CDT mile 1865.5, miles hiked 27

The view from camp, the big wide empty

I was awoken at 1:30 am by the smell of smoke, I got up to pee only to find the air thick with smoke and ash, dang it was there another fire? Oh well, it was too late to think about it so I crawled back in my tent and passed out until my alarm went off.  I woke up and it still smelled like smoke but I couldn’t tell where it was from so I made breakfast, packed and set off for a 27-mile day.

About 45 minutes later in I ran into Dances With Chickens who I met in Colorado back in March at the Rockies Ruck.  We BS’d for about 15 minutes and then each of us went our own way.  I stopped at a spring to fill up on water, put on sunblock and eat a snack.  The day was a giant PUD, pointless up and down, however it stuck to the divide and the ID/MT line.  It wove through some woods but mostly was on ridges and high desert.

The divide here is a spine of high desert

I kept track of my mileage and tried to take short breaks.  One thing I now do is set a timer for 20 minutes and keep my breaks shorter, I knew if I hustled I could make it to town for dinner.  I stopped at one of my last water sources at 10:30, Rock Springs.  It was in the heart of the sheep research area and the water tasted like metal and sheep poop but it was water none the less, so I filled my bottles and carried on.

At noon I saw two SOBO’s sitting off trail having lunch, they said, “hey it’s lunch time join us,” so I did.  Steve and Cathy are from Jackson and the same age as me, we enjoyed a nice leisurely lunch and chatted for an hour.  It was so nice to have a meal with them and share our adventures and stories of our lives.  We parted ways and I continued on, I still had 14 miles to go.

I met Dawg on the way up my last climb, he was another SOBO who was wearing American flag shorts and he was a character.  I made the steep climb and went from thick woods back to the high desert, I love the desert and high desert is the best with sagebrush and scrubby little trees.  The trail lay ahead of me over some hills and then down to the valley.

My future in the distance

I stopped and called the motel to arrange a ride and a room for the evening. I took a look and only had 10 miles to go.  I took a break in the shade, fueled up and then threw on some tunes to crank out the last miles.  It felt like a Pink Floyd day so I listened to Wish You Were Here, The Division Bell and ended with The Wall.  As the music played I got lost in my thoughts and before I knew it I had arrived at the highway.

I called Mike at the Mountain View Motel and then waited by I-15 for him to get me.  Tatu-Jo called me while I was there, him Popeye and Zorro are 15 miles behind and will see me tomorrow, we are going to hike out together so I guess my solo time is ending for now.

Trail art work by the highway

I have really enjoyed being alone, more than I ever thought I would.  Those three guys are great though so spending some time on trail together will be a good time, and I really want to hear Zorro’s bear story first hand.

Thank god for signage