Day 88 - easy morning, tough afternoon, easy evening (31.8 miles)

August 5, 2021

Miles: 31.8 miles

Steps: 66,735

Not much luck with my air mattress but I knew at the end of the day I would be getting to an outfitter who would have a repair kit or I could buy a foam pad to get me the rest of the way.

I ended up sleeping ok even on the hard ground and with the cows making so much noise.

I had a 2 mile climb to start the day with a lot of blow downs. There was great camping at the top so I really wished I had done that section last night but wanted time to fix my air mattress.

The rest of the morning all the way to the water source was very easy. I knocked out 13 miles in under 4 hours, that’s with that blow down section.

I stayed at the water for awhile as it looked to be my last water source until I got to camp and the outfitter. Drank as much as I could and packed out 2.5 liters.

I had a hard climb after the water. It was very steep and rocky so it was slow going. It took me forever to get to the top. However, I missed my turn off and ended up going a half mile down the wrong side of the mountain. I was pretty mad about that. I ended up hiking a lot slower than I thought so that put me in a bad mood.

I had 1 more hill left until I planned to take my long break. Right at the top is when I caught up with Sea Otter, he is the guy I hiked with yesterday. He went another 2-3 miles yesterday.

Took a little longer break than normal as that last section really took it out of me physically and mentally. The rest really helped and noticed most of the rest of the day would be easy so that helped with the mental aspect.

Made great time all the way to a road cut off which I found took me to a water source. Staying on the CDT would have taken me over a nice mountain with a view but no water. Also thunderstorms were rolling in and I wouldn’t get the views so didn’t mind skipping that part and doing the short road walk. Also, this is when I caught back up with Sea Otter.

We hiked the road to the water. After getting water the thunder and lighting really started to pick up. The road was lower than the trail with tree cover but soon had to leave the road and head back up the ridge. It was a little scary as almost no tree cover and was lighting all around. Got through that area and made it to the outfitter’s before the bad part of the storm hit.

The owner of the outfitter, it’s also his home, let us hang out inside for awhile as not much room. Most of the building was covered in hiking gear, very little room to move around. What’s odd is he has a better gear selection I’ve seen all trip and he is basically in the middle of nowhere. Not sure how this guy makes any money as all his stuff is realizable price.

He was able to hook me up with a good repair kit for my air mattress. It appears to be holding but still may need to buy a foam pad if this fix doesn’t work.

Got to camp right next to the building after the rain stopped. Sea Otter ended up leaving trying to knock out a few more miles.

Probably going to sleep in a little as only have about 32 miles planned.