Today’s hike to Rio Vallecitos was pretty good. This morning, while packing up camp, a German man named Jonah strolled over to visit. He’d camped in the same area and was headed in the same direction as me, but was hiking much faster. Still, it was good to converse with another hiker.
Last night the animals were out in force! Steer were lowing, elk were bugling and the coyotes were going nuts on and off all night (which is unusual). But I enjoyed it.
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Heading Toward Rio Vallecitos
The first few miles out from the pasture were easy to hike and easy to follow. Or so I thought. At one point I randomly checked the app, and much to my dismay I saw I was off the trail. Grr!
Luckily the vegetation was sparse, so I was able to “bushwhack” back to the trail. But part of this involved crossing a giant boulder field, which was a bit sketch.
That snafu aside, there was a lot of downhill on jeep-type roads, so I made good time to Hopewell Lake, where Ed had made the first food bag drop. Initially, I panicked, as I didn’t see it. But I found it.
Grabbing My Food
I was low on water when I started out (half a liter), and the only place to grab some early on was a disgusting looking pond for cattle. I decided to go thirsty and fill up at Hopewell Lake.
The lake water looked a little better, but had lots of green vegetation in it. I was worried it would clog my filter, so I held out for a creek 
up ahead. That wasn’t much better, so I filtered the lake water and drank it. It was fine and didn’t clog my filter.
Day Winds Down
With just a few miles left – downhill to a real river – I was dismayed to see the trail become a rocky horror. That slowed my pace immensely. The terrain was not conducive to camping, and I really wanted to camp by the river and have lots of water. I was afraid that wouldn’t happen.
In a lucky break, just across the river the terrain became much more gentle and perfect for camping. So I set up my tent and had the luxury of soaking my aching feet in the cold river’s waters.
Unfortunately, while I wanted a lazy time at camp, it rained on and off after I soaked my feet, so I had to pretty much stay inside my tent. It rained last night, too, but dried by morning.
Oh, the trail was pretty unsightly most of the day. Lots of areas with downed and dead trees. At least I didn’t have to climb over almost any of them!
Snowshoe
Today’s Miles: 18 (29 km)
CDT Miles to Date: 754.9 (1,214.9 km)
CDT Miles to Go: 2,345.1 (3,774.1 km)
