Monday, August 30, 2010

I got it.

Day Seventy, August 26, 20 Miles
At Mile 1427, Poptart 496/1000
Threw hard and death marched to the highway. Saw RT getting in a car just as we rounded the last bend. Yes! Wait... The car... It's leaving... RT!! Wait!!! AAARRRRRRREEEEETTTTTEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!
I can't believe he left us...
So myself, Kombucha, Hawkeye and Joker spent the next twenty minutes fuming while still attempting to smile us a ride. Knowing all along that there was a perfectly acceptable reason why we weren't in that car. And there was. Hawkeye's new found hiker appetite brought him into the circle of awesome food challengees alongside Joker, Rolling Thunder and yours truly. Today, Steamboat Springs, Colorado, was an epic. The result of a couple too many days on trail and some over confidence.
1/2 pound of Chicken Tenders (Except RT didn't and Hawkeye got some sides extra.)
A 2 pound pie (Banana Cream for me, Banana Cream/Dutch Apple split for Joker and Hawkeye and some chocolate concoction for RT.)
And the half-gallon (Except Hawkeye and Joker split one. Low Fat too. Whatever.)
In the end the Apple Pie was too much for Hawkeye and icecream too much for RT. Apple almost broke Joker but he finished first and is current food champion. The Banana (hate typing that word) Cream was intense but spreading out the chicken helped get it down. Way better than the damn cake. Eventually finished the icecream. I'm still in disbelief that I actually managed to finish that amount of food. 10 minutes of recovery position and I was good to go. Running about, full of energy. Spent the rest of the day in front of Safeway. Generally being dirty, smelly and homeless. A half gallon of Lemonade was all I had for the rest of the day. If only I knew...
Later that night, while dirtbagging in a gazebo, after hours of arguing inside my stomach the lemonade and icecream finally brought the fight. I vomited. More than I ever have in my life. And had to pee at the same time. Which was awkward. Then my nose started bleeding 'cause the vomit and torn out through there as well. Once my bodily fluids were under control I managed to suffer through the rest of the night on the hard concrete ground. I can no longer inflate my thermarest, the lump in it is now the size of a Beach Ball (still not exaggerating). It didn't even matter that I'd vomited little more than a metre from our gazebo, it already smelled like urine (not us) and Hawkeye's dead feet.
Love.

Sarah says we didn't miss much.

Day SixtyNine, August 25, 28 Miles
At Mile 1407, Poptart 488/1000
Damn damn damn cold. Got all Katabaticed on last night. Nice hot day though so all was well in time. Kind of like The Bob part II around here, at least there's berries. Thimble Berries. The best dang Thimble Berries I ever had. Keep kicking my toe like I did in phases last year. Hurts like nothing else. Part of the trail was "Closed". Lets just say we obeyed some signs and ignored others. Up past Lost Ranger Peak and Mt Ethel then some magic high country hiking. Had the sun set to the west, as it does. Simultaneously the moon was rising epically to the east and had us all awestruck and vainly attempting to capture it's glory for the rest of the world to see at a later date. They'll never fully appreciate though. Sorry.
Cowboying at 10,750ft. Man.

Colarada.

Day SixtyEight, August 24, 28 Miles
At Mile 1379, Poptart 480/1000
Very cold this morning. Plenty of well-marked cross country then hit up us some road walkin'. Ate lunch at the Wyoming/Colorado border. It's the same here except all the trees are dead (beetle) and folks drive Subaru instead of truck.

A return to what it was like before we destroyed whatever it was we had to begin with. Yeah.

Day SixtySeven, August 23, 25 Miles
At Mile 1351, Poptart 472/1000
RT: "How old is that sign?"
Joker: "I'll tell you..."
He hits the sign.
Buzzz...
The wasps come out.
RT and I scream like Kiwi toddlers and all five of us scatter.

Got punished last night for my half-assed attempt at pitching my tarp. My groundsheet helped funnel litres of water into the bottom third of my sleeping bag, my pack and the clothes I hike in. Awesome. Pretty nice day in the end though. Back onto trail for most of the morning, it has been quite some time. Back up to 11,000ft. Hawkeye finally has an appetite. Relentless.
Last full day in Wyoming.

Friday, August 27, 2010

Under the cover of trees.

