hike draw hike

I had weird dreams last night but got okay sleep over all. The horse chorale was the correct choice! My sleeping bag was dry and my tent was only a little wet. Yay!

I pack up and try not to wake the others still sleeping.

I dig my food out of the bear locker and grab some leftover trail magic for the road, chocolate covered macadamia clusters. Yummm

I set out just as two other hikers, Beer Run and JK (Just Kidding) are waking up. JK is from Japan! He has an incredible instagram account documenting his thru hike. Here’s the link if your are interested!

Today is a short day for me, only 10 miles. Professor’s family who provided the awesome trail magic last night are planning to pick us up at Stemple Pass. There’s an outfitter on the pass too! I’m looking forward to checking it out.

I start hiking.

The trail goes through another burn section but this one has a unique and special vibe.

Between the black burnt tree trunks stand fields and fields of white bear grass, about waist height.

The morning sunlight gives them a glowing quality. It’s magical.

The day flys by, the hiking is really cruisey and easy with small hills. My left shoulder however is paining me, and making me slow. I try adjusting my pack but it persists. I kinda miss my ULA pack…

I find Professor at a small spring a mile from the outfitters. He takes off while I start to filter water. I catch myself filtering too much, the outfitter is just a mile away and I’m going into town! I don’t need all this water haha

I dump it out and make my way to the pass.

I run into Crush again! He’s been doing crazy big miles. I’m a little surprised to see him again. He’s planning on taking a few days off in the next town, Helena.

He points me in the direction of the outfitters up the trail.

I start walking and it looks like regular plain old wilderness, trees and trees and trees. Is Crush sure this is the correct way?

I come across a little sign with an arrow pointing down a side trail that says “water”.

I wonder… if this is it? I turn down the side trail.

Then I see an open sign on a tree. Ha! Amazing!

I continue, a second open sign!

Then, suddenly a small cabin emerges from the trees, a small structure with solar panels. It feels like I’ve stumbled upon a well kept secret.

A man named Dan runs the outfitter and his cabin has everything you could possibly need for a thru hike. It’s incredible! I want to take pictures so badly but he has a few signs posted on the doors kindly requesting no photos, so you will have to use your imagination.

The walls are packed from floor to ceiling with gear, backpacks, tents, clothing, shoes, stoves, food, anything a hiker could possibly want or need, you name it. Tunnels and tunnels of gear. It’s magnificent.

Some how Beer Run and JK beat me to the shop and are already inside paying for new items. They’re fast hikers!

I find a beautiful new red ULA pack hanging by the front door…. Oooooh… And a fancy cooking pot that has insulated handles…. So tempting.

I exercise great will power and walk out of the shop with a single electrolyte packet and an orange soda. I already have all the gear I need.

I wait out side and sketch a little bit. Professor’s folks show up and check out the shop. They bring us iced coffees! Amazing! Thank you so much!

When Professor finishes his shopping we hop in their car and head down to their place in Helena.

I feel so lucky!

Jim & Pam are just the nicest people with a very cozy house and two adorable dogs. I’m able to shower and do laundry.

They cook us a delicious meal of freshly caught local fish, veggies and orzo!

So delicious!

And to top it off, for desert, a peanut butter pie. Heaven.

Thank you so much Jim & Pam!!!

Tomorrow is another town chore day and some much needed rest off trail. ✨

Condensation is on everything again! Ack! I pack up anyways. It’s a steep climb first thing in the morning and I want to get a jump on it while it’s still cool out.

I’m one of the first on the hill but I’m soon passed by Brains excited to get into town.

It’s a crazy steep climb! Strait up. No switchbacks. Lots of loose gravel. But it’s beautiful.

I’m impressed with how fast Brains makes it up to the top. “See ya at the bar!” He hollers and is gone.

I catch up to Professor calmly having his morning coffee with a view as more town hungry hikers zoom by.

Professor has some family in Helena that have invited him to stay at their house! They’ve been nice enough to extend the offer to me too! I feel super super fortunate.

Most of the other hikers will be stopping in Lincoln later today but Professor and I are hiking two more days to meet up with his folks.

