Crater Island, Utah (26 mi./ 42 km northeast of Wendover) view map
Start of handcart hike number three, one year after my previous hike. During the interim I made several changes to the handcart to make it larger and easier to use. Those changes are described at the gallery level. Near the end of the hike I photographed the handles from a different angle.
The previous evening I walked out onto the mud for about 1.5 miles to verify that it was dry enough to hike on and was pleased to find that it was---just barely. A year earlier (June 2011) I camped on the playa after hiking five miles out. This time I was hoping to go seven or eight miles.
I disavow any knowledge of ignoring the practice of packing light.
The rug at far left shields three gallon jugs of water from the sun.
Ralph Tripod supported my camera for this photo.
Joe tripod was somewhere in that mountain of equipment.
Nice-looking tires! If the sticky mud will gum up tires having little or no tread (my hand truck tires), what will it do to deep-tread tires? I'm convinced that the solution to the problem of wet mud is "dry mud." That might mean hiking in the “warm” months of July or August, but even then there could be enough rain to mess up the mud.
Now on the drawing board are two possible cart modifications for dealing with wet mud. The preferred one is an atomic-powered heater, mounted on the front of the cart, that dries the mud as I approach it. Cost might be a problem. If that breaks my budget, I might use a high-pressure water spraying system to continually cleanse the tires. The thought of pushing a cart with 10,000 gallons of water on board is daunting, but I think I’m up to it. Let’s see…10,000 gallons times 8 pounds per gallon equals 80,000 pounds or 40 tons. I might have to re-work the design so I need less water.