Day SixtySix, August 22, 28 Miles
At Mile 1326, Poptart 464/1000
Last night was great. Except the ever growing cancerous lump in my Thermarest is now the size of a basketball. Literally actually the size of a real basketball. Needless to say it is not comfortable. At all. Got to our cache. Off the sealed road, on to gravel. Crammed under some pathetic shade for lunch. Wee bit rainy after lunch. Back to trees! Yes! And they're Aspens . Beautiful. Camped in the dust, ants and cowshit.

Under the cover of darkness.

Day SixtyFive, August 21, 10 Miles
At Mile 1298, Poptart456/1000
Dragged some serious ass getting out of town today. Prolonged mainly by the ridinkdankdonkulousness of six days of food and three litres of water. And oh, to think it could have been so so much worse. The route we decided on out of Rawlins involved what we guessed would be 40 dry miles where the only water is to alkaline/saline to be drinkable. Luckily Hawkeyes parents drove out and cached us some water halfway through to save our backs and my sad looking pack strap. Had Mexican for lunch, Myke and DnA headed out. Joker, Rolling Thunder, Hawkeye, Kombucha and myself visited the Mexican bakery and toe vortex began. We discovered not only did they make tacos, burritos and tortas, but that they were unbelievable. So we ate there for an hour, napped in the shady park for two, then returned for another session. Then ice cream. Then the park again.
By this point we'd already decided that night hiking the road until we'd had enough was a great idea. Finally pulled out of town around 7 and made our way down the surprisingly busy road that would be our trail for the next 24 hours. As the sun set and temperatures cooled to perfection a 9/10 (yeah, that's right) moon rose and everything was lit and wonderful. Would have been a little creeped out on my own, must admit. Couple of friendly cars stopped including a local sheriff. Who later returned. At an almost awkward time for me. But I was busy laughing. It was a very awkward time for Joker.
All cowboyed and happy.

Jimmy Buffet.

Day SixtyFour, August 20th, 10 Miles
At Mile 1288, Poptart 456/1000
Threw down and got into Rawlins pretty early. Trail goes right through town which is useful. Thought I was getting run over but it was just Hawkeye, Kombucha and his parents. With my Penguin. So happy. Destroyed an amazing Thai Buffet, Mennonite Discount Grocery/Bakery amazingness and almost failed a half-gallon.

Tick free in the GDB.

Day SixtyThree, August 19, 29 Miles
At Mile 1278, Poptart 452/1000
Windy last night, cloudy all day. Same flat, boring GDB awesomeness. Section has been a drastic and enjoyable change from the CDT norm. Those photos down there sum it up better than wordz. Running with the wild horses was amazing. And they said we'd get ticks. I laugh at you.

Houses, run away quickly!

Day SixtyTwo, August 18, 30 Miles
At Mile 1249, Poptart 440/1000
More of the same, heaps of sun, heaps of Pronghorn and heaps of wild horses. Rained four drops at our morning water stop. Same sunset over the same mountains again. Crazy flat.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Clear and copious.

Day SixtyOne, August 17, 30 Miles
At Mile 1219, Poptart 430/1000
Today was hot. There are no trees. None. No shade. Twenty something miles after lunch with no water, tomorrow morning is the next good source. And the lunch source was very questionable. Very. But I love it. Myself and Joker claim to be asymptomatic carriers of The G (Giardia, not Gonorrhea), which means. Well, you know... But it won't happen! No!
Passed a trail crew who offered liquid refreshments and later the same jeep from yesterday pulled up with Tom offering beer and water again. Didn't feel too great this afternoon. I usually spend all summer in the hot Australian sun, this last 'summer' was spent in the cold Canadian not sun. Today wiped me out a little. Had the same sunset over the same mountains despite covering 30. Cowboyed. On a freakin rock.

M.E.T.H.O.D. Man.

Just in case I don't catch up before the library closes, we made it to Rawlins, Wyoming. Last Wyoming. Colorado next week yer!
This is all you need to know about the GDB. It was heaven.

































Flat.

