Day 44 – Day 49

Lander to Rawlins: The Great Wyoming Basin

Day 44 – August 26

We were up and at it by 8am despite a late night hanging out with Lotte and Dan. The city park in Lander was quieter because it was now the middle of the week and travelers must have moved on to their next destination or gone back to work.

Ryan and I snacked on m&ms while we took down camp and I finished up the this blog post. We said our goodbyes to our friends (Dan and Lotte we will miss you!) and set off down the road, by foot of course!

Breakfast on the way out was at a local bakery. Sadly we both left disappointed with the experience with small, expensive and nothing special portions, but we were full enough and switched to hitch hiking mode! It didn’t take long before a nice young couple picked us up on their way to climb at Wild Iris. They were locals in Lander and had moved there a few years back from the south because the climbing in this area is so good and the living so affordable. They dropped us off at their stop and we hitched again another 10 miles to the trail. This time we were picked up by Dustin in his work truck. He was from the Imperial Valley in California and moved up here to follow his siblings and parents as they all slowly migrated to Wyoming.

After a pleasant morning of hitching, we were back on the trail at 12:45, feeling fresh, feeling healed up, ready to go!!

We are definitely in a new environment. It is HOT out here, very flat, very very dry, tons of cows and their pies, and there is no shade to be found. It’s beautiful in its way and I am happy to be in the desert. I did tell Ryan though that I may not be saying that by the time we get to Rawlins in six days, 120 miles away.

Ryan did some fancy navigating for us and we were able to walk on nice dirt road tracks the whole day, cutting out a couple of trail miles through sagebrush and putting ourselves about 17 miles in for the day. This is extremely acceptable for an afternoon start. We are very pleased!

Tonight we ate a HUGE dinner of hot knorr side burritos, fresh picked tomatoes from a passer by who needed directions and gave us an offering in thanks, chocolate pudding, milk, and m&ms. I’m stuffed. What a fun thing to be able to say after starving last week on the trail. The food is heavy though so we need to ray diligent and eat, eat, eat to save our shoulders.

We are pitched by the Sweetwater River which is cow territory. Hopefully we have no visitors tonight!

Day 45 – August 27

This is hard. Hiking the CDT is hard. The Great Basin is easy walking… but the lack of shade and the lack of things to look at is hard!

We saw some beautiful wild horses today though which was exciting. There was a white mare and a brown colt right down the trail from us. They were very aware of our approach and so was their man who appeared from around a corner trotting right for us! He was black and definitely willing to come investigate the commotion. I raised my trekking poles overhead and waived them around which made him stop… consider… and when his lady and baby started running away he turned and followed. I was relieved! And invigorated. Wild horses are much more graceful than the cows that are dotting the gently rolling hills out here.

We also encountered a weasel this evening when cooking dinner! Hopefully it doesn’t try to sneak some food while we are sleeping. Very cute though.

The most numerous reptile has been the horny road which we have seen around ten so far. They are adorable! Sometime I’d like to go all in and catch one which shouldn’t be too hard with a little bit of effort.

We’ve gotten 19.4 miles closer to Rawlins, not as much as we would have liked today but acceptable, especially considering that we left camp this morning at 10am after sleeping in to 8:30. Worth it!

It’s been interesting gathering water out here. There are occasional springs, oasis in this big dessert, that supply us with slightly questionable water. We are dry camping tonight and had to pack 6 liters in total from the last spring. That’s a heavy load! We’re using most of it tonight for dinner so the four miles coming in the morning shouldn’t be as back breaking as the last 5 were. Now to EAT.

Bonus: after blogging and eating, a night hiker, Neil Bob, strolled past our tent on his way to the next spring. He’s a north bound CDT hiker and was a lot of fun to chat with. Bummer we couldn’t talk longer!

Day 46 – August 28

Today was the hardest day I’ve had yet on the trip emotionally. There was a serious struggle in my mind over finishing the trail or choosing another option… we are now about a third of the way done actual walking mileage, about half the way done distance wise, and we are going through growing pains still.

Our feet both hurt, we were not very skillful in navigating conflict today, and there was a SERIOUS wind blowing in the dry, dry desert where we had to walk 20 miles between water sources. We walked a total of 25 miles today!

That being said, it was ultimately still a very good day.

We walked the second most in mileage that we have yet. Leaving at 8am made for a nice and relaxed morning and we ended the day at a reasonable time (right at sunset).

We managed to get through very difficult emotions and conflicts and end the day sweetly. It’s clear that Ryan and I both care for each other’s happiness and are getting better at handling tense moments. The moments felt like a loss… but I see them as a win. This isn’t an easy job, walking the CDT, and difficulty is sure to arise. We were able to navigate our circumstances with more wisdom than our younger selves would have ever managed. We are maturing and wisening!

We did our longest water carry yet. 20 miles between sources means HEAVY packs and a legitimate concern for dehydration. No problem here. We smashed the water carry that sounded so long and impossible.

There was trail magic in the form of a water cache. A former CDT hiker who completed the trail in 2014 has a really nice water cache set up on trail in a dry zone. We were able to fill up there, read an inspirational journal entry from a pioneer who wrote on walking, sign and study the log book, and enjoy a tootsie roll! Thank you kind hiker for the water and encouragement!

