No rain last night! And there was no condensation or dew on anything! I was optimistic when I put my semi-dry shoes and socks on, maybe I would have dry feet today.

Nope

The wettest spring/summer in Colorado/Wyoming history continues. Beautiful high alpine meadows are beautiful high alpine bogs. Trails are streams. Finally after a few hours I put on my chacos to walk through all the water, at least when they are dry, they are dry. When wet, wet. There are a few days of sun in the forecast, but my dryness levels will depend on how much these Wyoming mountains like to hold on to their water.

We’ve entered a granite section, the white, pink, and red stones glint up at you in the sun, but this rock is not porous, and many pools and lakes are hiding among the tall grasses and many hues of the flowers.

The going was beautiful, and I also got a taste of the Wyoming wind I’ve heard so much about. At one point I was so cold I had to dig out my mittens…and I later heard the wind chill had been in the 20s. No wonder I was cold!

Wind chill of 20s in July, great divide basin looms on the horizon, should be an interesting month!

Still not seeing any hikers and I know people have to be close…

I got to Battle Pass (hwy 70) today hoping to hitch 14ish miles into Encampment to resupply for another few days to Rawlins, but the first 45 minutes or so only 2 cars went by me. Wow, this could take a while. I was sitting on the side of the highway, having determined that I can see down into the western valley to spot any cars that decided to come up this way, when some ATVs and a camper drove up from a dirt road. A ride!

I was dropped off at the Mangy Moose for lunch, a big fat greasy bacon cheeseburger with fries and beer. Merca!

I toddled over to the store across the street and bought all the junk food I think I would need for another stretch…there just wasn’t much else to be had.

I got a ride back and from trail to trail it was a 3 hour town stop…not bad! I’m camped not far from the road, but far enough, having an early day and eating my oreos.

Wyoming, so far so good!

I could see some blue sky overhead when I woke from my dank dark spot in the woods. Yes! After a day of rain and a night in a wet tarp, everything was a bit damp.

Well, putting on wet shoes I made my way through soaking wet meadows…the grasses negating any dryness from the night.

Note to self, when there is a sign telling you to take a road detour because a bridge is out…do that. Don’t think its probably fine and keep walking on the trail.

This section was a pain not just because of the washed out bridge (fording it I got myself wet to the waist), but the MANY MANY blowdowns that hadn’t been cleared in all the time that the bridge has been out. I did make it through, but walking that road would have been so much easier.

Then I got a spot of sunlight! I threw my pack down and started hanging a tree with my wet stuff to try and dry out a bit.

Then some walking. The day was lovely, the landscape looked more and more like Wyoming! Well, not really, I didn’t know what Wyoming looked like since I’ve never been.

At lunch I met Michael, a biker who was hitting a few passes on the CDT where the trail is on an old roadbed. He apparently bikes all over the world, and like to bike up to mountain passes. Cool!

The afternoon brought more rain and lightening, I tried to stay out of it as much as I could. And then….

The Border!

I’m in Wyoming baby!

Thanks for the booze Paige!

The hiking after that actually did change, I started seeing CDT signage, lots of it! Yes! Northern Colorado was pretty austere with marking the trail, but Wyoming…I’m impressed.

I made camp in a sunny spot and dried some more stuff out. It was a very nice day and I will sleep for the first time in this lovely state.

It rained. It rained most of the night and I woke to rain, because of which I slept in about an hour. When I finally got going the day was misty with swirling clouds of rain and darkness. I walked enjoying the sight.

There goes that new shoe feel.

Later in the morning the trail ridgewalks a bit, but by then the rain was a driving soaking torrent that turned to big, fat, wet snowflakes for a while. SNOWFLAKES!

I set up my shelter for lunch so I could relax, and of course the sun decides to come out. The glow was brief though, and my lovely afternoon walk down three island trail was dry for the most part although still with overcast. I’ll have to come back here some day, I like this terrain alot. The creek I walked down reminded me of creeks Kirk and I would explore at home.