Day Sixty, August 16, 21 Miles
At Mile 1189, Poptart 420/1000
Breakfast and PO. Our personal angel of awesome Naomi (Jugs) who doubles as Myke's significant other carried us back to the trail. Wyoming towns would have sucked without our Jugs. Thanks forever. Quick to South Pass City which is mostly a touristy "ghost town". Lay flat out in my standard recovery position and used Joker's umbrella to catch a quick nap before onward. The GDB. Technically not the Great Divide Basin yet but its all the same. It's a giant hole of nothing, the divide actually splits in two and skirts either side. That's cool and all but it means we have to walk through its flat hot waterlessness. Actually, that sounds like something I'd be all about. And I am. I love it. The most real desert hiking I've ever done (PCT lies). It's beautiful here and polar opposite of the Winds. I also resupplied awesomely, except for my poptarts. A couple flavours that I hadn't yet tried which are awful. Low Fat Frosted Strawberry, you suck. Road (dirt road, mostly) walking all the way to, and past Rawlins (next town, 120 miles away), but we still managed to get in a sagewack. Nothing like fording a creek in a waterless stretch. It was mostly cowshit I think so it doesn't count. Knee deep, I carried RT and Anna across only to come up on the second ford which was muddier and wider. Sorry. At least Joker's not the only section hiker. Storm finally caught us, then slowed down and headed in the same direction took forever to pass. Nothing like getting rained on in a waterless stretch. Got pelted with stinging rain and hail for a while but it cleared. Yet another in the endless list of amazing evening hikes. As the sun set behind the Winds over my right shoulder a Jeep pulled over offering water. RT asked for beer. And we did.
Camped on a side road. Amazing dinner.
GDB!

You already said that.

Day FiftyNine, August 15, 0 Miles
At Mile 1168, poptart 412/1000
Got nothing achieved except that cake thing that I already talked about down there. It was horrible. Some white kid flipped me a gang sign that I'm sure he doesn't know what it means. Crashed Mike and Naomi's party and had a beef/chicken manburger.

When fords are easier carried.

Day FiftyEight, August 14, 13 Miles
At Mile 1168, Poptart 412/1000
Quick yet still draggy ass miles to the highway... Wait. Last night it rained. Like enough to wake me up. Sounds like rain... Head out of bag. Feels like rain... Oh. I'm sleeping out... Crap. Joker and RT were already swearing and muttering and shuffling their tents up (Joker did a horrible job, as the morning light cruelly showed). It stopped. Only to start again as soon as I took down my tarp and started to pack up. Then stopped when everything was in my pack. Thanks, weather. Hawkeye carried Joker over a ford. He's now a section hiker. Hit up the highway at 11am, like we said we would. Naomi was there with DnA. We're all alive! Missed Pace, Coach and WhiteFish by only an hour. Again. Got yelled at by a passing motorist in Lander and were crushed to find neither KFC or the promised Taco Bell (we had big plans for those two) exist. Lander Bar was awesome and our NOLS leader buddy was there (dangnit if his name didn't fall out of my head). Found Lost and ate some icecream and watched some Flight of the Conchords and drank some beer and attempted to sleep inside.

Again, nothing. I had something.

Day FiftySeven, August 13, 25 Miles
At Mile 1155, Poptart 408/1000
Cold. Cold. None of us move until one does. Wait. Wait. Wait. Shuffle. Fine. Go.
Actually, this morning it was a squirrel. And not for the first time.
Jackass Pass was easy. And the realisation of a dream/plan. Massive views of the Southern Winds. Need to come back here more than the Sierra. Ate my 400th just after Big Sandy Lake. The climb up Temple Pass has to be on of my favourite places in the world. Break out of the trees into a wide, open meadow. Surrounded by granite towers of towery grandeur. Finished Born To Run (read it) and ploughed the rocky climb to the pass. Unfortunately, time did not allow me to run up East Temple Peak and sleep in its summit cave. Another day.
Joker and I waited at the bottom for RT. As we were breaking, heard a "YEEEAAAHHH!". Without even looking we knew. Hawkeye and Kombucha. Awesome. Easy and steamy (hot) afternoon via some rock jumping at Little Sandy. Saw the Moose that everybody else saw. Rock Steady had signed the register (thankfully) when we hit road for the first time in ?? days (oh yes). Another beautiful evening hike with huge sunset and one tree, can see the Great Divide Basin (GDB!). Has to be the biggest contrast in a single days hiking. Now completely in desert. Made it to Sweetwater BLM CampGround and threw down Cowboy 'cause the cloudeadead. RT and Kombucha tried to yogi beer. They failed. Bless 'em for trying. I should of asked the guy who was actually drinking beer...

