Posted by 23.4 miles
Bloody awesome day. Great to be back down below 11,000 feet for most of the day and back in the shade of trees.
One huge climb for the day up and over Lake Anne Pass however this section of the CDT was only recently constructed (2 or 3 years) and was really well graded. It was slow and steady work and wasn’t without effort by much easier than the old CDT route it has replaced.
From the pass it was essentially downhill for the rest of the day, back into the shade and cover of pines and at lower elevation. The miles came fairly easily. On the decent I met Leo another CDT hiker and we leap frogged each other for the rest of the day.
I finally saw a Pika up close. These things are so hard to spot when you hear them and difficult to get any photos of.
The trail was super busy with CT hikers who started from Twin Lakes over the weekend and are a couple of days in, all headed south bound. I must have crossed paths with 25 or more.
Texas Creek had to be crossed the first wide river that would either require wet feet or some skill negotiating a rock or log crossing. I walked a short ways up stream to find some suitable rocks with a giant leak over the water to make it across with dry feet.
At the final water source for the day Leo and I parted company as he was trying to squeeze in another 4 miles including climbing half of a huge ascent towards Hopeful Pass. I may run into him further up the trail. I had had enough for the day and certainly wasn’t going to start a massive climb – I’ll leave that for fresh legs first thing tomorrow. With water fully stocked I hiked onto the next suitable camping site only 0.2 miles up trail finding a small site sheltered in the trees.
Just as I was set up and had eaten dinner Peach Pit strolled in and asked to share the small space shattered from a big mileage day. Of course I said go right ahead with the caveat to be prepared for early morning noise as I pack up camp and hit the road early. She was fine with that as she could do with an earlier rise. She was able to squeeze her tent in, our tents so close together we could practically share tent pegs.
We had a great chat as she set up camp and cooked dinner, sharing some gummy bears for desert.
Just on dark in strolls Frisco also looking for somewhere to came. With no tent space available he elected to cowboy camp.
Looks like I am definitely moving into the hiking bubble having caught up with 3 new CDT hikers headed north. This is a confidence boost for me as it means I’m pulling some ling distances ahead of others and moving along the trail. By my estimate I’m several days behind where I would like to be but continuing a trend of 20 plus miles a day I can catch up where I need to be.
Mick Beckers 