Day 51- You Have Died From Dysentery

Mon June 04, 2018

N. of Weasel Spring(1718.9) to South Pass City(1747.4) 28.5 Miles

Total Miles: 933

Elevation: 7,816 feet

I thought that after my record breaking day yesterday that I would sleep like a rock. Unfortunately, my entire body was sore and my mind was overactive. There was also a curious coyote that kept circling my camp. I woke up to my alarm at 5:15. I finally convinced myself to start moving at 5:30 and left camp a little before 6. I had only hiked a few miles when I heard the cattle behind me start running. I instantly knew that Turtle was close behind. I slowed down my pace so that he could catch up. Last night was the first time in a long time that I have camped alone. It was nice and lonely all at the same time. I definitely missed Turtles company last night and this morning. I was stoked to hike with him for awhile this morning. 

View from my sleeping bag

The morning started out pretty breezy. At first I was happy about it because it was going to be another hot day with very little shade. After a few hours the wind increased and it got old really quickly. Turtle and I hiked together until we hit mile 5. We took a break and he needed more time so I hiked on alone. We made plans to meet at the river at mile 14 or in South Pass City. South Pass consists of a general store and a ghost town. Not much of a city! 3 miles after South Pass we will cross highway 28, which marks the end of our flip. We will then hitchhike to Lander, WY and either catch a bus or hitch to Riverton. I have a car rental reservation there. We will return the car in Telluride and spend a day there before continuing on to Pagosa Springs. After we hike Colorado we will have to find a way around this section we have already hiked. I think my parents plan on meeting up with me to assist with that. Then I will finish hiking Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. I just hope the snow has really melted out in S. Colorado. 

South Pass City is located at the base of those mountains. 

I was telling Turtle about the message I had found in the water cache yesterday talking about the history of this area. Just as I was telling him that the Pony Express went through where we were hiking we crossed a marker for it. It was pretty cool to think about the early explorers and Mormons hiking through the same area. 

Seminole Cutoff of the California Trail

I started off hiking on another parallel trail, but it wasn’t long before that turned into a gravel road. After the long miles yesterday and the day before the gravel really made my feet angry. My legs were also feeling the miles. Instead of feeling fresh I felt like I had already hiked 10-15 miles. I knew it was going to be a long day.  I hiked the first 14 miles with no issues. Shortly before making it to the river I met an older gentleman section hiking. He said that he lived in the area and was slowly knocking out Wyoming. He also said that the trail after the bridge was horrible. It was several miles of cross country hiking with very few trail markers and lots of rocks. That did not sound like fun. I don’t carry the paper maps with the alternate routes listed, but I do have an app for that. I checked the Ley map alternate app and found an alternate that would avoid that section. I made it to the Sweetwater River bridge and waited almost an hour for Turtle to arrive. I explained that I was going to hike the alternate and he agreed that that sounded like the best plan. I hiked out before Turtle and we made plans to meet in South Pass. 

Sweetwater River

The alternate was pretty much hiking on the same gravel road for close to nine miles. I knew that my feet wouldn’t like it, but they would have liked the cross country route even less. The wind was annoying, but at least it wasn’t as bad as our first day out of Rawlins. I even managed to find some shade during the road walk. 

Artificial shade

The annoying part of hiking the alternate was not knowing how many miles I had done or had left to do. I hike roughly the same mph everyday so usually I can estimate how far I’ve hiked based on how long I’ve been hiking, but today seemed to drag on. I felt like I was going slower than usual and that messed with my perception. I ended up hiking the alternate faster than I thought. I guess I wasn’t dragging to bad. About halfway through the road walk I crossed the Oregon Trail. I didn’t die from dysentery like I used to on the old computer game. 

