SUMMARY:  We collated a large and delicious breakfast from the Riverside store and while we were eating, we talked to Kenobi. He had to wait for the post office to open because he’s waiting for a box from home—a really common hiker situation! We soon had a ride back to the trail and were on our way—the goal was to reach “the last water for 30 miles”, 20 1/2 miles away.

At first we were on ATV roads and nice trail, way up on the Divide, with awesome (though somewhat smokey) views. Of course we were eagerly peering ahead for views of the Great Divide Desert. Then oh bummer, we hit the ‘blowdown slowdown’—miles of climbing over fallen trees and searching for trail. We did finally make it to ‘the last water’ and filled all our containers.

From where we are camped, we can hear a lot of cow noises. My poor legs are full of bruises, cuts, and scrapes from climbing over the blowdowns.

DETAILS:   Breakfast was all kinds of stuff I found at the little Riverside store–coffee, breakfast burritos, donut holes and canned mandarin oranges.  It was a bright, clear morning, just a bit chilly, so we sat in the sun to eat and talk with Kenobi.  His friend Slapshot left already, early this morning, but Kenobi has to wait for the PO to open so he can get his resupply box. (That’s a common hiker scenario–we tried really hard NOT to mail to PO’s, because their hours are often so limited.  Kenobi is not the only one waiting on the PO!)

We had no trouble getting a ride back to the CDT from a guy who was headed out on a 2-day backpack trip himself.  A brief walk down the highway and we found the “landmark” trailer that J.Ley mentions on his map. Sure enough, it has a little sign on it to let CDT hikers know they are welcome to stay in it if needed.  Nice!  Soon we were back on the trail (an ATV road at this point), making the climb up to Bridger Peak.  We were able to hike right along, enjoying the fine views (though a bit smoky from the fires to the south).

When we stopped for lunch, we were passed by Hotshot.  We ate dinner with her last night, and found out she’s a forest fire fighter taking the summer off to hike the CDT.  She said all her instincts are to “go help!” the guys fighting those fires, but she is resolutely hiking.  She’s in great shape, and hikes fast!

As long as the trail remained an ATV road, it was usually easy to follow, even though often steep and rocky, and yes, there were still snowdrifts to deal with.  But there were two junctions where we had no idea which way was the CDT, and I figure we lost at least 40 minutes of hiking trying first one way, then the other.  Finally we got to where we knew soon we’d have to turn off the road back onto trail again.  I was anxious about this, hoping it would be marked and we wouldn’t accidentally just walk past it.  Whew–the trail junction turned out to be very obvious–there were cairns and a post.

At first it was nice trail, but then the blowdowns became worse and worse.  Fixit commented, “I guess we’re in the blowdown slowdown.”  Soon a pattern emerged:  1) The trail would go up on a rocky ridge, with cairns to guide your way (and awesome views–at every high point we’d look hard up ahead to see if we could spot the Great Divide Desert!) then 2) It would go down into the forest for awhile.  The forests were horrendous.  There was no trail there at all, only fallen trees everywhere.  Basically, half the forest was standing, and half of it had fallen down.  It was impossible to hike or even to walk in–instead we had to continually climb over scores of trees while at the same time asking “Where’s the CDT?”   I collected a lot of scrapes and cuts and bruises in those forest segments.  But somehow, we managed to get through each one, and managed to locate CDT emblems or indicators enough to keep us on track.  This ridge/forest/ridge/forest repeated several times.

When we stopped to eat dinner, Freebird passed us.  “I’m not stopping till I get OUT of this MESS!!!!” he growled as he went by.  Our own plan was to hike till we reached the “last water for 30 miles” and camp after that. We ended up having to hike an extra half hour (till 7:30) in order to get there.  Turned out there was water all right, but it was such a small trickle that Fixit had to collect it in a cup before pouring it into our platypuses.  Meanwhile, since there were a lot of cows around, I was busy “cooking” AquaMira to treat the water.

Once we had full loads of water ready, we hiked on for awhile (we try NOT to camp near water–less chance of critters coming by in the night) till we spotted a flat place and stopped.  It was very late, and we were very glad to get horizontal.  We can hear cows mooing all around us.  Tomorrow–into the desert!