August 6, 2024
31.5 miles, 4934′ gain/4957′ loss
The restaurant owner Panni gave me a ride back to trail at 7am after my zero day and I was hiking by 7:45am. I encountered 5 mountain bikers and 3 dirt bikers over the day, plus I passed 2 SOBO hikers and saw 2 NOBO hikers as well. The first few hours of hiking had some beautiful views and some aspen groves, but primarily, the day was double track dirt roads, and I hiked through many cow fields. I started a 12-mile water carry just as afternoon thunderstorms came in. I put on my pack cover and only received light sprinkles, though I saw cloud-to-ground lightning and heard many intimidating thunder rumbles and booms. I hiked quickly to stay in front of the thunderheads.
Around 6pm, I stopped to chat with Biscuit for a few minutes. It was nice to compare notes with someone else, and we talked books for a bit too. I debated stopping, just to have company but there wasn’t anywhere flat nearby to camp so I kept moving.
I stopped at 7:30pm, with over 30 miles done without too much suffering. Though the day was a bit boring, I felt pretty good about it, even if I was lonely.
