’t have to take 600mg of ibuprofen. I also now know why I’m sleeping all night and waking up refreshed. It is a superfood.

We want to thank Erick & John of Applebee’s Restaurant in Orem for picking up the tab on our meal yesterday. They treated us super and made us want to go back. We all appreciate your kindness. Also, Ed walked a couple of miles with me today and the picture below is proof of that. It was fun to have the company.

We will leave this area tomorrow. We have been in the general area since last Sunday and it’s time to say goodbye. We hope to make Colorado in the next ten days or so. I may not have broadband for a few days, so till then..