CDT Day 73: July 17, 2025

CDT Day 73: July 17, 2025

Start: 1482.5

Stop: 1504.7

Today’s Miles: 22.2

Total CDT miles: 1176.5

Today was so beautiful! Rolling hills, gorgeous mountain tops, lots of great views. I was pretty content all day. 

Last night was filled with rain, off and on and never for very long. I waited for the rain to come to get out of my tent to pee, thanks to the mosquitos.. they were awful. I probably fell asleep sometime around 9pm, and didn’t start packing until 6:40. I slept great, thanks to the white noise of the pattering of rain now and then. 

I was hiking by 7:07am, and it was easy going all morning. The temperature was cool, the skies were blue, the trail was wide and easy to follow. It was woods to meadow, woods to meadow most of the morning before some easy climbing above tree line that was stunning lake after stunning lake. I was truly in awe of Mother Nature, all day long.

At noon I stopped to eat lunch and dry out my tent. Redline passed me during that break, and then no one else until Wolf caught me mid afternoon. We talked and walked for about 45 minutes, over snow and up mountains, until the last climb where she took off and I couldn’t keep up. On the way down from that climb, FireFly caught me. We chatted off and on over the next few miles of the descent. I love how easy it is to talk with everyone in this trail family. I get so excited when I see one of them gaining on me. I feel like a cousin to their trail fam, but they all just keep welcoming me in.  

I was supposed to go a bit farther today, but decided to stop with everyone else. Pika appeared not long after FireFly and I did, and I decided eating dinner with friends and hanging out a bit before bed was better than hiking ahead 3 more miles to potentially not have a spot to camp. Wolf had caught up to 2 of the hikers that passed my tent yesterday evening.. so at 6pm, I’m sure they’re not all that far ahead, meaning spots ahead could be limited.

We set up our stuff, I’m cowboy camping, and we all made dinner and talked. What a refreshing way to end a day! They’re going to do a 24 hour challenge in Wyoming, and listening to them plan and talk has me maybe considering it, too.

It’ll depend on how well I’m able to resupply in the next town. It would be a 24 hour hike into the town of Rawlins.. so, if all goes well, I’d get to zero there. Hmmm. Much to consider. 

Anyway, I’m wrapped up, hiding from the mosquitos. We’ll see how well I sleep tonight. I probably should have just set my tent up, but it’s too much effort. Ugh. I may regret not doing it. The bugs are definitely out. Ok, that’s it. Sweet dreams yall. 

CDT Day 72: July 16, 2025

CDT Day 72: July 16, 2025

Start: 1468.1

Stop: 1482.5

Today’s Miles: 14.4

Total CDT miles: 1154.3

I wish I was still snuggled up in that king sized bed at the Quality Inn. Or, better yet-my own king sized bed, since the Quality Inn has decided to charge my credit card 3 times for my one night stay. How fun! 

Anywho. I eventually got out of the comfy bed and made my way down to the free breakfast. Waffles and bagels were alright.. not my favorite options but beggars can’t be choosers and I didn’t have to pay for it (unless you count them continuously charging my card like crazy people). I sat with Pika and Firefly, and Wolf and Redline were a few tables down. Everyone else in the breakfast room had at least 30 years on us. Wolf and I both seemed to be people watching. Quality Inn is quality entertainment.

I ended up showering again, the water pressure being incredible, and then finally dressed and packed for the day. I made a sign on the back of a cardboard box from my food: “CDT HIKER TO TRAIL” and headed out. I handed off the last bit of my old bottle of bug lotion to Firefly, saying my byes, and made my way outside to the intersection across from the motel. 

I wasn’t out there 10 minutes before a nice guy maybe in his late 30s or early 40s turned around and came back for me! He was quite handsome, lives in Steamboat Springs, but also spends half his time in Tasmania. My kinda guy! We talked the whole way out to the junction I had gotten picked up from the other day.. it was so easy! Travel and hiking and adventure. I enjoyed it so much, I forgot his name.. something with a W.. I know Waylon probably isn’t right, but oh well. Now he’s just a memory. 

He let me out at the intersection and another hiker was there hitching.. so, “Waylon” ended up picking him up and taking him back with him to Steamboat! Nice when things work out that way! I left my pack at a sign pole and trodded down Colorado 14 to the spot Greg picked me up from the day before yesterday. I’ve been so determined to keep my continuous footpath, I’m honestly a little surprised I’ve been able to! So, I walked half a mile down and then turned around and walked back to my pack.

From there, it was 2 miles of highway road walking to get to the turnoff for the trail. It started off as a dirt road with a weird paved section in the middle for a bit.. weird, but made for easy walking. I passed the parking lot for the Rabbit Ears trailhead, and then got to walk around some gorgeous lakes. 

I think I was more stunned with the beauty of all of the wildflowers than anything, but the different lakes made stunning backdrops. I took picture after picture of so many different varieties of wildflowers. They were truly spectacular. And then the big fields surrounded by trees made leaving the lakes worth it. 

