Wednesday, August 28th. Day 71
Today's miles = 14 Total CDT miles = 1063.7
This morning I woke up to Baboon telling me that there was "probably the best sunrise I have ever seen, Spinzers, you should prolly get up and come look at it.". I grunted, waited a few minutes and then poked my head out of my tent. I saw some sun but it didn't look that impressive so I laid back down. A few moments later Baboon told me that I was going to miss it. So, this time I actually got out of the tent to see what all the fuss was about. Surly it couldn't be the best sunrise? Welp, it pretty much was. I was looking in the wrong direction the first time because I was too lazy to get out of my tent.
I made coffee and oatmeal this morning and was hiking by 8am. Right after a steep downhill there was a meadow with a river flowing through. At first I thought I was going to have to get my feet wet but then I saw pup prints leading off to a crossing a bit down the river. I followed the prints and it led me to a safe place to cross. When in doubt, follow the pup prints. They usually find the best way around something. We ran into Panama and Beth at Shadow lake and stopped to have a snack break with them.
Baboon and I decided to hike the 'Cirqur de Towers' alternate today. The Cirque is a spot where there are literally towers of mountains surrounding it in all directions. To get there you have to hike over Texas pass and to get out you have to hike over Jackass pass...so it's a lot of work and not worth it in poor weather. Well, this morning was poor weather. There were thunder clouds in every direction but we still decided to give it a try. By the time we were about to go over Texas pass (11,480ft) the sun came out!! Once we descended down to a lake in the Cirque the sky was clear and we could see every peak! It was truly spectacular. We got a little misplaced climbing over Jackass pass and ended up hiking a bit more than we would have had to and when we got to the lake just down from the pass we had to rock climb some boulders around a lake for a while. All in all it was an extreamly difficult day tactically.
We ran into a big group of guys from Colorado that we stopped to talk to them for a while. The one had asked me, "How long ya been out?" and when I replied, "71 days" it took him by shock. That fueled a conversation about the trail and one of the men offered a place to stay when we pass through Aspen Colorado.
Right at the end of the day there was a moose in the grass by a lake gracefully grazing the area for food. She eventually walked to the lake and took a swim. She swam out to the center of the lake and all I could see was her head popping up out of the water. She swam straight across the lake to the the other side (maybe 100 yards or more).
Tonight I'm camped by a lake at 10,200ft. Tomorrow is more climbing. I had hoped to make it farther today but there was no way. It was a miracle I made it this far.
Today's miles = 14 Total CDT miles = 1063.7
This morning I woke up to Baboon telling me that there was "probably the best sunrise I have ever seen, Spinzers, you should prolly get up and come look at it.". I grunted, waited a few minutes and then poked my head out of my tent. I saw some sun but it didn't look that impressive so I laid back down. A few moments later Baboon told me that I was going to miss it. So, this time I actually got out of the tent to see what all the fuss was about. Surly it couldn't be the best sunrise? Welp, it pretty much was. I was looking in the wrong direction the first time because I was too lazy to get out of my tent.
I made coffee and oatmeal this morning and was hiking by 8am. Right after a steep downhill there was a meadow with a river flowing through. At first I thought I was going to have to get my feet wet but then I saw pup prints leading off to a crossing a bit down the river. I followed the prints and it led me to a safe place to cross. When in doubt, follow the pup prints. They usually find the best way around something. We ran into Panama and Beth at Shadow lake and stopped to have a snack break with them.
Baboon and I decided to hike the 'Cirqur de Towers' alternate today. The Cirque is a spot where there are literally towers of mountains surrounding it in all directions. To get there you have to hike over Texas pass and to get out you have to hike over Jackass pass...so it's a lot of work and not worth it in poor weather. Well, this morning was poor weather. There were thunder clouds in every direction but we still decided to give it a try. By the time we were about to go over Texas pass (11,480ft) the sun came out!! Once we descended down to a lake in the Cirque the sky was clear and we could see every peak! It was truly spectacular. We got a little misplaced climbing over Jackass pass and ended up hiking a bit more than we would have had to and when we got to the lake just down from the pass we had to rock climb some boulders around a lake for a while. All in all it was an extreamly difficult day tactically.
We ran into a big group of guys from Colorado that we stopped to talk to them for a while. The one had asked me, "How long ya been out?" and when I replied, "71 days" it took him by shock. That fueled a conversation about the trail and one of the men offered a place to stay when we pass through Aspen Colorado.
Right at the end of the day there was a moose in the grass by a lake gracefully grazing the area for food. She eventually walked to the lake and took a swim. She swam out to the center of the lake and all I could see was her head popping up out of the water. She swam straight across the lake to the the other side (maybe 100 yards or more).
Tonight I'm camped by a lake at 10,200ft. Tomorrow is more climbing. I had hoped to make it farther today but there was no way. It was a miracle I made it this far.
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