He only took a Nero on his town visit, hitching back to the trail at 5:30 am and was basically half a day behind us.
We talked plans and he has a friend who works at Glacier.
South Pass agreed to stay open half an hour late and we caught a ride there and back to get our ice axes, spikes, bear canisters and mail (Happy’s replacement InReach since hers broke and my hat).
We catch a shuttle tomorrow with Humbled for our next stage.
It had been days since we saw anyone. The roadside was nothing but ticks and sagebrush so we laid up next to the gash where the road cut below the surface before the hilltop.
The continual wind was a beating and we needed a rest. Just after we set up, suddenly a truck shows up with mom, dad and a five year old. They offered us maximum hops beer.
So in the middle of nowhere someone stops to offer Happy a beer.
Then someone else almost runs us over. She is slack packing her husband “zero sucks” and scoping the route. She takes Happy’s trash.
I got nothing to drink and still have my trash.
Then we met Zero Sucks who is basically hiking in a way that embraces “zero sucks” (rather than the mantra of embrace the sucks or embrace the brutality).
Then we saw a rancher on a four wheeler herding cattle. Later they passed us in a truck as did their partner.
Walked on the Oregon Trail.
Then we met “brush off” a SOBO.
Then we saw the party of six SOBOs on facebook and got to the Sweet Water River for a 22.8 mile day by 3:20 which is well before 4:00.
We really pushed so we could be set up when the forecast rain hit after 4:00.
Weather conditions changed. Now no rain is forecast though some pretty clouds. So I took a nap. Woke up to rain falling at 5:42.
Tomorrow we hike into Atlantic City and Wild Bill’s Bed & Breakfast. Will there be rain? Will there be showers and laundry and a day to sort out what is next?
Maybe a stable internet connection so I can upload pictures and these posts.
Who knows what town will bring on a beautiful Monday morning.
So much snow that hasn’t melted in much of FarOut. Lots of people just road walking. A few stretches of 5-6 days of trail far away from any place else. When we get phone service we will call Glacier to see how that is.
On trail names
I remember meeting a hiker and asking his trail name. He was “the one, the only, the amazing Daddy Longlegs” and seemed disappointed I hadn’t heard of him.
I checked some trail statistics. That year, on that trail, there were probably 6-7 guys using that trail name.
A trail name, for all the hoopla, is a nick name. Usually it has a story behind it that relates to how you got it.
Generally it should be three syllables or less. Generally it shouldn’t be overused so it can be related to you.
I’d avoid complex acronyms or abbreviations or things that exist just to launch into a sermon (eg FROG for “fully reliant on God” rather than frog because you hike like one.
If people can’t remember your trail name or keep getting it mixed up, maybe the conceit behind it was a mistake.
On the other hand if people remember it a month later (Third Monte because first and second were taken, or Skeeter over an interaction with mosquitoes), then it is a keeper.
But a trail name should be three syllables or less, have a story and be easy to remember—and not because so many other hikers are using it.
You don’t have to accept other people’s giving you a trail name (every trail has hikers who specialize in trying to give out insipid names) and you should feel free to change it.
Gear Changes
On the Appalachian Trail I was and am a big fan of polycro (window film) tarps. They are light and have so many good applications, especially with shelters.
On other trails we hike with a Tyvek ground sheet. We sit on it. We nap on it. We pitch our tent on it. We even have a sign on it to help hitch hiking.
On the Appalachian Trail we used Packas. Great raingear. Before 1.7 ounce wind shirts we used our raincoats as wind shirts and accepted that they would wear out early.
Right now it looks like we’ve used our wind shirts 80% of the time or more.
I’m still using buffs. They are light and versatile.
On the Appalachian Trail a hat, sun glasses or a Sun hoody were just looking for a hiker box most of the time.
These days I live in the hat and hoodie, and especially on the CDT the sunglasses live on my face.
The Topo gaiters pair well with the shoes. I should have treated some with permethrin.
Tent pegs really differ by trail. I need far less organization for my clothes than I did.
I’m using Smelly Proof bags for my food and to keep it organized. 3-4 days of food at 10-12 miles a day is just different from 5-5 days at 20+ miles a day.
I lost 15 pounds before pneumonia and was careful not to regain it while recovering.
Which leads me to pants. I’m currently wearing the REI Sahara pants I bought when I shrank out of my pants on trail. They were the only pair of pants at REI that fit me.
I switched to them from the Prana Zions I bought on trail when the pants I was wearing fell apart. Again, two outfitters and the only pants that fit.
The Pranas stretch. So they fit well when I started the trail. I could have kept them but I kind of preferred having zip offs and different pockets. REI keeps changing the Sahara pants. These have high cut, deep pockets. Very secure but hard to get things out of. But very secure.
The cargo pockets are a shade too small for my new phone but I do use them so I can always find my sun gloves.
Which I a) use now and b) changed up which ones (I’m using fishing sun gloves which take more abuse).
I’ve changed a lot of gear. Sometimes for better, sometimes for a different trail. Sometimes I just hike differently.
