August 16th, 2024
Mile Marker: 1318.2
Miles Hiked: 31
Journey and I woke up around 6 AM groggy as ever. Last night storms started rolling through around 10 PM and continued on and off until 1 AM. The worst one was around midnight and the rain sounded like hail on our tent. I was worried it was going to break right through and we would get soaked. Thankfully that didn’t happen. Eventually, the storm moved on and I fell into a heavy sleep. It was just short lived.
We knew we should probably get up since it was bound to get toasty today, not a cloud in the sky and we could already start to feel the heat.
We left camp around 7:30 AM and continued down the forest roads. We only had to hike 5 miles to get to a spring to resupply our water. We kept a constant pace with incredible views and noticed a ton of pronghorn antelope.
We made it to the spring that was inside a silver barrel in the ground. We had to reach our arm in to fill up our bottles. The water was clear and ice cold, just how we liked it. I felt so grateful for this water source. We decided to fill up for 10ish miles to the next decent water which was a water cache.
We continued through the basin, only seeing animals and us for a while until we were sitting on the side of the road refilling our water bottles and an ATV comes down with a couple and their dog. The lady hollers out if we are hiking the CDT and doing the whole thing and we say yes. Then she says “I gotta ask, why!?”
I of course gave the cliche answer “Why not?” And then mentioned what I had been thinking about earlier this morning. I asked them to think of all the decision they have to make in a day. I said today I woke up, knew exactly what I was gonna wear, eat, and do.
This morning while leaving camp I realized that this part of trail already felt so much easier than where we had been because it was marked decently well (although we always still check because we don’t trust the CDT) and we were heading in a certain direction, and we could pretty much make camp anywhere if we wanted to. Even though this trail compared to the others requires a lot more decision making, it’s still less than real life. By a long shot. Most of us don’t realize how many decisions we have to constantly make.
Life can be more simple, it’s not always easy, there can be some really tough days, but it can be simplified.
The woman had also lived in Prairie Village, Kansas for a long time. It was neat getting to chat with a fellow Kansan.
We said farewell and continued on, making it to the water cache around 1 PM. Thankfully the sign that was posted gave us excellent shade for a decent lunch break.
I am so thankful for this cache. We would have had to carry for 30 or some miles. YIKES!
While sitting here eating lunch we noticed another small chipmunk like creature come out and circle around us, very curious and timid. It was ADORABLE! 🥰 The cutest little thing ever, we aren’t sure what it is though, so if anyone knows, let us know!
We ate a ton of food, got some tootsie pops, signed the log book, then headed back out into the heat. This was going to be the hard part. We had 12 miles to the next water and both of us were feeling it.
We finished the book about breathing and I really appreciated it, some of it I want to fact check about the research he brought up but majority of it I enjoyed.
He talked more about slowing our breathing and further into the autonomic nervous system and the difference between the sympathetic and parasympathetic parts. This is information I learned in school and how slowing our breathing, specifically lengthening our exhales can help trigger our parasympathetic response which helps create relaxation/calmness in the body.
He talked about people with anxiety and panic disorders who tend to hyperventilate or take too many breaths than needed which ramp up our fight or flight (sympathetic part). He discusses different breathing techniques one can use for a variety of things. I’m hoping I can retain some of these to help myself and future clients.
The book helped get through the monotony of the day. When we finished the book, I turned on music, I wasn’t feeling like having quiet time today as I’ve done for majority of the trail, today I needed distraction.
Around 6:15 we made it to our next water source which was essentially cow ponds. We weren’t fans of using this however, it was our only choice. So we filtered water, started cold soaking, ate a snack, and continued on.
We trekked 3 more miles to a flat grassy spot to set up camp. It was 8 PM and we were toast. Journey had sun burned his calves and roasting in the sun all day truly takes it out of you.
We set up camp, shoved food down, and got in bed.
Right as I’m writing this, and thinking how we didn’t see any hikers today, Captain showed up as the moon is shining bright. He is going to try for a big day tomorrow and get into Rawlins on Sunday.
Sleep time,
Iz and Oz
Izzy + Ozzy 