The rain came back and I was desperate to get out of it and picked a terrible place for a camp, but I’m already here and in my sleeping bag so I’ll make the best of it. I hope there is less rain tomorrow. (Oh, and I get to Wyoming too!!!!!)

Spent another night in a real bed…ahhh. The morning passed with packing and making my future mail drop. I also wanted to give my sleeping bag another go in the dryer, and since my hotel’s laundry room was out of order, I contimplated going back to the laundry mat from yesterday; logistically it would just be a pain, but then I had the great idea to go across the street to another hotel. I took my bag over to Holiday Inn and soon was drying it…ah, much better.

When it was check-out time I headed out to the post office, mailed some things and picked up one more package from NEMO. Goodies! Fun little mini goodies! Thank you Nemo, you know just what I would like.

I then headed over to the Point6 office were Derek gave me a ride back to the trail, which was fantastic because I thought a hitch might take a while.

Even though rain and storms had been likely for the afternoon, it ended up being an overcast, but misty and mostly dry walk. It was really beautiful with the wildflowers thickening by the day, the many lakes (although that meant mosquitos!), and heavy clouds.

The CDT has more flowers per square inch.

I wandered in and out of meadows and kept watch for any moose. A peaceful afternoon and I got to FINALLY listen to some music! Kirk sent out his old Ipod since I broke mine and it is DEVINE! I totally forgot it had amazing music on it. This will make a big difference…I love me my music.

I made camp after a good afternoon of walking, and just in time too, for the heavy clouds are getting a little lighter…

I didn’t do many of my errands yesterday when I got to town, that was reserved for today, my first zero day in weeks. I’ve had a bunch of nero days lately (only walking a few miles) but there is something restorative, and sometimes physically and mentally imperative, in committing a whole day to not walking.

I woke up in my wonderful hotel bed, put on a pot of coffee and got to work figuring out what I needed for resupply and resupplies up ahead. Wyoming will be much more remote than Colorado, towns will have less amenities, and I knew I would have to make at least one box of food to send ahead to myself…maybe more.

Again as with many sections on this trail there are lots of options and route choices to make. I like to make them on the ground, but in the case of some upcoming resupplies, I needed to decide now how many days of food and where I would be sending it to. I polled the CDT Facebook page for some advice…and figured out my plan.

Next I rode the free bus up to the post office and picked up a few boxes from home, new shoes, maps, a bit of food, and most exciting, some cuben fiber over-mits that Kirk made for me. That man can make anything! My mittens have gotten soaked and I wanted a solution to keep them dry, we had some extra cuben left over from the other items we made before I left home, and now I have a great way to keep my hands dry in the pouring rain (and I might needed them sooner than I wanted, rain rain rain in the forecast).

Amazing!

New Oboz Luna shoes!

Then I stopped by the Point6 office, my sock sponsor for the trip. They are based in Steamboat Springs, so I have been looking forward to connecting with them mid-hike. I met the crew in the office (many were out), and Stacia (their marketing guru) and I went out to lunch around the corner.

Some of the Point6 team, Clinton (sales), Betsy (international sales), Dina (accounting), me & and Stacia (marketing)

I have to say, these socks have been impressive on the trail. I haven’t worn through a pair yet, they are durable and comfortable, and I really love working with a small company. They are hands on, nimble, and make a great product. And someone from the office will give me a ride back to the trail tomorrow! Most excellent.

My BIG task for the day was washing my Western Mountaineering down sleeping bag. Full disclosure here: I’ve never washed a down sleeping bag on the trail before…in fact, I’ve never washed one at all! I’ve been too scared of ruining my expensive bags, so I let them get rank and smelly…Kirk in particular can’t stand the stench, so I decided I would be nice and wash it before he comes out to visit (soon I hope!). I knew the process would take hours, but man, it took HOURS.