I crest the top of the climb and head down to a spring. Phew! Nice cold water on trail.

The rest of a big group charges past, excited to get to town.

Speak EZ catches up to us just as we’re passing under some power lines. Professor shows us a neat science experiment demonstrating electrical charges in the air underneath the power lines. While standing under them, hold out your trecking pole by the insulated handle, then with your other hand lightly touch a finger to the metal pole. You’ll feel a slight electrical buzz. It’s kinda scary, not gonna lie. But also pretty cool.

Speak Easy hikes on, he’s not even stopping for town! He’s just going straight through, he’s able to hike that far and fast. Impressive.

We cross over the freeway that leads to Lincoln and take a quick lunch break to dry out our gear.

The trail greets us with more hills. Phew! I’m tired. A young hiker called Crush catches up to us. His pack is incredibly small! I would say the size of 3 loaves of bread? Probably the most ultra light set up I’ve seen yet. Crazy! He takes a short break with us in the shade before zooming off. So fast!

Professor and I push on. Another hiker called Forest catches up to us. He kinda looks like Forest Gump haha. Great trail name.

It’s another long-ish stretch without water and the next source is down a road close to the campsite.

I hike ahead with hopes of setting up my tent and dropping my pack before the road walk. The camping area is already packed with hikers! There’s not much space. I opt for the horse hitch. There’s a bunch of dried old horse poop… maybe that will prevent condensation? Fingers crossed.

I head down the road to get water. Professor is heading back up and lends me his coffee cup to scoop water. Thank you!

Back at camp I start to make dinner when Professor’s family surprises us with the nicest trail magic! Gatoraid, water, grapes, chocolate, nuts, and frozen wine?

All the hikers look so happy! What an amazing end to a hard day. Thank you so so much Jim and Pam!

I wake up and my sleeeping bag is the most soaked it’s been yet from the condensation. 😦

I try to pack up quietly, another camper must have arrived late in the night and is cowboyed out on the ground next to me (cowboy camping means you sleep out in the open without a tent).

I grab my food and head out. Lots of water in this area!

There’s an immediate river crossing. I take my shoes off.

The guys from camp start catching up. They must be racing each other. Two stop to hurriedly take off their shoes, one bounces across a very precarious skinny log, 5 feet in the air above the stream, another just charges through the water with his shoes and pants getting soaked, exclaiming “I’m ahead! Ha HA HA!”

It’s too much action for me this early in the morning.

It seems like they’re having fun though!

I take my time and find Professor having his morning coffee in a beautiful field.

I’m sad about my camera lense being scratched 😦

The trail disappears in the grass save for a small stone arrow someone arranged. There are a few intersections like this every now and then.

Then the trail makes a hilarious switch back in the middle of a field instead of going straight through it.

I’m thankful for my maps!

We make it up a big climb. The racing guys from last night march ahead. Hup-hup-hup back and forth, zigzagging up the switch backs like ants in the distance. Goodbye!

I reach where they were and there’s even more climbing before us!

It’s tough hiking!

Professor asks if I still like hills.

“Yes!” I pant defensively as I struggle.

We pause to dry out our gear on a flat part of the ridge. I’m careful to use rocks on my tent so it doesn’t fly away in the wind.

The views are amazing. It’s sad seeing how expansive the burn scar is.

We continue hiking up over the pass.

I find some tree cover to go to the bathroom. As I’m pulling up my pants I feel a sharp sting on my bumb! Ouch! I look down and see there’s a wasp in my pants! Ack!!! I dance around and it stings me twice before it gets free. Well that was a first. Luckily the stings aren’t too painful and walking seems to help me forget about them.

The trail then goes down down down to a lake. We find Heather and Yeti there! We first saw them on the Spotted Bear alternate. It’s nice to see them again!

The lake is unfortunately filled with these little red creatures.

What are they???

Some kind of crustacean? I’m super curious if anyone knows! They have red bodies and a little black tail that they flex to move around, like a tiny shrimp.

They’re kinda cute 🥺

There’s no other water and it’s a long dry stretch to the next source, 11 ish miles.