Don't make me persistence hunt you.

Day FiftySix, August 12, 15 Miles
At Mile 1130, Poptart 396/1000
Took way way too long to get to the Cirque of the Towers turnoff. Farewelled Myke as he headed towards Naomi and spent an hour chatting to Jasmine and Louie, likely the last NOBO's and perhaps the happiest. Up the valley and around towards the scramble to the top of Texas Pass. Cirque. The place on the CDT (actually a sidetrip...) I have been looking forward to more than any. It's a cirque of towers. Ask google. Goddamn it's beautiful and glorious and massive. Goddamn I wanted to climb and lark about in there but it was rainsnowing and ridiculous cold. Ended up just lazing around with Joker and RT and re-rationing a day-plus-morning of food and eating everything else. Anna and Hawkeye are sick and we've no idea where they are. Assuming they took the Big Sandy way. Rainbow Twizzlers, the most plastic of all lollies just got more plastic.

Let me tell you a little about my friend Red Lake 40.

Day FiftyFive, August 11, 25 Miles
At Mile 1115, Poptart 387/1000
Rained just as I decided it was time for me to get up and stopped as soon as we had packed up. Chuz. It was to be a cloudddy day. On the way up Lester Pass I was confused by a pack of GoLite Jam sporting individuals charging down towards. They were a ultra friendly UltraLite NOLS group, and apparently the rest of our herd was on the other side of the pass. We soon spotted RT, Myke, Joker, Hawkeye, Kombucha and Stretch below. No Rock Steady... hope he's alive. We saw the bottom of Tourist Creek yesterday and it looked way worse than Pixley. Turns out they'd had an equally slow day, including a mile-and-a-half of blowdown hell, coming down Clear Creek.
I love the fluidity of this group, we expand and compress and go all different directions yet always end up together again. Up and down day but this place is magic. Mountains and lakes and all that fun stuff. Loads of people too. I swam in Sapphire Lake, it was cold. Before I was dry we stopped for dinner. Which was disgusting and ruined food for me for a day.

You don't want to know how many flowers I killed to get here.

Day FiftyFour, August 10, 20 Miles
At Mile 1090, Poptart 379/1000
The five miles down Pixley Creek took five long hours. It was super fun though. And I don't think anyone ever comes up here. Scrambled down over scree and boulders for a bit before a nice stretch of flat grassy banks amongst the flowers. Too good to be true, the boulders re-appeared and then got bigger. And bigger. Soon we were climbing over, under and around small building sized rocks. The trees appeared, but did little to help. Anna took to pine needle glissading. Rejoining the trail was euphoric (not really) but we did sit on it a bit. Nicely graded trail up Green Creek, oh yeah, I can walk this fast... Entering the land of /\ peaks, the Winds I have been so looking forward to. Past Vista Pass, and its lack thereof. Passed on Knapsack Col, Shannon Pass was well worth it. Views from the climb and the top were about the best the trail has provided so far. /\/\___/\/\/\/\. Yer. Stroud Peak being particularly impressive and /\. Nice, open, lake filled and flat stretch of trail to finish the day.

Monday, August 16, 2010

I too use cameras.

But my camera is broke, broke, broken. And is taking terrible pictures at present. A good farmer always blames his tool(s).








Gotta git me back in the Winds. Git is a real word?

Don't believe what they tell you.

Yeah, Im actually in Lander. The Winds were beyond amazing and despite some disease spreading and crippling some of our group we are too hard for that to stop us. People in Lander curse and flip gang signs from their vehicles. Like Penrith. It'll get you shot kid.

A Boston Creme Cake each? Yes!









Or no.









Joker and RT fail.









Never again.









I fail.









Photos by RT

John Coltrane.

Rolling Thunder, Lost, The Candyman, Wing It and Don't Panic, Myke and Naomi, Joker, Queen Frostine, Heaps.









My socks are better than your socks.









Me and QF (Anna). Divide. Winds.









Photos courtesy of RT and DnA.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

My passionate hatred of you, blowing wind.

