CDT mile 1838.5, miles hiked 25.2

Walking through a sheep research area

I awoke at 5:15 hoping to get a jump on the day and do close to 30 miles so tomorrow would only be a low 20 into Lima.  When I went for my food bag I could see the sky was still dark and lightening in the distance, by the time I was back at my tent it was hailing and thunder was rumbling.  I jumped in and zipped it up right as the rain started to come down.  I made breakfast and took a look at the weather and the radar, I was screwed, a big front was coming over me so I hunkered down and took the time to eat and rest.  At 7:15 the sun finally broke through so I packed quickly and started hiking.

Walking the border

I walked through open meadows and saw Taylor Mountain in the distance it was fully exposed with storm clouds over it and I had to climb 1300′ up to its ridge and walk it for 3 miles.  As I descended to saddle to start my climb I met two SOBO’s Micheal and Sue who had flipped from New Mexico to avoid the snow in Colorado.  We stopped and chatted before carrying on.  By the time I reached the saddle to start my climb the weather had cleared and the sun was out.

As I climbed I could see dark clouds off in the distance so I pushed hard to the ridge, when I got there I felt the first raindrops so I put on my rain jacket and rain skirt and started the long ridge walk, there was distant thunder but no lightning so I walked the ridge and then dropped down the trail to the next junction.  The sun came out so I had a yard sale of my gear to dry it out and cooked up some lunch.  Not having a real dinner last night had left me pretty hunger and feeling weak.

As I continued hiking I felt strong from the meal and was really enjoying being lost in my thoughts and hiking my own hike for the day.  I came to a long ridge that made up the Idaho/Montana border so for miles I walked the line that divides the states, let me tell you it’s just a bunch of grass and flowers and the occasional tree but it gave me great views of the surrounding landscape.  I met two more SOBO’s one from Russia and one from Germany we chatted for about 15 minutes and I think we all enjoyed the brief visit.  The rest of the day I didn’t see a soul and it was nice.

Angelina from Russia and Grande Buritto from Germany

The meadows gave way to a forest and eventually brought me to Aldous lake.  I kept waking to the next creek and cooked up my dinner, washed my socks, and my filthy feet and then started up the climb.  I was hoping to maybe get in 5 more miles but the climb kicked my butt and 3 miles up I found an open ridge top with a view to a valley on one side and mountains to the other, so instead of descending into the woods I opted for a camp with a view.

A great sign and trail register

I was so worried about going this stretch alone but really I am enjoying it. The peace and quiet are good for me, I daydream about home and life after the trail.  My day is filled with thoughts of Suzy and Karluk and what we might do in the next year.  It’s funny but after all this time hiking the CDT this is the first time I have truly found peace with myself and I think being alone is benefiting me more than I ever thought it would.