Wednesday, Aug 27, 2025
9.1 miles, 445’/1568′ gain/loss
With town so close, I didn’t want to sleep. And the rainy overnight paired with my wet sleeping bag and tent dripping water into my face didn’t help with restful sleep. I was up at 5:50am, and out by 6:15am. It was a cold, soggy pack-up but I didn’t care. Town was so close!! It was misty and rained even more as I hiked out but I was happy to be going downhill towards the promise of town.
On the outskirts of the road, I walked through a campground, walking past many sleeping people in campers and a very few in tents. Then I walked on the side of the mountain pass highway until I arrived at the Bustang bus stop for Muddy Pass. My plan was to get into town from here so that I could take the regional bus to get back to trail, since hitching out of town is always harder than hitching into town.
I finished my miles by 9am. I put everything loose on the outside of my pack inside my pack and zipped everything closed. I then set to hitching. I was very lucky and hitched into town with the 2nd car to drive past. It was a long ~30 minute ride into town, but the man and his son were quiet and didn’t want to talk to me.
I got into town and was immediately overwhelmed. I hadn’t planned well enough to know what my first steps were. I became hung up on the most efficient use of my time and walking, wanting to do grocery shopping before I’d even checked into my hotel. I sat on a bench, ate a snack, and then walked to my hotel. They thankfully allowed me to check in very early, and the hotel’s laundry room was functional.
However, they did not have my Garmin inReach package at the desk, which I’d forgotten at home and my partner had mailed to me. They said they’d “ask the manager to look into it.” I did not find this reassuring, so I called the local post office myself. I had a confirmation receipt that indicated the package had been delivered. They confirmed that the package was still in the hotel’s PO box and had been there for 3+ days. I asked them to hold it and that I’d be there shortly. The post office folks were very helpful. Before changing clothes or doing anything else, I took the free local bus to the post office. There was a very long line there, but after ~20 minutes of waiting, I was able to retrieve my package. I also made the quick choice to mail my larger battery brick back to Denver to my friend’s house rather than carry the extra weight.
That turned out to be the wrong choice. I hadn’t realized how badly my phone battery held a charge, and so I was very pinched for battery life for the rest of my section hike. This had a serious impact on my mental health, as I had to preserve my battery life for wayfinding. The CDT required frequent GPS checks. Almost every single road or trail intersection of any kind required a check. If I didn’t check, I inevitably ended up 0.5-1 mile off course and had to backtrack. The trail was rarely marked and the path with the most footprints was almost never the CDT.
I found the process of being in a tourist town to be overwhelming. I was hungry, and knew I needed to eat. Most hikers go to a restaurant first thing when they arrive in town. But I was alone, anxious, and overwhelmed. I went to the trouble of finding a restaurant online that had good ratings and vegetarian options. I went to the busy restaurant, managed to get someone’s attention, they absentmindedly sat me at a table in the center of the room, and then no one interacted with me for almost 10 minutes. I broke and left the restaurant. I managed to get myself to stop long enough at a natural food store to buy a box of crackers and some hummus. I sat at a table outside the co-op and ate the entire box of crackers. This helped me regain some composure. Some.
Upon my return to the hotel, I met a group of four SOBO CDT hikers in the parking lot who were also staying at the same hotel, including Super Noodz. We briefly said hey and exchanged hiker details (what direction, where did you start today, how long are you in town, what restaurant did you like) and went our own ways. I did my laundry dressed only in a hotel towel and my rain jacket, and shoes.
Once I had clean clothes, I headed out for a walk around town. I enjoyed moving my body, and found it calmed my mind a bit. I went to a cafe and had a fancy ube bubble tea. I went to the local Walmart to buy food for the rest of my time in town, leaving my resupply for the next day. I was anxious about my zero day, town, and hiking in general. I didn’t sleep well either night I was in town.
For my zero day, I spent 3 hours in the morning at the Old Town Hot Springs, soaking in the hot water and drinking cold water. I walked back by the same cafe and got another coffee drink. I took the local bus back towards the hotel, stopping at the Ski Haus outfitters on the way to pick up a few items. Then I walked over to Safeway, where I did my resupply shopping. Then it was back to my hotel for the rest of the day. My anxiety made resting difficult, but I did my needed town chores, like downloading new audiobooks, cataloguing the books I’d already read, and preparing for the next section.
One item I purchased that helped immensely was a waterproof phone case. My phone is waterproof, but when it’s raining, the screen stops being able to register touch accurately, making it impossible to use for navigation in the rain. The case let me have the ability to use navigation regardless of conditions. I was very glad of this in the days to come.
Transcending Mountains 