HIGHLIGHTS
Miles traveled: 21.7
Lift gain/loss: 3900/3600
Point learned: Moose have poor eyesight and rely heavily on their senses of smell and hearing to navigate the world.
Notable fauna: 1 moose!!
Human Encounters: (mainly trail names) Water Buffalo; Helium; sour diesel; Julian
Low: the arches of my feet hurt all day
High: see the moose; Rock Creek Campground
TRAIL DIARY
I slept in today by trail standards. My alarm went off at 5:15am, but I snoozed it until 6am. I started walking at 7:30am.
Passing through the meadow where the North Fork Lost Creek runs was an absolute pleasure. The trail was a straight, relatively flat 6 mile trail that was just lovely. It was a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the morning.
Walking the trail that follows North Fork Lost Creek.
Halfway across the meadow I saw a moose! I was having a drink at the stream. I made some noise with my hiking poles so as not to surprise him. I stopped to check the map, which confirmed that I was very close to the trail ahead. I opted to get off the trail, hide among the trees and wait until he fled in the other direction.
A bull elk enjoying a sip of North Fork Lost Creek. I kept my distance, that’s why the photo is blurry.
The elk leave the meadow and my signal to keep walking!
Around 2 in the afternoon I stopped for lunch. I was surprised that many other hikers were also having a late lunch. I met Water Buffalo (from Salida); Sour Deisel (from Indianapolis); and Julian of Jersey. For most of us, the CT is our first tour. We share about our lives at home: the jobs we left behind; our motivation to walk the path; and our daily mileage goals and zero-day plans.
Then I walked alone to Rock Creek. It was the first time I camped wet on this trip. It was very nice not to have to worry about water consumption. I filtered 4 liters of water that I collected from Rock Creek. I drank my fill of cold, clean water, then made dinner and washed my underwear.
A campsite with views!
There were 3 other groups that shared the campground around Rock Creek that night. The closest thing to me was a father with his two sons, who were camping out for the night. The others were some women, who were hiking segments 5 and 6 with their dogs, and Free Ball, another hiker from CT who started the same day as me.
After dinner, I stretched my muscles and massaged the arches of my feet. I took a Tylenol PM and fell asleep.
Campsite #3
I’m hoping to start earlier tomorrow as there is more elevation gain and it will be nicer to do it when it’s cool outside.
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