Friday April 1 – Saturday, April 2, 2022 Lake Havasu, Pilot Rock
Backpacking Lake Havasu with John
As I wrote in my last post, John and I got back together. It didn’t take long for John and I to get back into the swing of living together again in the RV. But I never expected to backpack with him! EVER!
I Never Thought I’d Backpack with John
I told John about the cool backpacking trip Hunter and I took in Lake Havasu to Pilot Rock. He seemed intrigued.
John is a hiker of shorter distances, maybe up to 7 miles or so in one day, so when he said he wanted to backpack the same trail to the same location as Hunter and I, I was pleasantly surprised. As well as excited! I always wanted an adventure partner and he was quickly turning into that person.
He didn’t have all the gear for backpacking like a tent, small cook stove, or large backpack but I had enough to support us both for 1 night on the trail. We made the proper adjustments to our packs and headed out just a few days after reuniting. This was going to be a test for John to see if he could hang with me on trail and overnight. (I didn’t tell him this, of course.)
We packed up and headed out from camp just like Hunter and I did.
The day was just perfect for hiking – sunshine, warm weather, slight breeze. We had hiked this area many times before at SARA Park so we were familiar with the terrain and weather for this time of year. Yet we had never hiked to Pilot Rock together.
Arriving at the lake we found that others like this cove as well – boaters like to pull in to chill. Luckily for us, the boaters here didn’t take over the sandy cove and we were able to set up our tent.
Being since this is mostly a boating lake we got some funny looks from them as backpackers, we even met a curious, delightful couple we conversed with for at least an hour about adventures in life.
Once the boaters left we had the cove all to ourselves. We watched the ducks, ate dinner and witnessed a beautiful Arizona sunset over the water and rugged mountains. John jumped in the water a few times but it was just a little too cold for me!
We didn’t sleep that well that night, my tent is technically a 2 man tent but I’m not sure who measures these tents – it’s more like 1.5 human tent. Plus we didn’t have the padding under our bodies to keep us comfy since we both had 1 person pads, it’s hard to share those.
After a night of constant shifting and turning over to individually find a comfy sleep position, we headed back the next morning back to the RV.
I don’t know about John, but all the way back I had a smile on my face! I would almost say this was the perfect backpacking trip! And I look forward to more with him!
FYI, John passed the test, he can backpack. And not only that, he wants to do it again!
