25th June
22.8 miles
Busk Creek (1003.3) to Cataract Creek (1026.1)
Nobody was in a hurry to leave camp. We stayed up way past hiker midnight (9pm) last night. By the time I finished writing up my daily blog it was closer to 11pm than 10pm.
As in the previous couple of days the trail was easy, well signposted and at a gentle grade. This made for easy miles. My energy felt good. The stomach pain of recent days had gone. Maybe I’m recovering. Maybe the medication worked.
The vast majority of the day the trail weaved its way through forest. The expansive views so common to the CDT were all but gone. Again we shared trail with the Colorado trail (CT). And today there were many CT hikers.
A couple of high school kids hiking the CT stopped me to chat. They were well educated about the trail. Congratulating me on hiking 1000 miles. I told them I only passed the milestone yesterday.
They spent most of the time staring at the small size of my pack. I spent most of the time staring at the sizes of their huge packs. The size of the pack is the big difference between a CDT and CT hikers. I bring only the essentials. Speaking of which I’ll be purging my pack in the next couple of days in an effort to make it lighter. I should loose another 1kg from my base weight. Stay tuned.
By late afternoon we all made it to Tennessee Pass. Three other hikers were there. Nips, Easyrider and Soju. I hadn’t seen them since Pagosa Springs. They had a real tough time in the San Juan mountains. As I described it at the time, it wasn’t thru hiking, it was ‘thru mountaineering’.
From the pass it was 9 miles mainly downhill. Things started off well. I had so much energy I felt like running. After maybe 6 miles things changed. In the space of maybe 2 minutes my stomach became bloated then sore. My energy left me and I felt nauseous. Damn. I thought I had this thing beat.
I staggered the last several miles to camp. It was not enjoyable. My energy was depleted. Zorro and Boston were camped in a less than ideal place. I joined them. Big John turned up just behind me.
I took 3-4 times longer than normal to put up my tent. I had no appetite. The thought of cooking and eating dinner made my stomach turn. I settled on a cup of hot chocolate and a protein bar. Even then I forced it down.
I’m really disappointed in myself. Maybe I pushed too hard today. I didn’t eat any food in the afternoon, maybe I should have forced myself to eat something. Or maybe there’s something else going on with my body. I’ll find out soon enough. Till then I hope I’m fine in the morning.
Next – Day 70 It’s time for a rest
Everything you need to know about hiking the CDT:
Complete Guide to Hiking the Continental Divide Trail
CDT Resupply Guide
CDT Gear List
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