Day FiftyThree, August 9, 18.5 Miles
At Mile 1070, Poptart 371/1000
Early start under a fiery sunset, Rock Steady, DnA and myself were heading for the divide, with plans to stay there as long as possible before heading back down. I liked the idea of going all the way past (over?) Gannett Peak, the highest in Wyoming. It proved to be a little ambitious and would have had us camped on the windy divide. Some other day, I'm sure. Up past Shale Mountain and the last trail we would see for over a day. Slow going, 100% boulder hopping can only be so efficient. Lots of slog for little reward but the scenery kept improving and after lunch the divide exploded before us as Gannett and friends appeared and glaciers became frequent companions. Altitude was whipping me harder than it ever has at this height, not sure why. Bagged Downs Mountain, 13260ft yeah!
Bad weather kept passing us by, our luck would probably not last. Rock Steady had headed for Tourist Creek, it was getting late and myself, Dan and Anna decided on a bushwack down Pixley Creek. Glissading, then a typically awful moraine wall wack below Sourdough Glacier and Icefall Lake. Pitched my tarp foot into the wind, behind some boulders. But the wind had other ideas. Shifting and belting me side on before dragging a storm over us and shifting again to blow the rain into the open front of my tarp. Might not survive the night, but it was so so worth it.

The sunshowers that fall on my troubles.

Day FiftyTwo, August 8, 24 Miles
At Mile 1051.5, Poptart 363/1000
My feet decided to hang outside my tarp last night. Somehow I ended up sleeping on a Wacky D! angle.Joined early by Rock Steady, Joker, Hawkeye and Kombucha, temporarily a group of thirteen. Past Fish Lake and up onto the open, flat divide. Incredible walking up there, no surprise. Mountains all around. Utter magic. Ended up road walking most of the day. The good kind of road walking. Up a fairly busy ATV trail to the shoulder of Union Peak, 11420ft. Our highest on-trail point yet. Some very encouraging views of upcoming terrain. The Wind River Range is what I have been looking forward to more than any part of the CDT and I have big plans. First time camped above 10k ft this year, with nine others no less. It's buggy but I'm happy.

That dude and his cooking flare gun shot ball.

Day FiftyOne, August 7, 18 Miles
At Mile 1027.5, Poptart 355/1000
Massive thanks to Naomi for all her help in Dubois. Got back up to Brooks Lake and started with DnA and Lost. One mile later we were drinking beer and chatting to two friendly gentlemen with big plans. Trail is kind of vague and rarely marked around here. Mostly cross country past Lava Mountain, avoiding the lava. Of course. Fun piece of trail actually. I really enjoy being 'lost'. Fighting our way through two metre high willow we all lost each other. Emerging we realised Anna was nowhere in sight. Calling her name received response from only a cow. Ran into RT and Myke and some rain. More vague trail but really nice hiking, especially in the post storm afternoon and sunset evening light. Lost and I decided on the history of the Jackalope, it has all the key ingredients of a literary classic. It's also a secret for character protection. Dug a hole and enjoyed another wondrous Teton view. I have The Fear (not having enough food for the section). Camped by Leeds Creek deep in a pine thicket. Choopy vagueness is the result of me being in the middle of a marathon journal catchup. New Donnis mixtape...

Yet another zero zero. Whow.

Day Fifty, August 6, 0 Miles
At Mile 1009.5, Poptart 347/1000
You know, usual zero stuff. Got a momo, sewed on our family tartan, bought eight days of food for the Winds. Heavy.

Makes all the difference.

Day FortyNine, August 5, 21.5 Miles
At Mile 1009.5, Poptart 347/1000
Dan came off a log on a creek crossing, straight onto his coccyx. Massive pain. While he was writhing around Jack Beanstalk, Chief and Sarong stopped for an all-to-brief chat. It was a hot day and painkillers speeded Dan's recovery to the point where I could barely keep pace with him. Racing the time to get to Brooks Lake, but as soon as we emerged over a pass into the head of an incredible valley surrounded by sheer crags and filled with beautiful lakes all became somewhat irrelevant. Myself and Dan swam. Ended up at Brooks lake Lodge about an hour behind the rest of our herd. Myke and his wife Naomi (our new trail angel) soon appeared with beer and powerade. Down to Dubois (pronounced as the French would, not the local "Dew-boyz" pronunciation dang-nit). Reunitation. Dubois is awkward.

