Start: Ghost Ranch Alternate 10.9
Stop: CDT 707.3
Today’s Miles: 19.5
Total CDT miles: 566.5
I was supposed to get up before breakfast and pack-so I’d be ready to go afterwards. I slept in. Not like a real sleep in, as breakfast starts at 7:30-but you know what I mean.
I gorged myself on breakfast buffet, and probably ate too many boiled eggs for anything good to come of it. Afterwards, Pebbles and I packed, took some stuff to the hiker box, said bye to the other hikers, and took off down the backside of the resort to the trail.
It started off nice, still in the resort itself, but then it quickly got sketchy. There was a creek running through a canyon, and the trail was a mess. Pebbles went right at one point, and I saw the trail off to my left, so I went that way, not being able to see him. I quickly climbed up the canyon and was high over the creek, while Pebbles was also gaining on the other side.. he yelled to me across the creek that he had blue blazes where he was and that I was probably not on the right trail anymore. Crap.
My map showed I was technically on a dirt road and it should reconnect up ahead. I told him as much and kept climbing.. until a short time later he yells back across to me, “It washes out-there’s a huge 20-30 foot sheer drop to the creek below-I don’t think you can pass that way!” I got to the end of where my dirt road was supposed to be crossing to him to see he was absolutely right-my road had been washed out completely and it was loose sand and rock clear to the bottom of this ravine. Yikes.
I told him to keep going, and I turned around to backtrack. When I got down to the creek, I went forward and was able to see the jumbled mess of rocks blocking the trail-get up and over them, and then easily walk along the creek and out of the canyon.
There were a few miles around canyon walls and whatnot before the trail opened up to cow pastures, trees, and little water. The sky started to cloud up, and it threatened rain for hours. None came, but I was happy for the cloud coverage. We passed so many cows and meandered through their fields until we called it quits around 7pm and cowboy camped close to a dirt road in one of the fields. We did have some trees close by to block the wind and give us the idea of protection. We can currently hear cows mooing and walking around.
I’m hoping it doesn’t rain over night because I don’t feel like getting soaked or setting up my tent. I’m worn out, and my belly is still full and bloated from eating so much food the last 2-3 days.. not that I’m complaining. We’ll see how it goes, I think im ready to call it a night, and we still have quite a while to go before the sun sets. Maybe I’ll use my headband as an eye mask. Sweet dreams, yall.