Excited to be on a part of American History and also a game from my childhood 

Eventually I left the gravel road and began hiking on a “trail”. The “trail” started off as cross country, but then turned into a 2 track path. The nice thing was I had finally hiked out of the desert and started to enter into a lush, green wonderland. There were pine trees, aspens, and water. My time in the Great Divide Basin has come to an end. I reached South Pass City at 5:35. I headed to the general store for an ice cold soda and ice cream. To my extreme dismay it had closed at 5:30. I was soooooo close. I didn’t know what time it closed or I would have had a little extra pep in my step. Generally I’ve been pretty lucky when it comes to this kind of thing. I guess it was about time my luck ran out. At least I can have as much town food as I want tomorrow. Turtle and I need to be at the road early tomorrow morning. The last morning bus to Riverton from Lander leaves at 8:55. We have no idea on how long it might take us to catch a ride to Lander. Hopefully if all goes well we will be in Telluride tomorrow night. I will probably take the day off from writing my blog. I will combine the Telluride and Pagosa Springs days into one post. After the hiccups starting this flip I’m pleased with how smoothly it went overall. I hope the flop goes as well. 

Out of the Wyoming desert

Ghost town part of South Pass. I discovered later that people do actually live in this town. There are a few summer homes here

Cool flower

Made Pesto Tortellini with summer sausage 

“There's a lot of optimism in changing scenery, in seeing what's down the road.”

- Conor Oberst

Day 50- This Episode Is Brought To You By Verizon LTE

Sunday June 03, 2018

Small drainage (1684.4) to N. of Weasel Spring (1718.9) 34.5 Miles

Total Miles: 904.5

Elevation: 7,418 feet

I got the best sleep of the entire trail last night. I woke up completely refreshed. I really wanted to hike a big day. I can’t remember exactly what my biggest day on the pct was. It seems like something I should remember, but I just can’t. I don’t think I have ever hiked more than 34 miles in a day. I know a lot of people that have done 40’s and 50’s. I’m not sure if those kind of days are in my playbook, but I was pretty confident that I could pull something in the mid thirties. I was up and out of camp a few minutes before 6. My pack felt pretty light and my legs felt good after doing a thirty yesterday. The best thing about doing something once is that it gives you confidence to do it again. I had hiked 31.1 miles into Ghost Ranch on this trail, but I was motivated by town food and showers. Yesterday I easily pulled a thirty knowing that I had already done one. Today I just knew that I would get at least thirty in. I was a little worried about how hot it would be today. Usually when I get up it is freezing, but today was only cold. Within the first three miles of hiking I had taken off almost all of my layers. The only thing that stayed on a while longer were my pants. I was able to pass by the first few water sources. I planned my water carry perfectly yesterday. Turtle and I discussed how much we should carry and I decided on 2.5 liters. We were only 3 miles from camp and I was well hydrated. 2.5 liters gave me 1.5 to cook with and drink with a liter left over for the morning. Turtle disagreed with me. He was nervous about the water report and decided to carry 4 liters. We are the first thruhikers through this section this year. The only comments from 2018 are from someone hiking a small section back in early May. That means we are primarily relying on comments made from around June of years past. Turtle didn’t feel comfortable with some of the comments. I decided to disregard the comments from the section hiker. That person doesn’t have the experience or knowledge of what we have already hiked through. We probably have different standards for water quality. I know hiking New Mexico changed my opinion of what is drinkable and not drinkable. It was a gamble on my part, but it paid off. All of the water sources that were a concern were perfectly fine. I was able to go light and fast today because of my gamble(educated guess). 

The first few miles were easy and went by quickly. The most exciting thing that happened was seeing a few trees again. It has been a long stretch without any. 