Building up and crashing.

Day FortyEight, August 4, 27.5 Miles
At Mile 988, Poptart 335/1000
They awoke.
It was cold. But they were alive.
No Bears had come.
Ha. What Bears?
The sun warmed them quickly as they followed the winding and twisting Snake upstream, eventually leaving it and Yellowstone behind.
They entered the Teton Wilderness.
As they climbed, the Tits of America appeared on the Western horizon. Grand, majestic, massive.
Upward.
Onward.
Buzzed by a helicopter on a high meadow.
Then down.
And down. New switchbacks extending the pain. Dragging it.
Dragging.
Finally. Parting of the Waters.
Where the water parts.
Pacific.
Atlantic.
We lunched between. Then the boat race,.
Yer.
The horse highway. Everyone hates it. Days and days of horse widened trail they say.
But it's only seven miles?
Whatever.
A waterfall below the trail.
Water crashing and tumbling over them.
Clean, relaxed, happy.
Above them.
The clouds. Smashing, flying, dropping, here, there, on, away.
Up the Soda Fork.
They are happy.

Two months later shaker make her.

Day FortySeven, August 3, 23.5 Miles
At Mile 960.5, Poptart 323/1000
Oh what a pleasure frontcountry campsites are. Walked up to Grants Village to wait for Lost and Lorry, a car accident kept us from the trail til a little before eleven. Yet again RT was waiting for us at the trailhead, he'd left his poles in the car. So in the ever-fluid formation of our herd this sections group featuring me includes Lost, RT and DnA. Loads of folk out on the trail until you reach Heart Lake, then nobody aside from thrus, today saw Wasa, Jojo Smiley and Rascall pass us. Like I said, herd denial. "You're such a big group" they exclaim. "We've seen barely anybody!" "But there's been 10 of you in the last two days..."
Up the Snake we headed, still scared from the 1988 fires. Camped early after another glorious sunset, an "emergency camp", we have a permit for the next site as this one was full. Nobody is here, as we expected. My four year expired mountain house was disgusting. Not sure if it was the four year old thing or just the contents period. Either way it ended up on the fire (first one on trail) and didn't really burn. So our campsite smells like bacon and we're all sleeping with our food right where we cooked. Grizzly Bears. Whatever.

Drag me up. I can't make it.

Day FortySix, August 2, 25 Miles
At Mile 927, Poptart 311/1000
Early rise and huge breakfast. Hawkeye's everything bowls were amazing. Back to Old Faithful. Down to Lone Star Geyser with DnA and Lost, lucky to see it go off before we moved on (goes randomly about every three hours and we didn't have the time to wait around). Up and over Grants Pass without even realising it. Myke and RT had been warned about this epic 400ft climb that "really slows people down" and that 14 miles was about the limit of what one could walk in a day. Some of these backcountry rangers...
All CDT climbs and descents are now measured in GPU's (Grants Pass Unit = 400ft) and we regularly throw 10+ a day 'cause we're superhuman and all that.
Had planned to meet Angel Lorry at the Grants Village Road at around 6.30 so threw the 25 over easy terrain. Did stop to swim. And again when the trail pretty much forded Shoshone Lake. Met more of the NOBO "herd in denial", Hydro Heidi, 3030, WrongWay and Ahab. They're all so close together, they just don't realise it. Found RT and Lorry at the road and set up in the busy, loud Grants Pass CG. Loving the thermal.

Don't you. Ever. Get too. Com fta ble.

Day FortyFive, August 1, 0 Miles
At Mile 902, Poptart 301/1000
Zero in Sawtelle, declined a trip to Yellowstone to eat food and watch movies. 1/2 Gallon with RT and Joker. Went outside in the evening and realised why I'm here.

Dis. Play. Core. React.

