{"id":119,"date":"2016-05-05T01:09:54","date_gmt":"2016-05-05T01:09:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/montybillpct.net\/blog2016\/?p=119"},"modified":"2017-02-13T15:35:47","modified_gmt":"2017-02-13T15:35:47","slug":"back-to-trees-and-trail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/montybillpct.net\/blog2016\/2016\/05\/05\/back-to-trees-and-trail\/","title":{"rendered":"Thursday, May 5 Back to trees and trail"},"content":{"rendered":"

SUMMARY:<\/strong>\u00a0 Shortly after breakfast this morning, we reconnected with the CDT.\u00a0 First order of business was to head for the windmill\u00a0 a few miles down the trail, to get WATER!\u00a0 Then we spent the rest of the day on real trail, with trail signs.\u00a0 Wonderful!\u00a0 Near the day’s end, we arrived at a surprise cache of water and fruit.\u00a0 The fruit was in bags hanging from tree branches right over the trail, and we got a good laugh from that, and ate some of it.\u00a0 Tonight we are camped up high on a ridge, with rain sprinkles whispering on the tent.<\/p>\n

DETAILS: <\/strong>We got up when there were still a couple of stars in the sky and the birds were just beginning to chirp–I was VERY much\u00a0ready to locate the CDT and get back on track.\u00a0 We were a bit sleepy because last night we cowboy camped, and during the night the wind began to blow so hard that it literally felt like somebody was grabbing my sleeping bag and trying to pull it away.<\/p>\n

In the early morning we climbed up over the next ridge, hoping to see the Gold Canyon road down below to confirm where we were and hooray, there it was!\u00a0 We scrambled down to it and began to follow it along, stopping for breakfast along the way.\u00a0 We were awfully low on water by this point, but trusting that we’d soon find the windmill by the CDT, we used up most of\u00a0what was left\u00a0to\u00a0mix with\u00a0powdered milk for our granola.<\/p>\n

By carefully studying the maps, looking at topography and consulting Guthook, we finally reconnected with the CDT, including a CDT marker post!\u00a0 Wow, did we cheer!\u00a0 (We found out later from other hikers who had been able to follow the official CDT all the way that they had a terrible time with the wind.\u00a0 So maybe our bushwhack wasn’t so bad after all–we only had a tough time with the wind AFTER we’d stopped for the day).<\/p>\n

It only took a couple more miles of walking\u00a0to reach the windmill, just off the trail in a grove of trees.\u00a0 It was still standing, but it turned out that now there is a solar pump, and the windmill is just for looks.\u00a0 We drank lots of water there (adding electrolytes) and filled our platypuses and water bottles.\u00a0 When I lifted my pack, I groaned.\u00a0 Heeeavy!\u00a0 Water weighs a ton.\u00a0 Fixit of course was busy studying the windmill construction.\u00a0 “They built this from a kit,” he said, and pointed out the features that\u00a0proved his point.<\/p>\n

We continued on, so glad to be on REAL trail (complete with “trail engineering”, rock ducks and signs), among big shady trees.\u00a0Only once did we briefly have to hunt for the trail.\u00a0 Scenery-wise: beautiful!\u00a0 There were what I call pinyon pine rock gardens, groves of trees and distant mountain views.\u00a0 Also, there were so many different kinds of rocks!\u00a0 If we weren’t thruhiking, I would have collected a lot of samples to take home and try to identify.<\/p>\n

At around noon, shortly before we stopped for lunch, the wind returned.\u00a0 We always cook at lunchtime, and I was hardpressed to locate a spot that would be safe to set up our little Esbit stove in those conditions.\u00a0 I had a terrible time getting the Esbit to light, and then to make it even worse, the pot fell off its stand\u00a0and spilled all over the ground, so we ended up basically lunchless.\u00a0\u00a0Bummer.<\/p>\n

But as it turned out, we need not have worried.\u00a0 Around 4:30 pm, we met a very friendly guy out dayhiking.\u00a0 He said he’s been meeting CDT hikers almost every day, and kindly warned us about a tricky turn in the CDT just up ahead.\u00a0 “A lot of hikers miss that turn,” he said.\u00a0 “Keep a sharp eye out!”\u00a0 (Good thing he warned us–when we got there we saw we would have missed it too, if it hadn’t been for him)\u00a0\u00a0 He also told us there was a water cache just ahead, and some trail magic.<\/p>\n

When we got to the water cache, wow!\u00a0 There were trees arching over the trail at that point, and hanging from their branches, right\u00a0in the middle of the\u00a0trail, were several\u00a0bags of\u00a0FRUIT!\u00a0 \u00a0We filled our water bottles and\u00a0ate a big banana and tangerine each.<\/p>\n

All cheered up and energized, we began the big climb up Jack’s Peak and\u00a0Burro Mountain.\u00a0 By around camping time, we were not quite at the top, but didn’t like the looks of the weather–dark nasty-looking clouds.\u00a0 So we stopped at a flat spot on a ridge, among trees,\u00a0and set up the tent.\u00a0 Good thing we did–it started dripping and drizzling a bit shortly after that.\u00a0 There are cows all around us; we can hear them mooing to each other.\u00a0 It feels really good to be in a cozy tent and to be back FOR SURE on the CDT!<\/p>\n\n\t\t