The only downside has been the bugs: mosquitos, flies, gnats.. they are absolutely everywhere and non stop. The lotion helps tremendously, but my God that swarming around my ears makes me a lunatic. It started raining after 1pm and I was actually glad because it knocked the bugs down-but when it stopped-they came out in full force. At 4:15 when it started to rain again, I decided to call it quits and put up my tent. Mainly to have time to write out these last few posts and call and deal with the Quality Inn overcharging me before I lose service and they get away with it. 

So, it’s hardly 5 something, the rain has stopped again, and the bugs are absolutely diabolical. I’ve seen 3 other hikers walk through, but not Pika and Wolf and their crew. I wonder if they’ll get passed me today with me calling it so early. I’d be happy to keep the same pace with them, I find them all so fun. I guess we’ll see! It’s nowhere near bedtime, but I think that’s all I got for today. Gotta eat dinner and write out a few posts from the last few days! Until next time, friends! Goodnight! 

CDT Day 71: July 15, 2025

I ended up sleeping in until 9:30am!! It was the best sleep, once I finally fell asleep. I think sometimes heartache does that for you, lets you drift into that deep sleep to try and heal your broken heart. I was only awake seconds before I remembered that Max was gone, and my melancholy kicked in. 

I showered, brushed my teeth, ate my left over pizza from last night, then dressed and packed up my stuff. I decided I would go to the new motel, see if they’d let me check or hold my pack for me while I went to do my chores for the day. 

I rode the free bus to the Quality Inn, a 30 minute situation by bus instead of only 6 minutes by car. They didn’t have a room ready yet, so the lady held my pack in her office and let me go ahead and buy quarters from her for laundry when I got back. Then, I walked to the Mexican restaurant about a mile and a half away. Instead of updating my blog, I looked through pictures of Max and Molly while waiting on my enchiladas to come out. Man that goofy boy was the best. 

I really enjoyed my meal, eating every bite, including all of the free chips I could manage, too. After paying, I walked over to the gear shop in town, and made Butch earn his keep in the shoe department. We went through every pair and every brand just like I did over in Grand Lake. This place had more brands to choose from.. the problem being they didn’t have my size in the Topos I’ve worn earlier-that are comfortable just not very durable.. they didn’t have my size in the men’s either. After 30+ minutes of trying on everything under the sun, I ended up getting a pair made by a French company that were very comfortable. The only problem: I wouldn’t be able to get a second pair.

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I got the one pair and fingers crossed they last a long time! I wore them as I did the rest of my chores: resupplying at the Safeway grocery store, going to the post office to send ahead a box to a place in Wyoming, going to Walmart to pick up more bug lotion. The shoes seem great so far. 

I got back to the Quality Inn around 4pm. The lady checking me in had an issue with my reservation, claiming booking.com didn’t pay them-which I showed her the payment on my credit card app. There was back and forth and she said it would be refunded, but she had to charge my card for now regardless. Knowing this isn’t right, I let her anyway just so I can get into my room. I’ll have to dispute the extra charge with booking or with my credit card tomorrow. Hopefully it’ll work itself out by then.

I sprawled out in the bed and watched SVU while snacking on cheese and crackers and drinking some wine. At dinner time, I hung out with Pika, Wolf, Firefly, and Redline outside under some trees on the property while they ate dinner. I had already demolished the crackers and cheese by then and wasn’t hungry anymore.  Later, we swam in the pool and hung out in the hot tub, talking, swapping stories, and laughing. Being around them really helped shove my sadness aside. I’m forever grateful to them for their friendship and welcomed distraction. They’ve just accepted me into their friend group, being around them all feels so natural. Hopefully I can hike with them more this next stretch before I catch Pebbles, if I ever do. 

A little about them.. I know Pika and Wolf from the PCT. Pika is as cool and outdoorsy as they come: worked trail maintenance positions all over for the government, has an endless knowledge of plants, animals, and insects. They most recently lived in Arizona but have ties to Northern California and Chicago. They are also very artistic (I know this from IG stalking them over the last 2 years lol). 

Wolf has her own Physical Therapy practice in one of the Carolina’s.. in Asheville maybe? And she just gives off this outgoing and big energy-her laugh (and her giddy howls) are the most contagious sound I’ve ever heard-if you don’t laugh when she’s laughing-I’m pretty sure you’re a sociopath. 

Firefly is a paramedic/firefighter from Massachusetts. Funny enough, his mom lives in Georgia, so he’s been to Atlanta a lot. He’s funny and I bet we’d have a lot in common with the healthcare stuff. 

And then there’s Redline-also very funny and tells good stories. He lives in Idaho and does something in construction I think. He got his trail name because he stuck to the redline on Farout and missed the Gila in New Mexico.. and had zero water for a long stretch-very sketchy situation and it was only because this is his first long trail so he was unfamiliar with the different routing options. Poor dude! Him telling the story will have you crying laughing though! 

Now, I’m back sprawled in bed and debating on if I want to be up super early and pay $5 for the once a day bus back out to Muddy Pass tomorrow, or if I want to sleep in and hitch it.  Hmmmm.. I think we all know which way this will go! Goodnight yall.