SUMMARY:  We woke up to clear (no clouds) but smokey skies, and very determinedly set off to find the CDT (praying a lot!) We got back to the area where the trail disappeared, and started out, bushwhacking, on a route that looked like it might work. Surprise! A short time later, there was the CDT! We cheered and hurried on.

But a little while later the trail totally disappeared again. We searched in vain. Back to bushwhacking with a compass…then hooray—rock ducks in tall grass! We followed them to the edge of what we hoped was Sedgwick Meadow, where there was supposed to be a trail to a road that would get us off the mountain. Yes! There was the trail!

We followed the trail down to a dirt road, then hitched a ride down to the highway, and roadwalked to Pinedale. It was hot and windy and like being back in the desert again, but we finally made it. We dare not continue on the CDT without a GPS.

DETAILS:  We got up to a somewhat smokey but clear morning–all of last night’s clouds had vanished, and we were determined to find the CDT again!  Fixit was hoping to be able to continue on, once we found the trail again, but I was thinking, “If we can just find Sedgwick Meadow, on the other side of it is a trail that would take us off the mountain, and then we can just roadwalk to Pinedale.”  I  could not see how we could manage any longer without a GPS–we have lost so much time already by not knowing where we are.

Last night I spent some time studying the maps, and came up with a way to bushwhack till we could intercept another trail that could take us back to the CDT…hopefully.  So we hiked back to where we lost the trail yesterday, then took out the compass and started the bushwhack.  Wow!  Only 15 minutes later, we found the trail!  And it was the CDT, complete with an emblem on a tree!   We cheered and rejoiced!

We were able to hike right along for awhile, but alas!  Once again, the trail tread suddenly did its vanishing act, in a forested area.  We searched and searched for it…no luck.  So it was back to bushwhacking with the compass, figuring that since Sedgwick Meadow was so large, we’d eventually run into it.  After awhile, we reached a rather damp and grassy area in the forest and surprise!   A big rock duck!  And then another, and another!  We followed them for a ways, hoping they might be CDT.

The rock ducks led us to the edge of a very large meadow.  Was it Sedgwick?  We did not know, but the confirmation would be if we could find a trail running along the other side of it.  We hurried across (not easy–the ground was very uneven) and yes!!  There was a very nice trail!

But now we had a very big decision to make.  Fixit wanted to continue hunting for the CDT, since we knew it did cross the trail we were standing on.  I wanted to turn off and head for the highway and get a GPS, ASAP.  I said to Fixit, “I want to get back on the CDT, too!   But this is crazy!  Look how many times we have lost the trail in just the last few days!  And we don’t even know where it is right now!”  So in the end, we decided to roadwalk to Pinedale instead of continuing to play hide ‘n seek with the trail in the forest.

We followed the trail down to the road that goes to Big Sandy Lodge, and started walking toward the highway, hoping for a ride eventually.  Awhile later, a car came along–it was a photographer heading home from a backpack trip.  He gave us a ride to the highway, and from there we started the walk to Pinedale, stopping off along the way to eat at a restaurant.   It was like being in the Great Divide Desert again–sagebrush and wind and heat.  There were osprey nests on platforms along the highway, and every time we passed one of them, the ospreys began circling overhead and “yelling” at us.

Finally, very late in the day, we got to the outskirts of Pinedale and began looking for someplace to stay.  But to our dismay, every motel was full, booked up by “the oil guys” (fracking crews).  We are glad that “the oil guys” are helping the local economy, but bummer for us–and two of the motels listed in Yogi’s town guide were closed.  But we finally were able to get a room at the Chalmer House B & B.  The staff there were very welcoming and kind, but we felt very out of place, all dusty and stinky and grungy from the trail.  There was no way to wash our clothes, except for our socks, which I did in the bathroom sink.   We had “The Red Room”, where William Henry Jackson had stayed.  He was a photographer in the West of the 1870’s, and lived all the way to the 1950’s.  Quite a guy!

Once we were cleaned up, we ate at the nearby Chinese restaurant, then went back to the Red Room and collapsed.  Tomorrow we will get a GPS!  And a phone, too.