Category: Brian’s BLOG

From no trees to trees, from sand and gravel to soil, from plains to mountains the scenery is changing as I get closer to Colorado.

I take pictures of things that catch my eye.

Past the 200 mile mark in Wyoming.

If each day I do my miles then over time they begin to add up.

For a stretch in Wyoming I had a 20+ mile road walk. The CDT is not complete and sometimes it has you march along a crushed gravel road. Although it can be boring it sure beats going cross-country from marker to marker with no trail at all.

As I slack-packed (a light day pack with water, and snacks) through Rawlins WY I passed under a Union Pacific train depot. Along the walls of this pedestrian tunnel was art work. It included one for the Continental Divide Trail.

Sometime there is no trail and you go cross-country from trail marker (a marked stake in a pile of stones, a cairn) to trail marker across open land. It can be frustrating finding the next marker and not getting lost and off trail. It is also hard to miss stepping on rocks, brush and small cacti and not twist an ankle.

Then there is a dirt road and you walk in one of the tire tracks. You can make good time and it’s easy to follow.

There are times when it’s only a single track trail, but so far it’s been point to point or dirt road.

Finally there are road walks on the side of a paved highway with traffic zooming by at 60+ mph. These are my least favorite because you can see where your heading for miles and they aren’t very scenic.

Today I completed 100 miles of trail hiking from just north of South Pass City WY to just north of Rawlins WY.

I’m getting absolutely burnt up with the relentless sun. As soon as the sun comes up I apply sun block. I apply it to my nose, cheeks, and hands. I reapply it every two hours. Everything else is pretty well covered. I always wear a cap or else I put up my umbrella.

My nose is getting the brunt of it. When Justin met me today he said my nose was bleeding. It’s because I wear a nose strip at night to help me breathe and somehow I had removed it along with some skin too. Ugh! It didn’t hurt. My dear son Justin applied a bandage with Neosporin onto it. I’m trying not to burn. Really I am.

Justin is a great cook.

He bought burgers for dinner and sausage & eggs for breakfast. However because I get up so early we had sausage on scrambled eggs with cheese on toasted rolls for dinner. My oh my it was tasty!

Dry, treeless, and desolate high plains. Together we drove to a high-point where we got cellphone service.

A panoramic picture as we sit and call family, send text messages, read email, and post on this blog.

After three days in the wilderness Justin and I found each other in the wilderness as planned. As I was hiking I saw something high on a hill far away. Initially I wondered if it was a stick or marker but the next time I looked it had moved. It was a person. And then as I got closer I saw it was him. I was so relieved! It was early in the morning and he had come down the trail to find me. We hiked back to the Jeep and I collapsed into a chair, and he got me a Coca Cola, yum!

All is well. I got water, food, a shower, laundry, and especially human company – all of it somewhere in the wilderness. Now he’s driven to where we’ve got cell signal. This is luxury hiking at its finest.