CDT mile marker 124.6 miles hiked 21
After a miserable night of sleep, constantly sliding downhill off my mat and being trapped in my bivy like a banana peel on a floor I awoke and packed.The weather was cool we are in the mountains now and we even climbed our first mountain and got over 7400′ the highest I have been since finishing the SHR last summer.
Getting higher and higher
A few highlights today were climbing a mountain, feeling for and keeping pace with a guy 20 years younger than me, the tiny hand meeting the lego lady snowboarder and enjoying a warm sausage cooked over a juniper fire.
Tiny hand and friends along the CDT
Now since we started there have been a tremendous amount of people around for CDT standards, right now since leaving Lordsburg, there are 12 of us playing leapfrog. There are basically 3 groups there is Shepperd from Australia, Spontaneous from Korea and Crunch Master from TN we have been hiking with around them and sharing water stops and the occasional camp since the border. They are a great group of guys and we often share some chuckles throughout the day.
Then there is the group of 3 women, Emma from England, Moni from Germany and Peg Leg who is from the states.
We often find ourselves all congregating a the water spots during the day, mainly this is because we all rely on the same life giving necessity water. We often wind up at water tanks and cow troughs at snack time and we swap some stories before hiking out in our respective groups.
Today we picked up a new member of our ragtag group, Bandit we met him at kickoff and he is a great guy who is super chill and has a great pace. I have enjoyed hiking with him but what I enjoyed ore was watching make his lunch. In true hiker fashion, he took a bagel covered it with cream cheese, then slices of summer sausage, cheese it’s, sriracha, olive oil and…..man any hiker would be proud to call that lunch.
Buttercup loves his sausage
One other thought before I pass out, you see we have a 17-mile road walk to town and we all have roughly 2 liters of water or less than that each so we are leaving at 4:30 am to beat the heat. Myself, Bandit and Crunch Master all share a similar bond that not many do the three of us each hiked the AT right after high school at the age of 18. While there may be close to 20 years difference in age than me and Crunch Master that one thing gives us a connection many will never comprehend, leaving home to walk for months at such an age changes you for life.
So while I expected to see very few hikers on the CDT, we are taking in stride the fact that there is this bubble of hikers and getting to know each other yet camping on our own to help preserve each other’s experience.
Well off to sleep I go, lots of being thirsty in my future tomorrow
