Friday, August 3
In the morning, the grass was still very wet, so for the first 10 miles today my feet were wet and cold. I had one big river crossing and decided to cross with my shoes on since they were already soaked. I took some extra time to rinse out my socks, putting on one wet pair, and hanging the other wet pair on my pack to dry. There was good sun at lunch so I set out my tent, quilt, shoes and socks to dry while I ate.
The clouds began to gather in the afternoon and I expected rain, but except for an occasional shower it was quite pleasant. Around 5:00 PM my hiking companions who took the alternate met me at the junction of the official CDT and we hiked a few more miles before camping for the night. We'll try to maximize our mileage tomorrow so Sunday we'll only have 11 miles to complete before the hitch into Pinedale.
Saturday, August 4
We hiked 23 miles today...one mile short of our goal. There was much more climbing than I expected and I hiked most of the day alone. I can usually tell when I'm catching up with my companions at lunch or dinner because I can hear bells (worn in grizzly country to avoid surprise encounters). I don't have bells but I play music on my MP3 player and sing along. I think this repels bears and hikers!
The terrain was challenging, but also very beautiful! There were too many lakes to count and water was everywhere! There were two river crossings where I took off my shoes and hobbled across barefoot. The mosquitoes were not as bad as reported by other hikers, although...something bit me behind my right knee and the swelling was quite impressive! I used some steroid cream which helped with both the swelling and itching (thank you Dr. Fuller).
The sky was clear when I set up my tent but something told me to include my rain fly. I don't usually add it because I'm generally too warm with the rain fly and I like being able to see the stars through the bug netting. But when it started raining sometime after midnight I pulled my backpack and shoes inside the vestibule, zipped up tight, and went back to sleep.
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