Wednesday, March 20, 2013, 10 KM

Awful beginning to day three. I couldn’t find the trail down Scotia Canyon, so I walked downstream until the AZT crossed my path and headed up a hill to the right. After a long, gradual climb through a pasture to the Parker Lake trailhead, I walked to the Parker Lake store with dreams of lemonade, but discovered upon my arrival that the store is only open on Friday and weekends. Fine then. I filtered water from the lake and headed back up the long hot road.

You may be thinking ‘lemonade is delicious, but its absence doesn’t qualify as awful’. Yes, the awful part comes now! While returning to the trailhead, I somehow got on the wrong road, one that took me back to the start of Scotia Canyon. Therefore I had to redo a non-scenic section of the AZT, wasting a chunk of the morning. The only pro of walking the same section twice was that on the second occasion I found a map that had dropped from my pocket. Incompetence preventing littering.

The day improved after my blunder. The AZT passed into the Canelo Hills, which of course necessitated much climbing and descending (being hills and all) but were beautiful, especially in the dramatic shadows of late afternoon. I made camp in a high but non-windy area devoid of other people and seemingly even animals. The evening was warmer than the last two and despite my misfortune/incompetence this morning, the afternoon made today my favourite day on the trail so far.