Drying the bag on low heat, I would have to take the bag out every 20-30 minutes and break up the down clumps so they would dry better…the process that started at about 2pm finally ended after 8pm, and I still think it needs to be dried a bit more. I’ll leave it out over night, and I might have to find another dryer in the morning before I hit the trail to finish it off. What a tedious task, that may be the first and last time I wash a bag on the trail. Granted I didn’t have much else to do other than sit on the bed in the hotel and watch bad movies, but that’s exactly what I was pineing to do.

By the time I got back to my room it was late. I ate a bagged salad and slowly drifted off to sleep. I guess I have to hike tomorrow.

I think a cow tried to get in my camp spot during the night, but I wasn’t about to share my little flat spot with a heffer! Morning came quickly and I packed up knowing I had short morning into town.

Walking a highway, oh yeah. At least the first few miles on hwy 41 were pretty quiet, I saw a few elk trying to jump over the fence that lined the road, and marveled at all the wildflowers that burst out of almost every inch of green.

When I got to the big highway I kept switching sides to stay in the visible spots around the big bends in the road, and luckily checked my map at just the right time to save myself walking more than I needed to, it was time to hitch!

Being the 5th of July there were hundreds of cars leaving Steamboat Springs, but very very few heading towards town. After 30 minutes and only about 4 cars passing I started to despair, but gave the next car driving up the pass all my energy…”Please pick me up! I’m not scary, I won’t hurt you!” Releasing that energy into the world must have helped, because the car slowed down and the young couple in the car made room for me to hop in the back. Sweet!!

The ride to town went pretty quick, and before you know it I was scoping out a place to eat another breakfast. I found Freshies, a yummy eatery, and left with full belly and a few hours to kill before I could check into my hotel.

Funny enough I was outside putting my pack on when a guy asked if I was hiking the CDT…why yes I am! And he noticed my Point6 socks too, and that’s when I met Derek and learned he worked for them, I’d be seeing him tomorrow when I stopped by the office! Small world!

I made my way downtown and picked up a few resupply items I knew I needed, stopped by a place for a small lunch and when I caught the free bus to my hotel, on got MIJ (Made in Japan) a northbound CDT hiker I had first met in central Colorado. He was on his way to the same hotel, so we talked trail and marveled that we had both been hiking solo and same as the others around us, kept to the same pocket (maybe doing similar miles) so that we never ran into each other on the trail. Even seeing someone in town, it was great to connect with another hiker! He’ll be heading out tomorrow while I have another day off, so who knows when I’ll run into him again.

I didn’t do much once I got my room…took a shower, ordered a pizza, and watched movies until I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer.

This bed is divine.

Wow, the miles rack up quick when you start doing 30s! Over 1,300 already…that could be about half way, but since I have no clue how many miles it will end up taking me to get to Canada (hikers report anywhere from 2,400 – 3,100 depending on what routes they take) I could be saying “maybe halfway” for a while.

Regardless, the 30s are feeling more like 25s did a while ago. I think once I hit smoother terrain those could be consistant high miles. Not that I’m in a rush to get done or anything, you just see what your body can do, and see what your mind wants to do.

Today started with a fantastic surprise, Natty, whom I last saw in Chama, walked by as I was packing up camp! He had flipped up to Wyoming and was walking south. What a treat.

Natty and I were snow - bound in Chama together

And the morning’s walk on more ridgewalk was spectacular.

Once I hit the 20+ miles of road walking though, my enthusiasm started to flag. Or maybe it wasn’t so much the road as the heat and bugs. Today began the plague of the biting flies. It’s no good when you are battling mosquitoes, bees, wasps, flies and biting flies. I hid out in my bug condom during breaks. Blah.

But the afternoon was saved by the Richardsons! I was in my final 10 miles and feeling slow when Tim beckoned me over to their RV (parked off the forest road) with a, “would you like some cold water?”

Trail Angels to the rescue!

Would I like some cold water? I was just contemplating trying to drink the cow water that has reappeared and was evaluating if I could go without and still have a hot dinner, coffee and water to make it into town when I heard these wonderful words.

“Yes, I would love some!”

