14th August
7.7 miles
Lima (1928.8) to Ridgecamp (1936.5)
I bid goodbye to some of my hiking buddies in the morning. I’d hoped to share some trail time with my old PCT hiking buddy Stone but his work schedule is tight and he had to make the miles. Earlier he retired his shoes to a tree out the front of the hotel. Over the years cyclists and hikers have retired their shoes there. Had I known about this place I would have retired my old Vasque shoes to this monument to hikers used footware.
I set off for the trail about 4 hours later with Nips and Easyrider.It was around 1pm when we started hiking. It’s not everyday that I leave a town with absolutely no energy. I really should have just had a day off to rest but Canada was calling my name. I ate little in the way if fresh fruits and vegetables, maybe that was part to blame.
Nips and Easyrider were not feeling it today either. This made me feel better for no other reason that I didn’t slow anybody down. It was almost comical as we would throw down our packs to rest and threaten to camp every 2-3 miles.
Things were not made any easier by the excessive amount of food weight I was carrying. A misreading of the maps in town that led us to believe we needed 3 litres of water for a dry camp. The result, my pack was heavy with food and water weight.
We camped early on a slightly protected ridge. The wind at times was excessive, and we were climbing ever upwards. Setting up camp on the potentially exposed higher ridges could have proved to be a flawed decision. Even though the real reason was we had cell phone service nearby and we were tired. Some days are not meant for big mileage days. I was in my sleeping bag trying to sleep well before darkness arrived. Good night.
Next – Day 120 The Montana Idaho Rollercoaster
Everything you need to know about hiking the CDT:
Complete Guide to Hiking the Continental Divide Trail
CDT Resupply Guide
CDT Gear List
Keep going, buddy. The end is nigh. Well, the end is closer than it was. Good luck. Great read.
Thank you, I’m getting there, only about a month more of hiking.
Cant get over the beards the hipsters would be insanely jealous!
All thru hikers are hipsters without trying.
Oh feel your heavy pack and heart today ……Come on ….rooting for you x
Thanks Indiana, I’m getting there
How does Stone have the time to be a Triple Crowner with a tight work schedule? What does he do? I need to figure that out.
Not really appropriate for me to answer on his behalf but I will say there are lots of people with schedules, some need to go back to college, some back to their seasonal employment etc. It can be done.