DWTH Day 37: Piute Wilderness & Fenner

Daily Miles: 19.5, Total Miles: 574.8

After packing up this morning, I immediately left Sunflower Springs Road and headed northeast and then north into the colorful Piute Mountains and then the small Piute Mountains Wilderness.

These mountains were a gem with angular, jagged volcanics and rounded, smooth granite hills. The many rock formations were cool, one looking like a horse head.

I walked down a long canyon and wash onto the flatlands which ultimately led me first to cross under train tracks and then to Hwy 40 at Fenner along Route 66, really nothing more than a Chevron station with a small store.

Premium prices but nice staff, I had a rest, a long drink and first tried Uber to get to my next resupply at Needles, 35 miles away. Nothing available this far out, I tried a transport shuttle group from a flyer given to me by the store attendant. I called, agreed on a pickup and price and waited. They texted an hour later and said they weren’t coming with no explanation.

After two hours and several interactions with people coming and going, I met a young couple heading my way but wanting to hear my story on why I was “out here”. Must have worked because we were soon on our way to the front door of the Hampton Inn in Needles CA. So nice, they even offered to stop back in on Monday and take me back to Fenner if it worked out. I told them they restored my faith in humanity!

Got checked in, cleaned up and visited the nearby pizza place for pizza and salad. Needles, a population of about 5,000 on the Colorado River and also on the old Route 66, is in visible decline. A lot of closed businesses and reported higher crime rates, kind of a sad place.

But the post office is still here. I had forgotten Monday was a holiday (Presidents Day) so will try to get back to Fenner on Tuesday. In the meantime, looking forward to rest and recovery.