I feel bad for the little red things but I filter them anyway, making sure to back flush my filter.

Heather doesn’t have a filter and uses chlorine on them and they seem to be unaffected….

Yum protein?

We’ve been spoiled with all the easy water sources these past few weeks.

The climbing continues again, up up up from the lake. And then down down down and then up up up again.

No switchbacks! It’s almost like the trail makers for this section wanted to impatiently crest every high point and plunge back to every low point. Make it like a rollercoaster! They must have said.

Phew! It’s a hard day!

I hike with Heather for a bit. It’s nice to have some female company!

I’m in the groove now and loving the climbs.

The wild flowers in this section are stunning.

Heather hangs back for Yeti. They’re camping a little sooner than I am.

The last few hills are brutal with loose, ankle twisting, baseball sized rocks. Perfect for tired feet! 🥲

I pass 3 other hikers and put on some speed. I wanna get a good tent site before it gets too crowded.

Well, it turns out the camp spot has loads of good spots, it’s a big flat saddle like valley.

I sit down for a beet and meet Speak EZ. He’s a super chill guy, and just hiked over 30 miles! With these hills?! Damn!

He finished the Appalachian Trail earlier this year and jumped onto the CDT to keep hiking. Impressive.

He still has energy and finds us a good sheltered place to set up our tents. The rest of the saddle is super exposed. I can see where the wind has just decimated some of the trees. I hope we have a calm night!

After a super tough day I still have some hiking to do. There’s no water source at this camp spot. We have to walk 0.4 miles down a steep dirt road to a spring. I message Professor with my inreach device to not worry about the water, I’ll get him some!

Speak EZ and I decide to make dinner down at the spring. He offers to help get water for Professor too. Thanks Speak EZ! We go off road and cross country to the water to try and make it shorter than 0.4 miles.

I make some ramen in the grass while ants bite me. It’s fun!

Suddenly Professor shows up. I tried to message him to not come down and we’d bring water up to him but he came down anyways. He didn’t get the message! Ack! Oh well.

We hike back up to our tents.

Professor points out that Lewis and Clark hiked over this pass on July 7th! We’re here on the anniversary! Crazy.

I’m able to face time with Doug while the sun sets before I go to bed.

My tent is on grass so I’m expecting more condensation 😦

Also. Reading the FarOut notes for what the trail looks like tomorrow and we have this to look forward to:

I wake up to my sleeping bag and tent soaking wet from condensation. Noooo

I hate putting a wet sleeping bag into my backpack, but the sun isn’t out yet for awhile and it’s cold. Gotta get moving.

The far corners of my tent are frozen. I hope my water filter survived the night. I didn’t think to put it in my sleeping bag. I wasn’t expecting it to be so chilly. I hike with my rain jacket and gloves on to warm up.

The trail goes through another burn section covering the hills.

The wild flowers create pops of color, I want to take pictures of them all!

My phone cover is definitely scratched on the lens again. I’m sad. The photos are turning out kinda blurry. I consider taking the cover off but I see some ominous clouds in the distance. Better not.

I pass The Professor making his breakfast.

There are a few large stream crossings. I take my shoes off and wade through, the water is up to my mid thighs again! Brrrr!

I hike in my flip flops, but the wet plants on the side of the trail make my feet muddy. I rinse them off and put my regular hiking shoes back on. The trail continues in the shadows of a hillside for a good long while. No good sunny places to dry my gear.

Eventually the trail rounds the hill and the sun is shining. But for how long? I look at the ominous clouds. I better dry my stuff now.

I start laying out all my wet gear. The Professor catches up and does the same. We have a nice lunch near a spring and watch butterflies land on our things.

Finally our stuff is dry. I feel a great sense of relief.

We pack up and the Professor zooms off.

I hike my own pace and listen to some music Doug arranged for me.

The burn section ends and I’m back in the trees. Time to be loud again. I belt out: “Hiker coming through! Don’t want to surprise you!” Around every blind turn and bush.

Thunder rumbles in the distance. I find myself back in a clearing that goes up an exposed hill…. Rut row.

I start to hike fast. Like real fast. Hoping I’ll find a low tree covered area.