Tree

For some unknown reason I decided to turn my phone off of airplane mode and was stoked to see that I had service. Within minutes my phone rang. I’m not sure how my dad knew my phone was on or if he just got lucky. We chatted for a few minutes and I was able to give him some work to do for me. It is nice to have an executive assistant. If anyone is in the market for a new cell phone plan I highly recommend Verizon. They have hands down the best coverage in the country. I am shocked at show often I have coverage in pretty remote locations. Today was just one of hundreds of examples. And no I’m not being paid to say so. Ask Sprint or T-Mobile customers how often they can use their phones on the trail. Heck, most of the time their phones won’t work in town. I was able to get a few things taken care of while I hiked. Some times walking dirt roads are awesome. In fact I have decided to stop calling them dirt roads and refer to them as parallel trail. 

Cell phone tower

Parallel trail

The morning miles passed by quickly and I stuck to a strict policy of 10 minute breaks. I knew that I couldn’t sustain that all day, but I kept it up for the first 20 miles. I only saw Turtle once today. He walked up just as I was finishing a break around mile 16. We agreed not to wait on each other today. If we got separated we will wait for each other in South Pass City before hitching to Landers, WY. I really enjoyed the freedom of hiking my own hike. I was motivated to hit 35 miles. The slight change of scenery helped with my motivation. There was a greater variety of terrain. There were rolling hills, big mountains, and different types of plants and wildflowers. Instead of walking a one long parallel trail there were many twists and turns. There was also more elevation change today. My muscle groups appreciated the change. I was able to work out different muscles because I climbed, descended and walked flat terrain. Unfortunately the wildlife stayed the same. Just horses, antelope, and of course cows. 

So creepy when they just stare at you

A couple of nice ponds today

Snow capped mountains in the distance

Steep, short ups

New type of flower

Thanks to Anita Watts for identifying this as Indian Paintbrush!

One of the highlights from today was hitting a maintained water cache. I figured that since we were so early in the season it would be empty. I carried a few liters of pond water just to be sure I had water. I stopped by the cache and was shocked to see that it was completely full. It was inside of an enclosure with a sign about the cdt. The box where the gallon water jugs was kept was insulated so the water was almost cold. A man named, Hawkeye maintains this cache with 10 one gallon jugs. Thanks Hawkeye! The best part was the trail register and Charles Decker info. In the trail register I found my friends had signed in last year. It gave me a thrill to see familiar names. 

Hi Outro!

I finished the AT with Rusty, Click, and Cheesebeard

The quote from Charles Decker really spoke to me. I wish I could type it out for you, but it is way too long. You’ll just have to make due with the pictures I took. 

Sorry if that is hard to read

Water cache 

Water cache enclosure 

I was a little disappointed with not reaching my goal today. I had to make a hard decision. I ended up stopping short because I didn’t like the look of the terrain ahead of me. The trail was going into an area with high grass. I don’t like camping in grass because of condensation. I also found 4 or 5 ticks on my shoes and kegs today. None of them had attached to me yet, but I know they live in grassy areas and wanted to avoid them. They are the bigger type of tick. I’m pretty sure that the tiny ones are the ones to worry about. Although I’m not 100% sure of that. Regardless of worrying about Lyme disease, ticks gross me out. I found a nice patch of dirt two feet off of the trail and decided to call it quits for the day. It is one of them few times I have fallen short of a goal, but I’m okay with that. After 34.5 miles in the heat with zero cloud cover I’m exhausted. 

 “Success does not consist in never making mistakes, but in never making the same one a second time.”

 – George Bernard Shaw

Almost forgot to post my 900 mile marker

Field of Iris in bloom. Mangas would have loved this 

Day 49- Return of Yogi the Bear

Saturday June 02, 2018

Side of a grassy Knoll(1654.1) to Small Drainage(1684.4) 30.3 Miles 

Total Miles: 870

Elevation: 6,841.5 feet

The wind decided to play nice last night. It died down to a normal level just before I fell asleep. I slept very well last night and woke up feeling refreshed this morning. When I woke up it was already very light out. For a second I thought that I had over slept, but it was only 4:45. It is crazy how long the days are already. I went back to sleep until 5:30. Turtle and I left camp together around 6:15. Within a few miles I had pulled ahead of him. My longer breaks waiting for him to catch up yesterday really took a toll on my muscles. I knew that today I wanted to take shorter breaks. As a result I didn’t see much of him today. We got water together at a spring early this morning and I hiked out before him. That was the last I saw of him until the last water of the day 3 miles before camp. 

