Posted by Day 47: 29.9 miles.
Day 48: 27.0 miles
I’ve grouped these days together as both were very similar and had me questioning what the hell I doing out here. With many miles of road walking just to link sections of trail it was a massive mental game.
Essentially the days were spent solidly focused on putting miles in to get this section over with – this is never good. The scenery was unspectacular and even if it were great my head was focused down on foot placements the entire days not up and about. So much can be missed liked this.
Thoughts of how I get off this trail and what to do if I did were continuous, plaguing me all day. It was cemented in my head I’d had enough and needed a Plan B. But I was still in the middle of nowhere with only one option in front for now – keep walking to get to town – and that is not a positive way to enjoy a long hike.
I’d lost the ‘why’ of what I expected from this hike. Had this hike become driven purely by ego, to have a notch in the belt with bragging rights saying that I’d completed the CDT? If so, and so many days were going to be about suffering to achieve this then it was not a solid reason to continue.
My body is sore with new niggles daily. Just the last few days, even with hardened feet, new blisters have popped up. I thought I was done with this. My right shoulder is not coping with the pack weight even with additional shoulder padding and for some unknown reason my right thigh becomes numb late in the day – either overuse or possible a circulation issue that I will need to resolve.
Was this really enjoyable? Parts of it definitely were but for the most part the answer had become no. Type 2 definitely. Waking up in a tent to put on the same stinking clothes and old socks; eating the same trail food; pulling on the pack and knowing there were days of the same boring hiking in front was growing old. Perhaps I just need a break, a day off. I was sure I would get to town but beyond that I did not know what lay ahead.
Did I have to hike the whole trail? All the roads and boring, viewless connections? For what? I’m in the US for several months and there is so much more to see and do than follow a Red Line defining one single trail. Can’t I just pick the best bits and be done with the shite then travel to see other beautiful areas along the way. I could. It was an option.
All this and more, a thousand questions kept running through my head. That is one of the beauties of hiking. Time to think and process. Deeply. All manner of things pop into my head throughout the day – memories from the past, random questions about the world, unresolved conversations with friends and family.
There definitely were several highlights over the past couple of days though:
- An encounter with a mountain lion or bobcat crossing a road about 50 metres in front of me. It sighted me well before I saw it and it was way too quick to get any photos.
- At a random road intersection I met a crew from the CDTA and CT out scouting the trail for improvements, scoring a Gatorade and snacks they had on hand. Hiker hunger has definitely kicked in.
- At mile 1040, in the middle of nowhere and late in the day I stumbled on Scott and Connie’s Trail majic camp where I was treated to a much needed cooked meal of Cowboy Stirfry. X-Ray was there and I hadn’t seen him since the first night out from Pagosa Springs. He had torn a hole in his sleeping mat and had to retreat the San Juan’s to Creede via the Grizzly trail and then back to the Red Line.
Mick Beckers 