Day 123- It Is The Little Things In Life

Wednesday Aug 15, 2018

Rocky Ridge TH(2514.5) to Hwy 2(2548)

33.5 miles 

Total Miles: 2263.6

Elevation: 5,650

It was much warmer last night. I was a little skeptical about cowboy camping again after how cold it was yesterday, but I was worried for no reason. I started off walking next to the interstate for almost four miles. I was glad to make a few fast and easy miles. The next stage of the morning had me gaining 1,500 feet of elevation up a dirt road. I really needed to see some elves about some cookies(go poop), but I was surrounded by private property. I was practically running down the road. I inadvertently missed a major water source and had to hike another 5 miles to my next water source. 

Sunrise 

Just past my water source was a privy. The best part of hitting the privy was that there was a trash can inside. Score! Water, privy, and a trash can. Sometimes it is the little things in life that make for a great day. 

Privy and trash can 

The hiking today was pretty boring. The trail was recently rerouted off of forest service roads, but it was mainly mountain bike trails. There weren’t very many water sources either and it was really hot today. Luckily, I was almost out of food so carrying extra water didn’t feel too heavy. At one point I passed a sign for a scenic vista. I took the time to check it out. Maybe there used to be a view, but now the trees were blocking the scenic vista. 

Hoping for a good view 

Not what I was hoping for 

For the most part I hiked by myself today. I knocked out 17 miles by noon. I took too long of a break at the privy and my pace was much slower for the rest of the day. Enigma caught up to me at the last water source of the day. He chose to cook dinner there so he didn’t have to carry extra water for a dry camp. I thought about it, but decided to just carry the water. Just before I started hiking again Straws and Piñata caught up. I knocked out the next seven miles pretty easily considering how tired I felt. I hit highway 2, just after five o’clock. I had hiked 29 miles by that time. I usually take way more breaks, but I was trying to challenge myself today. The day was so boring that I really just wanted to make miles. 

Most interesting view of the day 

When I hit highway 2, Enigma, Straws, and Piñata caught up to me. We cooked dinner at the trailhead parking lot. We decided to take an alternate into town. The actual trail was another nine mile hike. That would put us at Interstate 90 where we would have to hitch into town. Instead we hiked Highway 2 for nine miles and that put us into town without hitching. The route we took used to be the official cdt until the new trail was built. Once again we didn’t get into camp until late. I have enjoyed cooking dinner early and then hiking more miles, but I end up staying up late every night. When we don’t get into camp until after nine o’clock everyone else goes right to sleep, whereas I still have a few hours of blogging to do. Tomorrow we only have a few miles to hike and then we will have a busy town day. We are doing an in and out again. Hopefully we can get everything done and get out at a decent time. 

“To bear reflects the mental power and proof of vision. To endure the pain, and tolerate, execute the strength and the depth of one's character.”

- Ehsan Sehgal