I walk over to meet Tim and his wife Tammy, Kate and 4 year old Brock (soon to be 5). Once again total strangers offer me so much more than they know. Not only did I get cold water, but Tammy and Kate made me a huge plate of food (which I quickly put down) and some fruit, candy, duritos, and more water to take with me. Better than that they gave me the oomph to hike 9 more miles.

Thank you so much Richardson family! You are now trail angels (and Brock, I liked the Jolly Rancher candies the best too…I ate them all!).

At camp time I made my way up a small drainage that wasn’t marked private (hazards of road walks) and thought I could make something work near this big tree when I noticed some industrious cow had flattened out the perfect napping spot under the tree, just PERFECT for me and my tarp! Thanks cow!

It’s the fourth of July, happy freedom!

Well I hiked a lot of miles today, but not all of them necessarily counted…I had my first significant displacement of 4 miles today, I had totally missed a trail junction and merrily walked about 2 miles down the wrong trail, and by down I mean hiked off the ridge I was supposed to be on. But to be honest I wasn’t too mad at myself, i’ve been out here a long time and for that to be my first time taking the wrong trail is pretty good. Compared to the stress of navigating the CDT in previous years, the app and phone gps has made a huge difference out here. I’m not lost nearly as much as I could be.

There is moose running away from me if you look close

So when I reached Willow Creek Pass and saw the thunderheads building I decided to take the storm route around Parkview Mt. It was a fine walk, and I was able to listen to my Alt-J Pandora station for most of the afternoon, but the storm never materialzed and I could have gone up there…the road was easier but longer…again miles that I walked but didn’t need to. Oh well.

I met the trail again at Haystack Mt and wrapped back around it and to Troublesome Pass where I’m now camped.

30 miles feels good, there is much more daylight, but there’s no reason to push it, I was getting stumbly at the end, and that’s a good time to get hurt.

I’ll read a bit and then close my eyes, or close my eyes now…

With bellies full from good food and wine, we fell asleep quickly, and woke slowly. Check out from our cabin was 10am, and I intended to make the most of the morning.

We layed around a bit and then made our way to the restaurant for a breakfast buffet. I wasn’t sure how hungry I would be after eating so much yesterday, but when I saw the bacon, sausage, eggs, fruit and more I suddenly found room for two plates. Oh yeah.

My Aunt is hikertrash!

When 10 rolled around Aunt Barbara dropped me off at the post office to mail some stuff home, snow gaiters be gone! She had brought all sorts of treats for me to pack out and her friend from work Barbara (who knows Farmer) made me some DELICIOUS homemade cookies! I tell you, my moral is up pretty high right now 🙂

Yum, yum, yum, yum

I walked out of Grand Lake and had a blissful day in the trees with one pretty nice climb up to Bowan Pass and up and over the other side. the 50% rain and thunder didnt materialize, and I enjoyed a pleasent afternoon in the mountains. When I happened upon a beautiful meadow and nice little spot for my tarp I called it a night a bit early and decided to enjoy the handsome evening in camp.

Everything was soaking when I woke, that’s what happens when you camp next to a lake, and when it poured the evening before. The trail was brushy and overgrown and if my shoes, socks, and skirt hadn’t been soaked from the night before, they would have quickly became drenched in the morning dew. Nevermind, I was close to Grand Lake!

I made my way up and down, around and in and out of the coves of Granby Lake, until I emerged at a trail head right in the middle of everything. Cute river-front homes and cottages dotted the shores of Grand Lake and Granby, and a short walk away I was in town eating breakfast.

I made my way up to Grand Lodge where I would be meeting my Aunt, and as I was sitting at a table enjoying a mimosa I hear her voice behind me ordering a coffee. Sweet!!

We spent the afternoon catching up, I take a much desired shower (it’s been a week), do some laundry (everything STINKS) and we have a wonderful dinner at the lodge.

Another treat to have family come spoil me for a day, I can’t express how wonderful this was!

After dinner we had a soak in the hottub overlooking the lakes, life is pretty good right now.