Day 71 Into the Great Basin

35.1 miles (56.5 km)

A very long and boring day but my biggest distance yet. The entire day was spent on the same road headed towards Rawlins. 

55 miles remained until Rawlins and I was very motivated to do this in two days. It would mean pulling a big day today. Many of the younger hikers attempt a 24 hour challenge through this section or after Rawlins, setting a goal to hike for a 24 hour period and see if they can make it to Rawlins in one push. Back in my youth sure this sort of thing would have been right up my alley, but the wisdom of experience now tells me this sort of thing is not for me these days. It would surely lead to an overuse injury and would absolutely cost an entire day of recovery sleeping in a hotel room. 

Just having the knowledge that this section is where the 24 hour challenge occurs told me a couple if things – the walking must be easy and it must be relatively flat. This was all I needed to attempt my biggest day yet. 

The hiking it self was dead boring and nothing to right about. Remaining motivated was the challenge. This section was a mental game for sure. Podcasts kept my mind engaged while my body did the walking. It was like being on autopilot. My feet kept moving forward. 

The other challenge of this section was water. I’m back into long water carries with lack of suitable sources. Many water sources that could be relied in previous years were dry this year. And the sources that were available were not enticing at all, being milky, cloudy, muddy or just plain foul. I ‘camelled up’ at a fresh spring, drinking 3/4 litre before refilling all my containers. This would see me through to lunch at which point I’d have to top up again at the appropriately named Muddy Creek. With insufficient vertical fall of water to get my water bladder under I needed to improvise using my trowel to create a small waterfall. 

The water in Muddy Creek as the name suggests was milky with sediment but I had no other choice later in the day. I would have to collect water here, 4 litres in total, carry it with me and make it last for the next 35 miles into Rawlins. 

By 6:45pm, 12.5 hours in total hiking, I saw that I had completed 35.1 miles for the day and had around 20 mile into Rawlins tomorrow. Satisfied with a solid days progress I called it day finding a flat piece of grass on the edge of one of the bone dry water sources. Out in the open, condensation will likely be an issue in the morning.