SUMMARY:  Earlier this morning, our CDT “trail” was actually dirt roads, and it kept switching from one road to another, so we had to be careful. Finally it was back to trail, which was great, except for all the blowdowns (trees fallen across the trail). So many of the trees are dead that this is a real problem.

But then, in the distance up ahead, we heard a lovely sound—chain saws! And finally we caught up with the team–horses waiting patiently, loaded with equipment, then ladies clearing the trail of cut logs and debris, and finally (up front) the men with their chain saws, doing the cutting.

Everybody was having fun, and we were mega-glad to see them! After we passed, it was back to blowdowns again. Well, tomorrow maybe not–we’ll be up above timberline.

DETAILS: It was actually warmish last night and this morning–no shivering to get dressed!  We were (for awhile) still on dirt roads, which is confusing when you get to a junction with another dirt road, and don’t know which one is the CDT, because there is no sign to guide you.  But we are back in the mountains for sure now–trees, creeks, cliffs, even some snow when we look UP just a bit!

Finally we were back on TRAIL, which is nice because it’s less confusing (no “mystery junctions”) but not so nice when it is blocked by a bunch of blowdowns.  Because of all the dead trees, what was once probably just a few blowdowns per year has become a major problem.  It is no fun when you are hiking to constantly have to face a giant mass of “pickup sticks” and try to figure out how to get around/over/under them.  But then we came to a section where obviously somebody had been working on the trail–there were a lot of freshly cut blowdown trees, and the trail was clear.  Then we came upon a “horse group”–3 people, 3 horses and 2 pack mules, packing CHAIN SAWS!  All right!  When the 3 horse people saw us, they said, “Are you going to Canada?” (Turned out Bambi passed them not long ago, and told them we were behind him.)  When we said, “Yes!” they told us, “Well, we’ll try to clear the trail for you guys!”  We were hiking along as quickly as we could, hoping for 20 miles today despite the constant delays from the blowdowns earlier.

On the east side of the trail, we had views of the very impressive Wind River mountains (including some snow), and to the west, we could see glimpses of desert far below.  We are so glad to be done with the desert!   We were walking through lovely meadows and rockhopping over streams, when in the distance, we heard a wonderful sound–chain saws at work!  Another trail crew!  We finally caught up to them, and they were quite a well-oiled team.  First we met the horses, lounging in the shade, but with their packs still on.  Then we met a crew of ladies who were pushing and pulling  and throwing cut pieces of logs and branches off the trail, then finally we got to the “point men”–the guys with chain saws, attacking the blowdowns.  They are all volunteers, and they said they are really having fun!  We thanked them very fervently, because the last section of trail has been such a pleasure to walk on due to all the work they’ve done.

But once we passed the chain saws, sigh….it was back to wrassling with blowdowns.  We reached a wilderness/hiker register, and discovered that 4 other CDT hikers went through earlier today.  When we stopped to eat, another CDT hiker came by–Easy Strider, so that makes a total of 7 of us nearby to each other on the trail.   Easy Strider said that in the storm yesterday, he was at South Pass City with his resupply box contents and pack contents all spread out on the grass.  The storm hit so hard and so fast that he was not expecting it, and a bunch of his stuff got pretty messed up.   But he (and we) are really enjoying the awesome mountain scenery we are in now, and everybody (including us) is making plans for going to see the famous Cirque of the Towers tomorrow.

The only bummer today was a hiker (not a CDT hiker) out with a very untrained dog that acted like it wanted to eat Fixit.  Stupid dog…even stupider owner, taking such an animal out on the trail.  We are not dog fans, and this is one of the reasons why we are not.

But we are very excited about getting to Cirque of the Towers tomorrow!