Sunrise from my sleeping bag

The saving grace of the day was my Harry Potter audiobook. Today’s hike was even more boring than yesterday. I spent the entire 30 miles on two track dirt roads, which was actually better than being on a trail. Trails through this type of terrain tend to be cross country, bushwhacking through and around sagebrush. The hiking was really easy without the high winds to contend with. My goal was to hike over 30 miles. I really wanted to hit 35, but I didn’t want to get too far away from Turtle. 

10:00 view

11:00 view

Noon view

1:00 view

2:00 view 

I have 14 of these types of pictures. I took one every hour. As you can see, not a big variety in how I spent my day. I saw a lot of cows, antelope, and a big herd of wild horses. Around two o’clock I came across a reservoir. I had planned on filtering some water really quick and then pressing on. When I arrived there were a bunch of trucks parked there. I saw several different groups of people fishing. My instincts kicked in and I hoped to yogi(getting stuff from people without actually asking for anything) some potable water. I saw a large family with 2 trucks parked next to the waters edge. I decided that they were prime candidates. I walked toward where the grandfather was fishing and dropped my pack close to him. I made a big production of getting out my water bottles and choosing a good spot to collect from. I said a brief hello and bent down to fill my bottles. I wasn’t even close to filling up with water when he spoke up. “If you need water I have some ice cold bottles in the cooler over there” he said. Bingo! I had successfully yogied myself some clean ice cold drinking water. I headed to the back of his pickup truck to fill up my bottle. His 2 daughters, 4 grandchildren, and wife had just started to eat some hotdogs. While I sipped my water one of his daughters offered me a hotdog. I downed it in 2 bites. A few minutes later after conferring with the rest of the family they had decided that they couldn’t eat anymore and offered me the last 5 hotdogs. The day couldn’t have gotten any better! I ate 3 hotdogs and some chips. I told them that Turtle should be along shortly and if they saw him to give him the 2 remaining hotdogs. I asked if I could have another bottle of water and I was told to take one and a soda. I downed a Mountain Dew in 4 gulps. I must have seemed like I was starving and dying of dehydration. Before heading out I told them about trail angels and trail magic. I explained that this was the best trail magic I’ve had so far. That put a smile on their faces. Thanks Ron and family for making a boring day better! 

Reservoir with Ron and his family

The next seven miles passed by pretty quickly since I was all jacked up on Mountain Dew. I passed by more cows, antelope, and horses. I saw the same views as I had in the morning. I hit a wonderful ice cold spring around mile 27. I decided to give Turtle an hour to show up before hiking on. It was getting late in the day and I really wanted to hit 30 miles, but I didn’t want to hike after 8:00. Turtle finally showed up just as I was getting ready to leave. He stayed to far behind me today because he left his trekking poles behind at our first water source. He didn’t realize it for a half mile. That was a costly 1 mile round trip mistake. To add insult to injury he didn’t talk to Ron and his family so he didn’t get any hotdogs or Mountain Dew either. I guess it just wasn’t his day. 

Wild horses 

Last part of my day

Camp tonight

I’m guessing tomorrow will be more of the same. As long as the wind cooperates again I’ll be a happy hiker. This isn’t the most exciting section of trail, but I’m enjoying the solitude and the high mileage days. It is extremely satisfying for me to stretch my legs and see what I’m capable of doing. 

“Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you.” 

