Friday, June 5, 2026
36.7 miles, 4577′ gain/3333′ loss.
Max altitude: 10,600′
I was awake at 5:40am, and hiking again by 6:15am. It was another long day. But there were more consistent water sources, mostly with clear, cold water. I saw a lot of animals, including many prairie dogs, elk, cows, and bunnies. At the height of my big climb today, I saw my first snow on trail! Thankfully, none of the snow was on-trail.
I walked maybe 8 miles to my day’s first water source, which was a large metal cow tank with a well pump adding water to the tank. I was able to get my CNOC bag onto the well spigot so I could have a clean catch without algae in it. I had been a little short on water last night, so I was excited to drink a freshly filtered cold liter of water before filtering another 2L to get me to my next water source.
Most of my miles were in and out of forested areas in between large sweeping fields high in the mountains, with views of the desert valley floor far below. It was breezy and not too hot in the mid-day sun, though I had to keep on top of my sunscreen applications. I listened to podcasts and audiobooks and kept moving forward.
Partway through the day, as I threw my backpack back over my shoulder, I tore a chunk out of my left thumbnail, all the way down to the quick. It was quite painful and continued to be painful to the touch for a few days. Cutting the nail as smooth as possible helped, but it was uncomfortable for a while.
In the afternoon, I was passed by a group of ~8 older men on ATVs and side-by-sides/mules. They stopped to chat a little bit, and mostly tried to avoid covering me in dust which I appreciated. Later in the day, I met Blue Jay, an older woman who is thru-hiking the CDT, nearby a creek crossing. She and I flip-flopped a bit, meeting at the next water source while I was finishing up my filtering. She decided to stop there for the night, while I pushed on.
I knew it was Friday night, but it wasn’t clear from FarOut how many of the next viable campsite areas were directly on a dirt road. It turns out, there were many weekend campers out today. There was a gathering of people where I had wanted to camp. I did yogi watermelon and soda from them, but I didn’t linger very long. I figured I’d be able to find a camp spot soon, but all of the next campsites were either occupied by car campers or in places that were accessible to cars and I’d likely have company join me later in the evening, which I find nerve wracking if I’m already in my tent for the night.
So I pushed much further than I wanted, continuing forward even after I should have stopped and gotten out my headlamp. Once I’m that tired, I find it really hard to make decisions and it just feels easier to keep walking. But I finally found a spot just off the trail, far away from the busy dirt roads, and while it wasn’t entire flat or smooth, it seemed like my best option for the night. So I stopped around 9pm and set up my tent by moon and redlight. I was still able to hear pick-up trucks and ATVs roaring up and down the nearby dirt roads, but my spot was inaccessible so I was finally able to relax enough to fall asleep.
