So fresh and so clean

The last few days have been quite nice. Seen lots of hikers, had some good food, rested up nicely, and got a nice gear refresh. And now, I’m at the entry point to the Winds. 

I woke up the morning at Wild Bills and was at the table by 6:30a for breakfast as instructed. Bill and his wife Camilla cook it themselves for everyone who’s staying with them. 

Another hiker (which I actually just found out was a southbounder. He didn’t talk much so didn’t know much about him other than he lives in the Virgin Islands.), a biker, a father-son duo, and a Venezuelan traveler. 

Soon I was on my way up the road I came down, to head off to the main highway where I’d get a ride into Lander. I got a ride fairly quickly, but they weren’t going far, so dropped me at a parking area on the side of the highway a third of the way to Lander or so. There I sat for quite sometime. About an hour and a half or so. Eventually, a lady who was on her way back from shuttling a group of hikers back to trail, grabbed me and brought me into town. Woo!

I had a late start, and a bunch of miles to hike to the road, then the hitch took a while, so I didn’t get into town until later afternoon. Grabbed some food at the local spot and then a hiker buddy, Melon, messaged me saying if I got into town to meet him… there! Ha. Turns out he was sitting just outside from me, with Threshold and Nibbles! They’re the folks I picked up down in Pagosa Springs and have been running into a bunch along the trail. 

I then run off to the gear shop to grab a few things; a new bladder (mines got a slight cut on the top and can leak if not tended to properly), a new water bottle (I made the mistake - wonderful mistake - of putting whisky in my collapsible water bottle, which stained it and made everything smell and taste like whiskey), new shoes (back to my original type of trail runners! Keeping the feet cooler and lighter), some new socks (now that I’ve got sneaker style shoes, I got the lower cut hiking socks, and my old socks, which share 1720 miles, are stiff and crusty. No matter how many times I wash them), and a couple other Knick knacks. 

Once back at the hotel, I threw my stuff in the laundry (first time in two weeks!) and then washed all my gear. I rinsed my backpack and got rid of all the sweat and grossness that’s been accumulating on my shoulder straps and back for sometime. Washed my stuff sacks to keep as clean and smell-less as possible now that I’m entering bear country. All in all, productive evening. Then as I grabbed my laundry, I saw melon who was meeting with the hikers I hiked passed the other day for beers and pizza, and so I went out and had some drinks with them. 

It’s always funny getting a group of thru-hikers together. Especially at this stage. It seems the great thinning has happened. A lot of hikers have gotten off trail in mid to northern Colorado. It seems a large portion of hikers who are still on trail, still have even had moments of doubt or thoughts of getting off. So it’s nice to know I’m not alone in the struggle of the trail. I supposed the motto for the CDT is “embrace the brutality” for a reason. I always thought it was because it was a physically tough trail. Now I’m learning it’s more a mentally tough trail for many. 

With four beers and a large pizza, it was now 10:30, well passed hiker midnight. So off we all went back to our hotel or tents (a few were setting up in the town park, where hikers are allowed to camp for free). Four beers, by the way, is more like 6 or 7 for a hiker just having dehydrated themselves in the baking sun with big miles the last three days. 

The next morning I woke up a little foggy. Not terrible though. But I did very quickly decide I wasn’t moving. So I quickly popped on my phone, booked another night at the hotel and fell back asleep.

Breakfast was at a nice cafe with another bunch of hikers. One gal was hiking with her dog for the first half and just handed her over to her boyfriend, who was hiking the trail (and started after her, and is already done. Bikers. Argh). 

The main reason I stayed another day is because I hadn’t had a chance to resupply my food. And the grocery store was 1.4 miles from my hotel. Yay! Also, it’s Saturday, so the free bus isn’t even running. Oy vey. However, as I’m walking down, I run into Nibbles and Threshold again. Their hotels right next to the store, so we end up walking the ways together and chatting. Nibbles changed my life. She told me about Uncrustables. Something I’ve heard of, but never ever thought of having or using for hiking. Basically, they’re two pieces of bread pressed like a pirogi with peanutbutter and jelly. She said they hold up, they’re individually packaged, and holy cow bananas they taste extra good out here (I may have stolen one from tomorrow’s lunch for dinner. I couldn’t resist). 

I saw another crew of hikers arrive, and knew it was going to be a crazy night if I went out. So I decided to grab and early beer at the bar as I waited for my take out order to have dinner in my room and sort my gear and pack up. I like leaving towns after breakfast. I don’t rush out at 6, but I always want to be on trail by 9:30-10. Knew that wouldn’t happen if I went out with all the hikers. 

As I was getting in my room, a neighbor asked about my hiking and we started chatting for a while. She had been out with her brother, his kid, and a friend and his kid for the last few days camping. She was headed home to ID in the morning, and her team was leaving super early, so she offered to drive me back to the trail! Woo, that made me happy as I was nervous about how long it would take to get out there. So we said goodnight, and that we’d grab breakfast on our way out. 

With freshly cleaned gear, clothes, a couple new items, and a food amount of rest, I was ready to go this morning. Jennifer and I had a nice breakfast, which much to my protest she paid for, and then drove out the the trail. Her daughters are a little younger than me, and her motherly ness kicked in and insisted I take some rope to hang my food. I hadn’t planned on doing that until the next section, but I suppose it can’t hurt. There are bears around I suppose. 

Straight off the batt I believe I may have seen a wolf. In all honesty, it could have been a large coyote, but it was far, and still big. The coloring didn’t quite look right, but then again coyotes to vary in size and color based on location. I tried to snap a photo, but my wide angle lens couldn’t pick up much of anything. 

I push on and see a few section hikers south bounding. Talking about the hellish blow downs in the stretch ahead. Luckily, by going into the Cirques, I bypass a good amount of the blow downs (apparently 20-30 miles of it on the actual CDT, which in this case is the low route, and the Cirques being the high). 

Then I hear a branch crack and look over, and a moose! Big ol fella that runs looks at me for a while, and then runs off. Along the trail, so as I continue on, I spot him a couple more times. Then he crosses the trail, and stops to stare at me. I snap a couple more photos, half decently getting something even with my wide lens, and now with him behind me safely I continue on and leave him to eat his muffins. 

The challenge with this stretch is there’s one spot you can resupply in 3-4 days from Lander, but it’s an 11 mile side trail to a road to hitch to. That’s 22 extra miles of hiking not on the trail. The other option is 7-8 days straight to the highway to Dubois. That’s a lot of food, but I don’t want an extra day of hiking. So my packs heavy, but spirits are high. 

I’m only planning on 20 miles per day through this section. The Winds is a pretty decent mountain range, so I’ll have a bunch of climbing, there’s lots of blow downs, and I actually just want to relax a bit. I could potentially push more than 20, but I’ve got the food, and I’ve got to wait for my bear stuff to arrive in Dubois. Also, due to all the fires in Idaho, seems everyone is taking the Butte Super Cutoff. This route cuts off most of the fire effected areas, and also a bit of miles. So I’ve gained a bit of wiggle time for my early-mid sept goal end date.

Now I’m in camp, which is actually at a campground 20 miles in. Figured I’d utilize the trash here to reduce as much weight as possible with tonight and Tomorrow’s meal trash, and also, a bathroom. Woo! I miss having food in my tent… besides getting to eat my extras, I put the bag under my knees (but under the sleeping pad) and it’s super comfy. Oh well. No interest in being bear food.