Last note on gear. We switched our tent out. That is going well though I’m going to need a new bag for it before long.
The Great Basin
The Great Basin in Wyoming doesn’t drain to the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans. With more rain it would form another Great Salt Lake.
It is cattle country with pronghorns and wild horses as well. Miles and miles of sagebrush.
I had wanted to do it early. The snow situation has made it the only choice and it has worked out so it happened when it otherwise would not have.
Later in the year it is hot, dry and swarms with mosquitoes alternating with brief monsoon seasons.
We’ve avoided dire heat (cool enough we hike with wind shirts every morning). The water sources have had water. We had some long carries just out of Rawlins, but we had water.
We’ve seen a few ticks but we are ahead of the mosquitoes. I keep reading FarOut comments about how bad they are later in the season and I’m grateful to be finishing this section.
The Sweet Water River marks the end of the area as it flows to the sea, though in hiker terms it is Atlantic City since that marks the trail access.
Right next to Atlantic City is the historic site of Low Pass City. The Mormon Trail, the Oregon Trail and the California Trail all went through there.
Now it is famous for a visitors center that takes hiker mail. Resupply, snow gear and such are all mailed there as the next step north is The Winds.
It has been fun today to hike next to Oregon Trail and California Trail markers.
The constant south wind has been tough as we hike into it blowing hard from 10ish to around 7ish every day. Still blows earlier, but not as hard.
In the south the wind varies which direction it blows. (You can divide the CDT from Rawlins to Atlantic City into the southern two thirds, a long climb up to a saddle and then the northern third).
The south is flat and bleak. The north is more sonic and has more water. In the north we felt like we were taking more of a beating as we hiked face into the wind all day.
Tomorrow we have the last ten miles or so. The official trail is the Oregon Trail and people bushwhack from marker to marker.
Most people use the dirt road that is the trail prior to the Sweet Water. It continues north and merges again with the red line trail at the Atlantic City junction.
FarOut, the mapping software gives hikers the miles “as the crow flies” to Atlantic City but the junction in trail miles (then another mile to the City). That misleads some people but luckily in this case it isn’t a lot of miles.
I’m glad we hiked The Great Basin when we did. Flipping for just five days of hiking is not normally what we would do, given the distances, but it worked out well because there really wasn’t anything else to hike.
Yesterday we saw Tracks and Beerman going SOBO and Humbled heading to Sperry City for a zero.
We camped just past the conservation reserve on gravel after 27 miles.
Today we took a late start and started hiking at 6:36 am. Our goal was an easy twenty to a water cache.
The trail changes. A lot more elevation. Trees from time to time and a lot more water & greenery and the rain predicted for tomorrow moved up to today and then earlier in the day.
So instead of a relaxed day we pushed it. My recovering hot spot is a blister. My plan was for it to go away completely.
We saw no one, though the log book at the water cache had been signed by Hopper who we first saw camping our first night out of Rawlins.
We kept looking for a good place to camp so we would be set up when the rain hit.
Some places were not sheltered and had too much sheep poop. Some were on grass that looked ready to flood when the rain hit and looked to be condensation nightmares.
Several crossroads were too overgrown —no place for a tent.
Then Happy spotted the perfect spot. Slight slant so water would drain away from us. On dry, gravel soil so condensation would be minimal. Sheltered from the wind.
We set up just in time.
Our goal for the day after tomorrow is Atlantic City. (Atlantic, South Pass and Lander are all in a 5-6 mile stretch but Atlantic City has a B&B).
It is starting to warm. We are getting through the Great Basin just before the mosquitoes hit.
Critters seen. Lots of Pronghorns and Horses. Cows. Sheep. One wooly caterpillar. Dung Beetles. 3-4 flies. Miniature ducks (yesterday). Crows. So many horny toads. A butterfly.
It has worked out to be a good day.
We will need internet to check the weather. Right now it looks like we flip back to Rawlins and finish the Great Basin.
Then we might start south from the northern terminus. But we have bear canisters and ice axes to sort out. Lots of snow to melt.
We got a good start and hiked to water. Then we rested. Hiked to water again. Ran into Humbled. Rested.
Hiked to water. Ran into Beerman and his wife and Humbled.
Humbled hitched into town for a zero. Beerman delivered trail magic and we got to look at their camper which was really nice.
They warned us the water was nasty and offered us water they had. Also warned us the Winds are still impassable for normal hikers and suggested we do the Great Basin south from Rawlins and then finish up New Mexico.
We took the advice and water and hiked on after a great rest.
Finally found a great place to camp with a view of the valley. We were too tired to continue.
We put up the tent. I inflated the pads. Sleeping bags aired out. Happy boiled water and we had spaghetti with meat sauce. It was great.
We are further north so the sun is up late and rises early. But the perennial wind has a lull and I’m ready to sleep.
Sorry for these bare bones entries but I’m so tired at night and there isno internet.
However, tomorrow has a lot of elevation but also has lots of water.
