CDT Joy: Happy Birthday! – The walk

Day 38: 21.3 Miles

The highlight: It’s my 38th birthday!

It was a pleasure to have a camp near picnic tables, banks and a toilet. It was the biggest hiker dinner of which I have been part of us eating together, and when I went to bed I fell asleep quickly.

Just close to bedtime, the squirrels were so noisy and jumped from one tree to another near each of our tents letting us know that we were camped at home.

In the morning I woke up and felt good rested. I packed my bag and had a breakfast of what I will call a bar of trails mixing that the mother of the free sample had baked and sent by mail for the path and it was incredible! My favorite part were the white chocolate sparks and the Macadamia nuts.

Leaving the camp, we take uphill to reconnect with the old CDT Road instead of walking 0.2 at the crossroads of trails and connecting with the new Single CDT track. This saved us almost half a mile of walking, since the road was a shorter distance, but much more steep.

I walked on a small train of hikers in the morning leaving the camp after 7 am, then I met everyone at the first water source 10 miles a day. I took a pleasant break while leaking water and then did another 6 miles to stop a late lunch around 1 pm by the next water source.

Today’s views were impressive as could be seen from the line of the crest on wooded hills in the foreground and huge mountain peaks at the bottom of a day of clouds of sugar. The prognosis before leaving the city showed rain most of the day, and this was a birthday gift that the weather was sunny and perfect for walking.

See today from the CDT

It was very nice to have several long breaks today, since we all planned to camp together for a hiking day shorter than the last 3 days (averaging a hiking marathon every day) and having a 6 -mile day to the city the next morning.

I arrived at the camp before 4 pm and after installing my tent and grabbing water from the nearby spring, all hikers sat in a dinner place and ate and talked for a few hours. Many laughs were exchanged and I was surprised with a «birthday» path of an ingratable sandwich (my favorite lunch at this time) with a phosphorus stuck in the medium illuminated in flames like a candle. He made my heart full and happy and was very attentive to everyone.

Day 39: 6.1 miles

The highlights: Leadorae, ID and Birthday Cake at the Mustang Inn

This morning, the plan was to wake up and move at 7 am to reach the beginning of the path at 9 am for our scattered shuttle. We were 6 of us in total and every day we managed to get up and prepare much faster than usual.

The path was cruise and slightly downhill, what quickly miles. When I arrived at the beginning of the path, the transport driver had already begun to take some of us to the city in his 5 passenger car and return shortly to recover the rest of us. She brought coca cans -cool and fresh fruit to ate a snack while we waited.

The trip to the city was about 20 minutes and was mainly in Dirt Road. The city itself has a service station and a convenience store that serves a minimal selection of hot food (hamburger, hot dog, pizza) and was the only place in the city to replace yourself. The credit card machine was low when we arrived and most of us did not have enough cash to cover the replenishment costs, so we got lunch food and then hung in our house at night in the Mustang Inn and I found the writing and relaxed in the massage chair.

The only restaurant in the city is closed on Sunday and Tuesday, so when the convenience store closed at 4pm we needed to be prepared for dinner. A group of hikers (around 12) decided an Italian theme.

Family Disting Cop

So what do 12 hungry hikers eat what questions?

• 3 pounds of spaghetti (3 different styles and sizes because they only had one box of each)
• 3 16 oz of spaghetti meat sauce hunting bottles
• 3 pounds of hamburger meat
• 2 bread bread with 3/4 lb butter and 8 oz sprinkled cheese at the top for garlic bread
• Side salad with dressing
• A 13 × 9 birthday cake
• A 9 × 9 cherry shoemaker
• An ice cream gallon

After dinner, we saw the new Adam Sandler Happy Gilmore 2 movie. My stomach began dinner or food from the city earlier in the day, but I took some Tums and began to decrease. The owners of the Posada decorated the place with happy birthday signs and baked a delicious birthday cake.

The friends of the paths lit the candles in the cake and sang happy birthday before we all devour the cake together. After the dessert it was almost 9 pm and decided to return to the room and accommodate in bed.

Day 40: 13.1 miles

The highlights: Leave Leadorae. First 10,000 -feet peak called Elk Mountain.

During the night, my belly did not feel the best, so I didn’t sleep as much as I expected. In the morning I woke up around 6 in the morning to pack my things, give me a second shower and walk to the convenience store at 9 am to drink a coffee energy drink and a cinnamon roll. Back at the hotel, I spent time on social networks and made another round of the full -body massage chair.

Our return trip to the path was not until 11:30 am because many hikers had already organized a trip to the path, but the extra time in the city with wifi and rest was good for my energy.

Once he returned to the path, the day had a great climb to Elk Mountain and marked our first time more than 10,000 feet. I had energy from the city of the big dinner and breakfast and, despite the fact that my stomach was not 100%, I had a good time at the climb.

In the descent I saw a wild cat, maybe a mobile cat, cross the dirt road in front of us and to the wise brush. He was camouflaged very well there and after passing through the area I kept looking back to make sure that I was not going to harass me as a prey.

We arrive at our first water source at 13 miles in the day around 4 pm and take a look at the camping and water options. The next water source was another 12 miles away and there would be many more areas of exposed crest line that would limit the possibility of camping. After discussing the pros and cons will staying here compared to hiking of 2 to 4 miles, we decided to stay and wake up earlier in the morning to compensate for the difference and carry less water in the coldest morning.

I configured my store in a place slightly inclined under one of the two trees in a meadow. It worked, but wind here and I’m not sure how cold I will sleep if the wind continues until night. Midnight prepared its hammock in the trees on the edge of the meadow, where the hill began down and the complete circle settled in a flat area next to some trees farther.

My camp for tonight

We had dinner together, where our places to camp and enjoyed pesto cuscous with salami, olives, pine nuts and Parmesan cheese. I did too forgetting how much couscous tends to expand, so I will enjoy the rest to lunch tomorrow.

After dinner, I brushed my teeth and hung my bear bag and then turned to sleep clothes and had an early night in bed around 7:30 pm

Around 8:30 pm, a crazy wind storm Rodó. He brought earth and my sleeping pad and my team were covered with a layer of black dust. I moved my backpack to that side of the lobby to try to block the wind. It worked until the wind changed direction and began to beat my tent.

I got up at 9 and hammered more in my tent and made sure that Guy’s lines were taught. Then I went to bed with my heart by accelerating so that the store can blow in the storm. It had 2 options: trust the store and the probability that the wind would disappear after the sun folded or packed in the wind and moves to a more tree covered with trees to settle. I decided the first option and with the decision made in some way I could fall asleep.

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