I’ve hit some more milestones. I’m done with Wyoming, and am now in
Colorado. I’ve also hiked more than half of the CDT.

Hiking with Lost still. Our styles match pretty well. We still make
the miles, but it doesn’t feel like a death march. That’s good. Camped
out near the highway last night. Pulled in at dusk after a 27.5 mile
day. Thought we were at the empty campground but realized this morning
that it was empty because we were at the picnic area. Ooops.

The last section was diverse partly because we skipped a potential
town stop. We could have stopped in Encampment, WY but just walked on.
While I had plenty of food, I did only have two packets of
undesireable oatmeal left over when I got in to town this morning.
Steamboat seems like your typical ski town. Very fancy, very
expensive, luxurious,… This library is amazing.

Out of Rawlins, fell prey to the pressure to Get To Mexico. Instead of
dirt road walking, we took the paved road shortcut. It cut off about
15 miles of trail. As far as I know, all of us southbounders did it.
It SUCKED. Something like 45 miles of walking the same, mostly paved
road. What a boring slog.

The highlight of the past section was the Mt. Zirkel Wilderness.
Camped up on the summit of the highpoint. Lone Ranger Peak. Beautiful
sunset, a full moon rising at the same time. Colorado is a mountainous
state!

– It’s starting to be chilly. Fall is here. Wondering how much we
should be worried about rushing. Take the longer scenic route or rush
to get out before the snow?

– Got a beer on a road walk. Lady offered me water, and chuckled when
I asked for a beer instead.

– Staying at a trail angel’s house tonight. Stoked.

– Ready to be done with carrying heavy loads. Sections between towns
in Colorado are shorter. We’re also done with the 25-30 mile waterless
stretches until New Mexico.

– Got a hair cut and beard trim in Rawlins. Was sick of hair blowing
in my eyes and it was getting all knotted. Plus saw a real old school
barber shop and thought it’d be fun. It was.

– Hoping to eat 3-4 restaurant meals today.

All in all, having a superb time. Loving trail life.

Lost and I blasted through the Red Desert and the Great Divide Basin.
Took a scenic alternate along the Sweetwater River instead of a
shorter, official CDT road walk. Nearly the rest of the segment was
road walking though. Surprisingly, road walking was very enjoyable.
These are old jeep tracks mostly. Roads that are either hardly ever
traveled, or lightly traveled. So it’s fast, easy, brainless walking
where we can walk side by side and talk if we so choose. The desert is
also home to tons of Pronghorn Antelope. Pretty cool.

Walked 25-28 miles between water sources. We have a 30 mile carry
coming out of town today. Soon we’ll be in Colorado with no water
problems, but perhaps increased lightning danger.

The main highlight of the last section was our 56 mile day into town.
We wanted to do a 50. Not sure why. It’s a challenge that some hikers
present themselves with. But since our maps and info isn’t very
accurate, we didn’t know how far away from town we were. After 1300
miles, I’ve got strong legs. It wasn’t all that hard. I did have about
2 hours of pain, right before lunch. We’d hiked 25 miles, starting
before 4am, had barely stopped and hadn’t eaten enough. The sun got to
me. Luckily after lunch at a solar spring I maintained my usual energy
until about midnight when I started to slow down. All in all, a great
day. Mostly felt beat up from lack of sleep as opposed to the hiking.

It’s 6:30am and I’m up. That’s normal, I do that every day. But one of
the great things about waking up early in town is that while I’ve got
a kick start on the day, the rest of reality is still on it’s slow
schedule. So here I am, spending time on my hotel’s computer, waiting
for the world to gear up so that I can get back to the trail. My ride
this morning is, as usual, the Official Saintly Naomi. The same
fantastic specimen that put my up in her hotel room when I was injured
up in Glacier. The same fantastic person who has repeatedly visited
her husband on the trail and by extension all of us. She drives us
around. She’s non-trail company. She drinks beer with us. She’s
officially a Saint. This morning, after breakfast, she’s driving Wing
It, Don’t Panic, Lost and I up to the trail. It’s some 40 miles each
way, and would be a very hard hitch considering that there are a few
murderer fugitives out on the lamb in WY right now, that there is an
intersection that diverts traffic between myself and the trail, and
that it’s illegal to hitch in this state.

The whole crew came in to Lander last night. People seem to be in
various states. Lots of abused looking faces. Some deep sunburns. Some
Hiker Hobbles. Three people are sick. etc, etc.. So people are zeroing
today, and Lost and I find ourselves in front of the pack. We’ve all
left the high mountains and are heading into the desert. Forecast is
80 degree, sunny and likely windy. Not bad. Plus, we’ve got the crazy
idea of doing a 50 mile day. The plan is to try it on the last day in
to Rawlins. I hope I make it!

The memories of the Winds are still vivid. Especially the stellar
alternates over Knapsack Col and the Titcomb Basin, both sides of the
Cirque of Towers, meeting TinMan from AntigravityGear.com and the walk
up towards so called Temple Pass.

I’ve got new shoes again. This time they fit. I’ve got a loaded pack
of food. I sent away my bear spray and bug repellent. Heck, I even saw
a movie last night. (Inception.. I’m left confused) And the highlight
of my stay in Lander was that Ben, a friend from college drove in to
town and we shared burgers and beers for a few hours.

Whew. Made it to town. The last section was superb. Likely the best
hiking on the CDT so far. Took seven days from Dubois, hiking just
with Lost. The 140 miles had a little bit of everything. From unsigned
road walking, to following cairns with no trail, to cross country
boulder fields. Took two alternates to very famous places. I’d now
visited the stunning Titcomb Basin and Cirque of the Towers. Just
pulled in to Lander, WY and am staying at NOLS’s Nobel Hotel. Pool
tables, TV lounge, laundry, computers, dorm rooms, ….

Hot dang did it suck to be sick. Now that I’m better, I realize just
how hard it was to thruhike while sick. Then I went to a doctor. And
now I’m better. While I’m pretty damn emaciated, walking is easy.
That’s a good thing, because walking for twelve to thirteen hours a
day is a lot of walking.

I’m on to my third pair of shoes. The last ones pretty much rotted off
my feet. I also wore my my socks too long. They got dumped in their
own trash bag at the place I bought new ones.

Just finished Yellowstone. It was a lot nicer that expected. A
helicopter that was shuttling goods to a backcountry station was even
willing to bring us cold gatoraides on their next run. We had to walk
on before they got there though. Saw two moose in one day. They’re
huge.

Hiking into the Wind River Range. I’m carrying one less day of food
than everyone else. Hmmm….

I was behind the herd, because I took an extra day off. Thought that
I’d be hiking solo, but ran in to Stretch. So hiked with a new person
for four days. Good, fast, flat walking helped me recover. And now,
I’m in the same spot as eveyone else. I figure that there are 22 of us
heading southbound. We’ve met about twenty northbounders as well.

Loving my new camera. It takes great photos. I’d like to post some,
but there are ten people wanting to use the computer.

The weather has been great. Hasn’t rained much in a while. My new
shoes are too big, and mean that I’ll have a new round of blisters.