A storm is coming.

I pass Professor, hop a stream, put on my rain gear, stash my electronics, check my maps at an intersection and… hold on-

I see a note about a pit toilet… and the intersection I’m at is called… Welcome Creek Cabin Junction? Cabin? There’s a cabin!

But where exactly? It’s not marked on the maps and I can’t tell if the notes are for a North Bound hiker or a South Bound hiker. There are 4 trails crisscrossing each other, “turn left here” doesn’t really help me. I can’t see far in the trees either! The rumbling gets loader. The sky gets darker. I start hiking down each path at the intersection in the hopes of finding the cabin. Nope. Turn back. Nope. Turn back. Professor catches up to me, full rain gear. It starts to sprinkle. I tell him about the potential cabin and he’s game to help look.

We go down another trail option. Ah nothing. It starts pouring rain. Crash! Lightning! The storm is above us. The Professor mentions the Gaia app. I open it up and see a little bathroom icon.

There! I steer us towards it. There’s a river crossing in the way! I see a fallen log across the water. It’s worth a shot! Thankfully it’s not too slippery from the rain yet. We make it across okay and I see the cabin roof through the branches. Yes!!! We made it!

The cabin balcony provides much welcome shelter as the storm lets loose. I’m able to dry my pack by the door and peal my wet coat off.

What a cozy spot. A storm has such a different vibe when you’re watching it from a dry warm place. I paint and Professor makes a hot drink and reads his kindle.

The storm eventually dies down and Professor heads out.

I stay back to finish my painting and enjoy the cabin a bit longer. Also my paints take longer to dry when it’s so humid and rainy out.

They finally dry enough and I pack up. The trail is glistening from the storm.

I can see it hailed a bit in some places!

I pass two other hikers on trail, Parachute and Deadpool. They are soaked and look a little miserable. They ask how I am so dry. I tell them about the lucky cabin!

Thank you Gaia GPS!

The trail is flooded from the downpour and it’s slow picking a path around the marshy bits. There’s another big stream crossing, the water up to my thighs again. I wonder if the rain will make the crossing more difficult soon.

The sun comes out and drys off all the plants.

I take my rain gear off and find Professor resting in a meadow. We hike a little farther to a water source and find some great camp spots.

We set up and start to make dinner. 5 other CDT hikers show up! I’m glad we got our spots! They join us for dinner. It’s nice to meet new people!

I turn in early to write and message Doug.

I’m next to a big stream so hopefully my stuff doesn’t get soaked again! Darn you condensation of the night!

Fingers crossed my gear stays dry.

I slept hard and woke up feeling rested.

I get breakfast at the Wagon Wheel, biscuits and gravy and coffee! It’s so good!

I continue to catch up on blog posting. Professor is doing town chores. I sent myself my resupply so I can relax and blog.

It feels good to finally be able to post!

Dan is picking us up at 1:10pm to take us back to the trail.

I call Doug a few times, I miss him! It’s so nice having cell service. Don’t take it for granted!!!

I cram one more blog post in right as Dan pulls up.

It’s a dirt road all the way back to the Benchmark Wilderness turn off. Thank you so much for the ride Dan!

The Professor and I start hiking.

I’m so happy to be back out on trail!

There are a lot of downed trees and a big stream crossing to welcome us back though…. hahaha

The water is up to my mid thigh! And cold.

A hiker in his mid 70’s passes us. Incredibly strong looking hiker, just wow. His trail name is Salty Dog. I watch him get down on all fours and crawl under a downed tree with his full pack on. Is this guy for real?

He grumbles something at me.

“What’s that?” I ask.

“We having fun yet?” He responds.

(I’m pretty sure that’s not what he said first, but okay)

He then disappears around a bend in the trail. I’ll probably never see him again. The guy is a warrior. I feel like we just saw a mythical creature? I hope I can do hard things like this when I’m in my 70’s. Inspiring.

It feels late in the day and we start looking for campsites.

We eventually settle on a flat grassy area amidst a burn section.

There’s a small pass coming up that we’ll climb tomorrow.