We also saw a baby cow drinking from its mama, tons of horny roads, a beautiful sunrise and sunset, and we heard a rowdy pack of coyotes.

Now SLEEEEEEEEEP!!!!!

Day 47 – August 29

NEW RECORD!!!! We walked 29 miles today. Whew! We also tried an hour or two of night hiking which was an engaging experience. The moon is nearly full right now so it did a wonderful job of illuminating the long, flat, straight dirt road we were trekking down tonight.

Needless to say, ow. Our bodies from the waist down are in undeniable pain.

This landscape is still dotted with cows and sparse with water. When we reached an electric well for our 14 mile mark and stopped for lunch, we had a great show as we ate. There were probably 40 cows with more slowly rolling in to drink water and socialize. What funny animals! They are so big that I feel a need to offer them respect as I pass. If they wanted to hurt us, they definitely could. Thankfully though they tend to just trot away as we get close enough to trigger their fight or flight. Whew!

Ryan was brave and returned to the well four times for filling our water filter bag so that we could store enough for the next stretch of 16 miles. They cows got out out of his way no problem each time. Even the big beefy bulls with horns.

Our lunch break ended around 3:30 and we walked again until 7:45pm when we cooked and ate burritos for dinner. We were able to squeeze in five more miles, now in the dark, before the day got the best of us and we set up camp a mile before our next water source. Tomorrow it’s just a short walk to some delicious water, and now only 31 miles to Rawlins. We are cruising!

On the home stretch before sunset there was really good phone service which we took advantage of. I called one of my oldest and most loyal friends, Kaelyn Baker, my sweet sister who is always generous with her laughter, and my mom who takes such good care of me even as an adult. That was the highlight of the day for me!

Day 48 – August 30

We woke up at 7:30am, nice and sore, with another mile to our water source left to go. We were 29.3 miles away from Rawlins now and the plan was to walk about 27 miles and end up close to town for the following morning.

The spring was very nice, despite dunking my shoe in the water, and we had a small family of cows to entertain us again. My favorite was the young moody bull who stared us down while his sisters and mom drank, then went off on his own and found a comfortable sitting spot to park it for a while.

We got back on our way at around 10am and an hour later found we were headed down the wrong road, far enough that it made sense to keep going and take an alternate route back to the trail. When we saw bigger vehicles way in the distance, we revised our plan once again to connecting with the highway and hitching forward to where it met up with the CDT. It would shave about 5 miles off our trip but felt worth it because of the wrong turn. Work smarter not harder right?!

When we were picked up by David, the truck driver with a snarky but kind attitude, we decided to just finished the route and head into town. Our legs were so tired and we have a very difficult water and food carry coming right after Rawlins that we could use some extra strength for. Plus now we wouldn’t have to rush for showers, laundry, groceries, AND most importantly a hot meal.

The fairgrounds in town allows free camping and showers, which are cold, but hey.. beggars can’t be choosers! We showered first thing then walked to the highly recommended Thai restaurant downtown. It was fantastic to eat a full dinner of gourmet cuisine. FINALLY. My palate was in need of some intrigue after so many tuna wraps this week. Dinner together was a great time and a very nice date night. Nice and full, we made our way to the laundromat and set ourselves up with a clean wardrobe. We also had the pleasure of talking to both of our dads which is always a mood booster!

Following the laundromat where I enjoyed a 2008 fashion magazine and chatting with Mary, a self declared senior citizen originally from Detroit, we settled down at the Hole in the Wall bar which was also highly recommended by other through hikers. We had a fantastic time meeting some locals, dancing, and playing pool. What a great way to spend the night.

Camp is set and it is WAY past my bedtime writing this post. Just finishing up at 1:48am. I’ve been craving a late night and it has certainly been provided. Goodnight!

Day 49 – August 31

It’s back on the trail again for us after a very nice lazy morning. We woke up slowly but early and enjoyed taking our sweet time packing up, watching music videos, and being in a good mood together before we set off for some cheap food at McDonalds. We ate outside and chatted with a nice couple in their 70s who had done some good adventuring in their youth. The husband had climbed many of the mountains in the Cascades in the North West. He kept telling us to “do it while you’re young!”

After food, we mozied to Walmart for our resupply where we bought $120 worth of food for the next eight-nine days on the trail. Heavy packs! We also added a gallon of water each since we anticipated a long dry stretch, my pack is heavier than it’s ever been… but it feels manageable which makes me think I’m getting stronger.

We took full advantage of the fast food situation at the edge of Rawlins and also had a big meal at Taco Bell, then got back on trail which in this case meant walking right through the middle of town and out the other side! I called my grandma, Nana, which was a lot of fun and kept me in very good spirits on our way out. Thank you for the good conversation Nana! 😘

We are set up for the night a little early, after about 8.6 miles of walking, due to rain and a late night last night which has left me tired. It’s colder than it’s been in a while for us and getting cozy sounds fantastic. Time for some rehydrated milk, peanut butter, and a few M&Ms before we watch TV and then sleep. Not too shabby.