Posted by 26.9 miles
Today truly has to have been my favourite day on trail so far. A refreshed body with a nero yesterday, a bit of a sleep in this morning and a cooked breakfast saw a cracking start to the day. I slightly misjudged the opening time of the cafe across the road. I thought it was 6:30am but it turned out to be 6am. Not to worry. What is half an hour in the scheme of things. It equated to a sleep in. I had the time right I would have been up and the crack of dawn and out the door.
American portion sizes are massive but the hiker hunger has kicked in and I can certainly handle it. I ordered a 2 stack pancakes which came with bacon, 2 eggs and potatoes on the side. The pancakes were huge and breakfast was delivered on two plates. I love the endless coffee too. Pay $2.50 once and it keeps getting topped up until you’ve had enough. It’s not the best coffee in the world but I’ll take it.
Breakfast done it was back across the road to motel for a final pack up before hitting the road. I caught IQ in the car park and had a brief chat. They must have stayed at the same place but I didn’t see them yesterday. He and Steady were just about to leave as well.
Directly from town there were a few road miles to walk on quiet bitumen roads. A few miles in one car pulled up in front of me and offered me a granola bar. I didn’t catch his name but he said he loved watching CDT hiking videos on YouTube and knows how much hikers are crazing food by now.
Soon enough I was off the roads and onto proper trail. There was something about today that just felt like it was going to be an awesome day. Maybe it was the fact that at the intersection of the final forest road and trail proper there was a crystal clear running stream. Today felt like a transition, out of the desert and into the hills.
There was a 12 mile climb up to 10,000feet that took most of the day. The climbing was barely noticeable on perfectly groomed and graded switchbacks. It led into a mix of tall pines and aspens which persisted right through the day.
I was flying along completely carefree and happy. Today reminded me of the sharp transition between desert and high elevation forests from Kennedy Meadows on the PCT. Water was abundant and I didn’t have to carry much with the trail crossing and following along so many streams. A far cry from the huge water carries I have been doing.
Between pines small alpine meadows started appearing with spring flowers starting to show through and water was abundant.
Mid morning I came to a a large body of water at a small recreational area. There were plenty of day visitors around and I got talking with 3 who were out with their dogs to try their hand at fly fishing.
They would walk and talk with me for a bit before heading down a different trail at an intersection. Soon afterwords I came across the perfect lunch spot next to a stream, too good to walk past and not take a break. The true “I can’t right now, I’m watching a live stream” moment.
The trail would continue between shaded pines and open meadows into the early afternoon with the first remnants of winter snow encountered. Only very small patches off trail that would not last much longer, melting over coming days to feed the streams I was hiking past. There would be larger snows ahead near Colorado however with the record low snow year I’m fairly confident the trail ahead will be relatively snow free.
Late in the afternoon the trail moved through vast areas of dead and downed trees. Few places would have been safe to camp under. How forest service crews have cut track through the jumble of trees beggars belief. From talking with Christina she said that in wilderness area, which I was walking through, all saw work is done by hand tools like crosscut saws, no chainsaws!
Even with a later start the trail was so perfect that I was able to pull 26.9 miles for the day.
The setting for my camp site is amazing but not the best for camping. I’m in a grassy opening surrounded by tall Aspens. Unfortunately there is no flat ground directly under the trees so my tent is out in the open and likely to get condensation overnight. We’ll see. I’ll keep one side fully open for ventilation and air flow.
If today was a taste of things to come Bring It On.
I’m set up well for Ghost Ranch which is only 32.6 miles away so that will be a mid 20ish mile day tomorrow and I’ll be able to have another nero of 8 to 10 miles into Ghost Ranch. Still no word on my new runners being delivered. Before leaving town REI had still not sent them. The expected arrival date is the 29th May, the day I will also arrive there. Fingers crossed. The Hoka Speedgoat shoes I have have seen me through a thousand kilometres. I use these for trail running at home and typically retire them at 500 km. If my new shoes don’t arrive I may have to see how far I can push a pair.
Mick Beckers 