THE BASIN IS KICKING MY BUTT

Game Trap

Saturday, July 28

We hiked 27 miles today and I was exhausted when I reached the piped spring where we planned to camp. It was the best water we’ve had since leaving Rawlins and I filled up my water bladders to capacity (7 liters), cooked dinner, and set up my tent. After brushing my teeth, I crawled into my tent at 8:15 PM and was asleep before the sunset.

The Road Less Traveled

Sunday, July 29

My alarm went off at 5:00 AM and I was hiking at 6:00 AM. The sky was clear and the air was crisp and I enjoyed watching the landscape unfold as the sun peaked over the ridges. The amount of wildlife in the basin has been amazing! Wild horses, deer, elk, antelope and, of course....cows have been our constant companions through the basin. Our goal today is a pond at 26 miles with a long water-less stretch in between. It was thrilling to eat dinner at the pond and watch antelope come to the pond for an evening drink.

The Great Basin has been more challenging than I anticipated. Maybe it's the heat, the extra water I am carrying, the extra miles I am hiking, or a combination of all three, but the miles have not been easy and I've had moments of doubt about my ability to maintain this pace for the remainder of the trail. If I can't hike 24 miles a day for the remainder of the hike, I'll have a hard time beating the snow in Montana before reaching Canada. But rather than pushing myself too hard and risking injury or burnout, I've decided to do my best and let the miles take care of themselves. Some of the most beautiful sections of the CDT are still ahead of me, and I plan on enjoying the next 1,200 miles as much as I enjoyed the first 1,500.

For additional content, check out Flickr for images, YouTube for video, SoundCloud for audio, and the Postholer Map with my most recent location.

Thanks for following along!