Day FortyFour, 31 July, 18 Miles
At Mile 902, Poptart 301/1000
Flat and easy through the quiet north-western parts of Yellowstone. Stopped for a break at some thermal funk and missed the others as they death marched towards food that wasn't the one item they were carrying. Hit the edge of a basin and could see Yellowstone in all it's tracksuit wearing glory. Biscuit Basin and the walk down to Old Faithful are an education in thermal and American behaviour. Most just stared or brushed past three cheery, smelly, strange looking people (feat. backpacks). Kind of like Rishikesh actually. Old Faithful is more of the same, saw it erupt twice as the tourist numbers swell and disappear. Don't even need a watch. Reunited with our own herd and our trail angel Lorry. Back to Sawtelle. We got our 180 countries, Dan, Anna and myself. Yeah we did. Thanks in the end to RT and our generous definition of country. The one item resupply was a hit, I did fine, Anna did fine, Hawkeye was more than fine and Joker loved it. Kombucha on the other hand. Carnation Instant Breakfasts was not a good idea. 100 Miles of peanut M&M's oh yes yes yes.

Friday, August 6, 2010

Life in the undergrowth.

Day FortyThree, 30 July, 22 Miles
At Mile 884, Poptart 290/1000
Dragged ass getting out of town, myself and DnA were last. Not before subway and a half gallon. Which was very important. The 38 mile one item resupply was about to commence. Hawkeye had started it after I told him about my peanut M&M good times from last year and we had three others in on it. I was doing poptarts, Hawkeye Peanut M&M's, Kombucha Carnations, Anna Chex Mix and Joker Pringles. I love this group. Massive respect to all.
Leaving Macks Inn was straight up road walk. Highway to paved road to forest road, to closed road to abandoned road with berms. Cursed, unnecessary, frustrating berms. Really cool to see Sage again. Going the other way again. Had a huge sunset that lasted over an hour. Got the evening salt cravings, but I know how to deal with it. Made it to the Yellowstone Park boundary and spotted some headlamps. Ten thru-hikers camped illegally in the National Park, sleeping with their food after recent bear maulings. Oh yer.

Thrift. Store. Sweater.

Day FortyTwo, 29 July, 25 Miles
At Mile 862, Poptart 274/1000
Windy night. And condensation. How does that even happen? Especially with my tarp almost always being dry even when camped in a meadow. Finally, Iceaxe appeared around a bend, and was as happy as I knew he would be. Must of talked for two hours. Really good to see him again as he was one of the few people I hiked with after Yosemite last year. Ran some of the trail to catch up with everyone by lunch. Hot, horsefly-hell afternoon, spent valley bashing up Hell Roaring Creek. Hell indeed. Signed the register at it's spring fed source, apparently the Missouri/Mississippi's remotest source. Respect to Joker for trapping a horsefly in the register bottle. Oh sweet revenge. Still no idea where the trail was even when I hit what I assumed was the divide. Waved goodbye to Montana and headed for the antennae topped Sawtelle Peak where I knew I would eventually hit something useful. Came across a trail and hit the road a couple of minutes ahead of RT, Myke, Lost, DnA and Found who'd taken a 'scenic' route. Road walking is way more fun with other people and then Lost's mum, Lorry, appeared with water and cookies. Wonderful. Got down to Sawtelle and met up with the rest of our herd for dinner. Got wiped out by a HGL.

Ah believe in uzz.

Day FortyOne, 28 July, 26 Miles
At Mile 837, Poptart 262/1000
Ha, no sooner do I praise the new CDT...
Plenty of disappearing trail this morning. Usually happens in meadows. Good trail, faint trail, wait where's the trail, over there's the trail?
But still.
It is fun in a frustrating kind of way. Wouldn't change it for anything.
I have three blisters. Foolishly I had visions of a blister free CDT. Oh well.
Had a tough time finding a much needed spring after lunch, we had walked past it, so the three GPS's in our group told us. I ran, crashed and scratched my way back to a moist spot I had stood on earlier and thought little of. Sure enough, just below, a trickle of precious. Montana threw it's rage at us as we climbed up, up to 9700 but the storm passed and the evening light. Oh, if only you could of been there with us, eating on that ridge. It's real.

I never told the truth, how could I tell a lie?