I find a cozy spot to cook dinner. I eat some of the items Lua and Elis helped me pick out from Mitsuwa for dinner. So yummy! It hits the spot.

Thank you Lua and Elise!

The sun is still up but I hit my tent early. I’m set up in some grass so I hope I don’t get too much condensation.

My feet and knees feel really good from resting at town.

Next stop? Lincoln

The creaky trees kept me up all night. Milk Man said he had seen 2 trees fall on trail from the wind yesterday. I had triple checked around my tent for any dead branches. I’m pretty sure I was in the all clear? But still. I didn’t get the best sleep. I managed to wake up at 5:30 all the same. I pack up and head out down the trail.

I’ve decided to go to town. Charging, talking to Doug, shower, laundry, hot food, it’s all too good to pass up. Plus today is the 4th of July! I bet there are some fun town things happening.

The Professor and I agree to hitch hike together. Hitch hiking makes me a bit nervous and is something I try very hard to not do alone.

He pauses to make his morning coffee and I charge on down the trail.

The air is cool and refreshing. I have to put on gloves to keep my hands warm.

The trail travels next to a river along the belly of a large grassy valley filled with wild flowers.

It’s like walking through my childhood horse girl dreams. How fun would it be to trail ride around this area.

I make good time and eventually reach the turn off for the Benchmark Wilderness Ranch.

I sent my resupply box there in advance. It’s a 3 mile road walk.

Yay my first road walk on the CDT. I’m told there will be many.

I have a hard time finding the ranch and start to get a little worried. Professor catches up and points it out on his maps. Phew! As we walk, a car pulls up and asks if we need a ride to town.

The driver was just dropping off another hiker, Wild Card! I hadn’t seen him since Many Glacier!

The driver’s name is Dan, he gives us a ride to Benchmark Wilderness Ranch and I’m able to pick up my box.

Then he drives us into town.

Thank you Dan! I gift him one of my paintings. He offers to give us a ride back to the trail tomorrow so we’re all set!

It’s the 4th of July and all the small businesses are taking the day off to play baseball. It’s awesome!

We check into the Wagons West Motel and do our town chores, shower, laundry, resupply, emails and blog. I’m able to call Doug! Yay!

I’m pretty anti social this town stop as I attempt to catch up on blog posts, I have so much to catch you up on! Haha

The towns people invite us to a picnic in the park. It’s so cozy and fun to watch all the locals.

The food is really good. Like a giant potluck. There’s a live band playing great music. We can tell this is a super tight knit community. How special to be included! Thank you town!

Someone is passing around a firefighter’s boot to take donations. Professor and I both donate.

We meet another pocket of thru hikers. All new faces I haven’t met yet!

There’s so many of us! We’re all heading out tomorrow morning too.

I spend the rest of the day catching up on blogs.

At 10 we get a special 4th of July fire works show.

What a cool town!

I’m so looking forward to coffee in the morning.

I wake up at 5:30am and start to get ready. Professor is a few steps ahead of me.

I linger to make my breakfast coffee.

It’s amazing what a goodnight’s sleep and some food can do, I feel great!

I pass where the Spotted Bear alternate rejoins the CDT.

The morning climb is a breeze. I catch up to Professor finishing his morning coffee with a view. We hike together to the China Wall.

It’s quite the sight.

The towering stone wall reaches into the clouds. The top turrets are lined with pine trees standing like sentinel citizens.

I feel like I’m witnessing something from a Miazaki film. Castle In The Sky meets Princess Mononoke.

I quickly drain my phone battery taking pictures but it’s worth it. My phone lens is a little scratched. I hope the photos look okay.

I pause to paint during lunch. Professor hikes ahead and I leap frog with Katchup Dady and Sloppy Joe.

Scraps, one of the Geologists, had messaged the Professor about a secret overlook marked by a very flat stone near the far end of the wall. I come across a very flat stone, this must be it! I turn there and find a secret trail into the trees.

It leads up a ridge to the most incredible view looking back over the wall. I find Professor there! I try to paint but it’s so windy, I don’t linger.

This area is just incredible.

The trail then descends into a beautiful forest of tall skinny pine trees with a short carpeting of green plants and yellow flowers covering the ground.

