I woke up hoping to do some big miles but the beginning of the day slowed me down. The beautiful views from the mountain down to the range were great, but there was almost no trail.
I spent a good amount of time routefinding through the sagebrush before finally hitting a dirt road and eventually a paved one. Today was another huge road walk but thankfully it was mostly dirt.
Today felt straight out of New Mexico, but with much bigger views. There’s almost no water and there’s rattlesnakes again. I saw two today! (One was roadkill, but I guess that still counts) The one water source is called Muddy Creek and it’s named very well. Each crossing got dirtier and dirtier.
At each bridge I found a hiker hiding under it. They didn’t make me answer any riddles, they were just hiding from the sun. There were almost no trees at all today.
Even though I was walking on a road, it felt like I had the whole basin to myself. I saw a couple trucks drive through and a few people with campers near the road, but that was it.
That reminds me of something strange about the CDT. There’s almost no trail magic. I saw a couple in a camper van on the side of the road. On the PCT or AT, that would almost certainly get you a cold drink or at least a top off of your water bottle. Out here nobody knows the trail even exists. I really wish I knew what these people in cars though when they saw me just walking through the desert.
I got close to my biggest day today with 37 miles. I really wanted to do 40, but my body was tired and I found a pretty sweet place to camp.
This might be the only time on trail I actually camp right on the divide. I was a little worried about wind but it’s been very calm most of the day and still is at night.
Tomorrow I’ll get to Rawlins in the afternoon. I’m a day earlier than I need to be to get my rental car. I’m not sure if I’ll spend some extra time in Rawlins or if I’ll be able to get back for the wedding a day early and see people in Seattle. Either way, it’s kinda weird to think tomorrow is my last day of hiking for awhile.