Day Forty, 27 July, 21 Miles
At Mile 811, Poptart 252/1000 (quarter yer!)
DnA cooked us breakfast, someone from the motel got us back up to the trail. Much love and thanks to the Mountain View in Lima. Explored the Monida junkyard some more, assisted by the resident worm-dog. Mostly road, easy climbing and perfectly hot. These new shoes are working their New Balance magic and repairing my feet. I can feel it. Not really. Back to our crew of nine, dinnered and moved on. Stopped to chat with a trail crew, another section being improved. The CDT is most definitely not the vague, easily lost, disappearing 'trail' it was even five years ago. Don't let the fear of being off-trail keep you away from it. It rarely happens and when it does it's usually by choice and way fun.
I have a new shirt. It's stripy and wonderful.

CDT SOBO 2010 HERD: DnA (The Candyman and Queen Frostine), Lost, Rock Steady, Joker, Hawkeye and Kombucha, Rolling Thunder, Myke, Found and HEAPSnz The Dandy Lion.
Most of them are on trailjournals.com and are better writers than I be.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Still can't think of anything.

Day ThirtyNine, 26 July, 0 Miles
At Mile 790, Poptart 244/1000
Town Dayzzzzzzzzzz.
Good times.
New Shoes. No more foot thrashing HardRocks. Back to New Balance. So very happy.
Planned on heading back up to the Monida Junkyard with DnA but ended up crashing on RT and Myke's floor instead.
12345.

Untitled hahahaha.

Day ThirtyEight, 25 july, 25 Miles
At Mile 790, Poptart 242/1000
Not as moist as I was anticipating last night. Same old undulating same old. The Guidebook informed us that the upcoming section would provide a "rare opportunity to hike, in open grassland country, for several miles along the narrow crest of the Continental Divide." Yeah, man, that's exactly what we've been doing for days now. Instead, we scoped a flat, cowland, potentially Sagebrush filled cross country route that was crap but so so much fun. Made for a great day. And a hot day. Rejoined the CDT only a couple minutes behind Joker, Rock Steady, Hawkeye and Kombucha. Hit up I15 afriggengain. Scoped out the incredible Monida junkyard with Queen Frostine, near miss with the owner who ended up being super friendly. Lima is a tiny town but the Mountain View Motel is hiker friendly and Mike and Connie (hotel owners) are true trail angels. Another Nepali Flash while talking to Connie, who gets them too. I'm not alone.

Eventually, we began to trust him. We were betrayed.

Day ThirtySeven, 24 July, 27 Miles
At Mile 765, poptart 232/1000
Up early with Rock Steady to hike an alternate that none of the others were keen on for various reasons. An alternate into the 'rugged' Italian Peaks area (yes Anthony, that's right. Rugged. Italian. Peaks.). Ended up being a great morning, Rock Steady is one of the strongest hikers and about the most impressive navigator in a group of strong hikers and impressive navigators and the area was loverly. Spotted a massive herd of Elk as we Sagewacked back up to the divide. Elk who were spooked by myself and R.S. as well as the others making their way down the divide above us. Being skittish as they are the fifty plus elk charged down the valley towards a herd of cows. Most entertaining, although the cows excessive mooing was ultra-irritating. Crossed paths with our very own hiker herd (Rock Steady, Lost, Found, Candyman and Queen Frostine (DnA), Kombucha and Hawkeye, Joker and this guy) and enjoyed a shadeless lunch under the hot hot hot noonday sun. Met our first NOBO, quickly followed by two more. Eventually found Ley's famed Bison Cave of Death. There was a relatively fresh Elk in there and the remains of a couple others. It was near this incredible limestone outcrop, a hole that gets covered by snow in winter creating this pitfall trap of sorts. Joker and I climbed down into the stench and maggots. Good times. I had theorised with Candyman that there would be a 1000 year old Bison of universal wisdom down there who would grant us the answer to one question and one question only. Unfortunately, this did not eventuate into reality. Oh well. The question remains unanswered. Found is currently not feeling great so himself, meself, Lostself and D'n'Aself hung back a bit and camped early. Cowboy style. On a sweet little saddle. A moose just almost crashed the party (we're all hidden in metre high grass).

Walk a trail, with no end in sight.

Day ThirtySix, 23 July, 27 Miles
At Mile 738, Poptart 228/1000
Started late, a morning of grassy rolling hills. Caught everyone at break time. Climbed Cottonwood Peak in the afternoon, 11,024 ft. It's beautiful out here but also dry, desolate and hot. Getting ma daily Sagebrush wack in still. Always a pleasure.