A cowboy looking for two lost mules rides by.

I hope he finds them! This place is expansive…

I hear the horse whinny in the distance and a mule calls in response. That’s promising!

I cruise along for the next several miles. I pause to make dinner at mile 222 and wait for Professor. There’s a patch of green trees in a burn section we chose to set up camp in, along with 10 other people haha

Most of them are weekend back packers but I meet a new CDT hiker, Milk Man, he’s from New Zealand.

The food hang pole is hilarious. It’s filled with so many food bags! I try my best to add mine without it getting caught.

For such a remote area the trail feels super crowded south of the China Wall. I remember it’s a holiday weekend! I’ve lost track of time completely.

The trees around my tent are a little creaky. I hope I can sleep!

Professor is hitching into Augusta tomorrow and has invited me to join. I have a box waiting for me at the Benchmark Ranch near trail.

It sure is tempting to go into town… I’d love to launder my clothes… and charge my devices… the Benchmark ranch charges $5 an hour per outlet to charge devices! And I am in need of charging after all the pictures and videos I’ve been taking! I would also probably have cell service and be able to call Doug and update my blog….. Hmmmmm

I have until tomorrow morning to decide….

I wake up earlier than normal at 4:45 to see the sunrise over the lake. It’s just light enough to see without a head lamp.

Professor heads out and I follow suite. Toast and Ice Age are up just as I leave camp. There’s a short climb to a stunning view of the North China Wall.

Professor and I leap frog all morning. I’m slow and take lots of photos.

We run into two gentleman backpacking. One of them has a daughter that did the PCT! We talk about how remote this area is. I look at my maps and yeah, wow, nothing for miles and miles. Pretty neat. They also tell me that there are no power tools allowed in this forest. The amount of cleared logs through this section is a marvel. Imagine using only hand tools, an axe or saw to clear miles and miles of dead trees off trail! Just incredible.

We break for lunch. The trail descends down into a burn section. I hike ahead while Professor takes a break.

I pick a point on the map where the trail crosses a larger stream to filter water and take my own break. I start to day dream about rinsing my hair in the cold water. Oooh it’s going to feel so nice! It gets hot in the exposed burn sections!

Right as I make the last turn down to the water a dog starts barking at me. I see three angry golden retrievers across the bank. One of them starts running at me. Ah geez. I talk as soothing and non threatening as possible and turn away, guarding myself with my trecking poles. A man calls the dog back, “ I don’t know what he’s barking at”

Me. The dog is barking at me sir.

The man and his three dogs sit on the opposite bank of the stream glaring at me. There’s no other place to cross. I ask if it’s okay for me to go by his dogs. He assures me they’re nice. I wade across, the dogs growl but I make it past and I keep hiking. Ack I didn’t stop for water, and so much for taking a break! I check my maps, it’s only 2.7 miles to the next water. I’m lucky the trees are back and I’m not in a burn section, yay shade!

It’s hard hiking though, especially with no water. I try to keep my mouth shut so it doesn’t dry out. So thirsty 💦

I finally make it to the next water, Miner’s Creak and take a quick break. I eat some of the snacks Lua and Elis helped me pick out at Mitsuwa.

Thank you Lua and Elis!

It’s only 6 more miles to the campsite The Professor and I agreed on. I power hike on, refreshed by the water and snacks. I see some baby ptarmigans! They are super cute and must be young because they trip and fall over themselves when they try to run to their mom.

The last mile my left knee cap gets super tender and I have to slow down. It feels like it’s taking forever for me to get to this camp site. I try not to check my maps, but end up looking twice. 0.8 miles?! 0.4 miles?! This is the longest mile ever! haha

(You can tell I’m tired because I took no photos through this section)

I finally make it to the site. It’s a cute ranger cabin next to a waterfall. I’m the first one there so I lay down my tent and dibs a spot for The Professor with my trecking poles. I filter water and start to make dinner right when Professor joins. It’s a nice little spot!

I wonder if we’ll see Ice Age and Toast.

We hang our food bags in a big tree. My tent spot is super flat and cozy. I’m really looking forward to getting some shut eye tonight.