– Princess Diana

Day 48- Gone With the Wind

Friday June 01, 2018

Rawlins, WY(1629.1) to Side of a grassy knoll(1654.1) 25 Miles 

Total Miles: 839.7

Elevation: 6,725 feet

These late nights and early mornings are really starting to take there toll on me. I didn’t get to sleep until after 1 o’clock last night. I had all of my town chores done early, but still had to finish writing my blog. Turtle didn’t resupply until late in the evening and was packing his stuff up late. I somehow never heard my 6:30 alarm go off. I ended up waking up at 7 and went to go get breakfast. Turtle decided to skip breakfast and sleep in. I barely even touched my food. I think the alkaline/saline water from yesterday had my stomach upset. Although it could also have been the AYCE thai buffet. I was packed up and ready to go by 7:45, but had to wait for Turtle to finish getting his stuff together. We ended up hiking out of town a little before 9. Our goal was to hike at least 21 miles today. Anything over that we would consider a bonus. 

We started the day by hiking on a paved highway for a few miles. I’m carrying 6 days of food for this leg and started of with a liter of water and a liter of Gatorade. That put make pack weight towards the upper limits of what is comfortable. I carry an ultralight pack from Zpacks that is rated for about 30 pounds. I could really feel the weight while walking in the road. Eventually we left the road and started hiking on a series of dirt roads. 

Wyoming has a sense of humor 

The dirt roads we hiked on weaves through private property. A land corporation donated a 19 mile easement to the BLM(Bureau of Land Managment). This easement allows CDT hikers to pass through the private property without trespassing. We hiked past a mining or digging operation. It looked like they were digging gravel and dirt for resale. 

Different types of dirt/gravel piled up

How I spent most of the day

I have to say that so far the Great Divide Basin is extremely boring. There is not much to look at. I actually enjoyed walking on the dirt roads more than the trail. I say trail, but it was nonexsistant. There weren’t enough cairns or trail markers to follow a path, so I mostly just tried to hike in the right direction. Walking dirt roads is faster and easier. Walking cross country is tedious and takes more concentration. 

The real issue today was the wind. It started off nice and gentle, but steadily increased throughout the day. By the time I reached camp we had sustained winds of 20mph, with gusts over 30. It made the hike very difficult. My thighs are more sore than they have been the entire hike. I think the combination over extra pack weight and head winds did me in. I’m pretty sure that the wind carried my moral away as well. There was nowhere to go to get a break from it. Turtle and I couldn’t talk. We had to yell at each other to be heard. As a result we spent most of the day hiking alone. I’m a bit faster than Turtle, so every time I took a break I would wait for him to catch up before hiking out. It made for longer breaks today. I finished listening to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Any time I’m having an off day on trail I listen to Harry Potter. It never fails to lift my spirits. 

More scenery from today

After about 11 miles we rejoined the road we started off hiking in this morning. We stayed parallel to it almost all day. Considering our late start we made good miles today. Even with our heavy packs the hiking was easy. I saw a ton of antelope and cattle. The cattle in this area are not skittish. I walked past two different herds that did not move an inch. They just stared at me as I walked past. 

Creepy cows

I also saw some horses. I wouldn’t say that they were wild horses, they just seemed to be roaming freely. I heard some coyotes, but never saw them. I also saw my first horny toad lizard today. I saw a bunch on the pct and expected to see more in New Mexico, but never did. The little one I saw was moving very slowly. It was pretty chilly out with the wind so I think that affected him.

Horny Toad Lizard

The highlight of my day was definitely dinner. I packed out a foot long subway sandwich. It is the first time of this trail that I have done so. I’ve thought about it several times, but never got around to doing it. What a treat not having to cook dinner tonight. I was able to get to camp, setup, and immediately begin to eat. 

Spicy Italian

Walking in the desert, but surrounded by mountains

It is after 10 and I desperately need a good nights sleep. I’m really hoping the wind decides to cooperate tomorrow. I don’t mind a gentle breeze to help with the temperatures, but anything over 10mph is just uncalled for. 

“Life’s ups and downs provide windows of opportunity to determine your values and goals-think of using all obstacles as stepping stones to build the life you want.”

-Marsha Sinetar