CDT mile 1304.7 miles hiked 27

Taking a rest at the border

The wind howled all night long and a cold front blew in with it.  When I woke up I could see my breathe it was so cold.  We all laid in our tents waiting for the first person to make noise forcing the rest of us to get up.  Finally at 5:15 I heard Cheezy stir next door and I knew it was time to get going.

Walking the old road to Wyoming with a special treat for the SOBO’s

We took off into a stiff breeze and walked through marshes and meadows along an old jeep road.  We passed everyone’s camps and were the first out as usual.   At about 8 am I saw Fixit and his wife taking a break by the side of the trail in the morning sun, we exchanged hellos and then we kept going.  A few miles later and we ran into Cricket and Dan, a couple we met in Grand Lake who are riding mules the entire length of the CDT in Colorado.  They were just fresh out on the trail and it was only their second morning, but all seemed to be doing well.  We hung for a while but the pull of Wyoming was too much of a draw so we carried on.

Cricket and her husband Dan are riding SOBO through Colorado

About 3 miles from the border I found a Colorado license plate laying off to the side, I picked it up and put it on my pack.  I remember reading on my J Ley Map that there was a Wyoming state line sign but no Colorado so I figured we would give our SOBO brethren a welcome to the state.

It’s not Leave No Trace, but the SOBO’s deserve a sign like we had at the border

We hiked on each mile closer talking and reflecting about Colorado: how long it took, how hard it was, the snow, the mountain towns, the wonderful food, amazing trail magic, and seeing friends.

Finally, as we walked down an old path we saw it, the white state line sign an our next milestone, halfway done the CDT.  Needless to say we whooped it up and took many a photo.  We then crossed over to Wyoming, sat down and ate lunch.

Team Colorado celebrates actually making it out of the state alive.

The trail changed drastically in Wyoming.  For the first bit, we immediately walked into marshes and over blowdowns.  Then we finally came to a forest service road and decided to walk on that to where they trail met back up to avoid a large number of blowdowns.  We made good time on the road and came to pipeline trailhead.

Once there it was 3pm and we had already gone 21 miles, so we ate and took a short nap.
After the nap time, we got up and ate, our last major uphill until we hit town.  Cheezy was feeling a bit dizzy today so we put her up front and let her set the pace and where we would end the day. She did a great job leading us up Red Bluff Mountain and then across its top.  Their are still a few snow patches about, Wyoming apparently didn’t get the memo about no more snow after Colorado.  We finally stopped early by a creek, it’s 8 miles to hwy 70 where we will hitch to Encampment and be reunited with Buttercup. We enjoyed an early night and took advantage of the extra time by stretching, washing and enjoying our new state.  Colorado was toughie and I am sure Wyoming will be no cake walk but I am excited to see what the second half of the journey has in store for me.

Halfway to Canada baby!