We wake up and everything is soaking wet! I think this is the most condensation I’ve ever experienced inside my tent. My sleeping bag is sopping!

Professor and I planned a shorter day today so we wait a bit for the sun to rise before taking off. I just can’t bring myself to stuff my wet sleeping bag into my pack.

Professor takes off and I linger a bit longer hoping to dry my gear some more. Eventually other hikers start passing by me. Thin Mint, True Grits, Ice age and Toast. I’m the last one out of camp ahahaha

I get impatient and pack up my wet things. I’ll have another opportunity to dry them. The morning trail is a breeze through more burn section.

I come to a cabin and the whole crew is there except for the Professor.

I have too much energy to hang out so I push forward.

We’re all planning on doing part of an alternate route called Spotted Bear.

There’s a big stream crossing, I take my shoes off and hike in my sandals.

I love these sandals! They stay on my feet really well in the water and the tread on the bottom provides great traction on slippery rocks.

The trees are super lush in this section. I have fun observing all the different shades of green.

The trail starts to climb up on top of a ridge.

I feel like I’m in a fairy tale forest. It’s so beautiful, wild flowers and waterfalls.

I catch up to The Professor breaking for lunch. I break with him and dry out all my gear.

The Breeze and True Grits catch up.

The Professor and I continue hiking on the Spotted Bear alternate route then we branch off onto a connector trail to get back to the official CDT. The Spotted Bear alternate continues but I don’t want to miss the North China Wall. There’s a spot where the yellow line pinches close to the red line where we’ll cross over.

The Geologists are a day ahead of us and doing the same route (the first half of the alternate then cutting across back onto the official CDT trail). They’ve been messaging The Professor a a few heads up to follow the cairns, the trail disappears, and that there’s no camping after the pass. Thank you Geologists!

The views are gorgeous. And yes, the trail disappears but for some cairns marking the way.

What an adventure.

Professor and I hike over the pass and back down reconnecting with the official CDT.

We hike to Lake Levale, a stunning turquoise blue from the glacier melt.

I have to do a painting.

We decide to camp near by and eat dinner near the shore.

I can’t take my eyes away, the blue is mesmerizing. There are little silver fish that jump every now and then. I could sit and watch the wind play on the water forever.

I eventually head to camp to set up. Toast and Ice Age are there! They go and check out the lake.

It’s super super windy. I try to set up a wind screen with dead branches. We’ll see how much sleep I get 😛

Professor and I wake up at 5:30, grab our food and head out.

I try my best to not wake True Girts, his tent is set up right next to mine under the dense pine branches.

My gear isn’t too wet from the evening’s condensation! Hooray!

The Professor and I are falling into a routine. I stay near camp to make my breakfast shake that I drink while I hike: Instant Carnation powder and two instant coffees. I’ve been making it in a designated water bottle so I can hang it at night with the rest of my food items.

The Professor hikes ahead an hour then stops to make hot coffee and breakfast. I pass him while he enjoys his coffee, he’s usually stopped in a beautiful spot enjoying the view and reading from his kindle. It’s a great hiking style! Then he catches up to me (he’s so fast!) and we break for lunch and dry out our gear.

The beginning of the day takes us through some beautiful green carpeted pine forests.

We take a break with a view of a lake.

The trail soon transitions to a burn scar.

The sun is hot and the burnt tree remnants leave us super exposed. It’s tough hiking.

I bust out Doug’s music on the SanDisc Clip for the first time on the trip and it helps a lot. I listen to the Arrietty credits song. It gives me some extra hiking strength.

I make it to a final stream crossing before camp and rest. I rinse my hair in the water it feels so nice to get the day’s sweat and salt off.

Crush and The Breeze are also there sitting in the shade. I join them. The Professor catches up and we make dinner. True Grits, Toast and Ice age also arrive. It’s a party!

After dinner The Professor and I hike one more mile to a separate campsite. The area is filled with old downed trees. It’s kinda hard to find a spot but we manage.

Phew today was a tiring day! Lots of sun exposure. I’ll have to ask Doug to send me my sun umbrella his sister got for me.