Day 28 – Sunday 8/9/2020 – from main trail 1704.3 and start of Silverthorne Alternative 44.7 (NOBO) to Silverthorne Alternative 39.6 (NOBO) – clear, sunny, windy above tree line, hot below. I didn’t sleep well, because I had a hard time getting to sleep. I woke several time during the night. Twice to pee. The full moon almost gone. It is dark now in the mornings. I got up at 4:30 am and was on trail about 5:30 am. After packing up my tent in the trees I went to the Jeep for breakfast. I crossed the road and started climbing. Today I had two major climbs and a bunch of smaller ones. Just slowly I got them done. I met Greg and Laura who are section hikers. They had heard about me and how I was being support by Justin. It was the trail gossip. They told me that all they had to do was get to James Wilderness Preserve sign in 11 miles and THEY WILL COMPLETE THE ENTIRE CDT. I said a big congratulations to them. This is a very significant and emotional achievement. At Silverthorne alternative cut-off I ate lunch around 12:30 pm. It took me 7 hours to do about 12 miles. The alternative started with a long downhill road walk in the noon day heat and then became a trail. Slowly it climbed up the valley. Almost at my day’s end I met three hikers camping NOBO. One was called Magic Pack. He had a map and I asked about the elevation because Guthooks was clueless. They told me that tomorrow would be two high climbs. Finally at 3:00 pm I was happy to be done hiking for the day. It had been a long one.
