DAY 20
October 24, 2006
When I walked into Panguitch yesterday, I asked a lady who was warming herself by a small fire in an RV park what the altitude was.
“You’re right up here with the devil,” she said. “Six thousand six hundred and sixty feet. It used to be six thousand six hundred and sixty six feet but they took the last six out on account of the devil number. I don’t know what good it did, there’s still three sixes.”
Whew, I whistled, that’s pretty high. She then informed me that it only gets higher as I go south.
I saw what she was talking about as I walked south of Panguitch today. It was a steady uphill slope. Luckily, we had good weather.
We walked through Hatch, which is a swell little town. Doug and I thought about going into the Adobe Café, but thought better of it when we saw the dark skies ahead. We finished the walk without getting too wet.
We stopped at mile marker 111 on highway 89, which just happens to be the old site of a pioneer city named Asay, Utah. According to a plaque, the city was abandoned because of the harsh winters and short growing season. I guess, at the time, their proximity to both Zion and Bryce national parks didn’t mean much to them. Now, 150 years later, it made a great place to stop for the day.