We both had a restful night, as the wind died down and it wasn’t too cold. But after getting up and having breakfast, the weather forecast was for “light” rain for an hour. We decided to stay in our tents so as not to get wet right away.
It actually rained pretty hard, so it was a good call. Afterward, we dried our tents, so we didn’t get on the trail until 9 a.m.
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Heading toward the Forest Service Road 104 Trailhead
Last night, a seasonal camper, Jim, told Ed that the water isn’t good up the trail (it’s essentially a stagnant beaver pond). So he told us to stop by his camper and he’d give us some good water. He also has a trail log for hikers to sign.
Sure enough, we came across Jim’s place right away and got water and signed his trail log. He even gave us two cookies apiece! What a nice guy.
We thought we had about 4 miles (6.4 km) on the gravel road, then trail. Instead, our entire day was trekking along a gravel road. Nice!
Strategizing to Save Energy
We decided the smartest way to hike this stretch was to set up our tents in the early afternoon, then continue slackpacking uphill until 5 p.m. or so, then turn around and go back to our tents. This way, we could cover more CDT miles than if we kept our heavy packs on.
So around 1:45 p.m.,, when we spied a decent campsite, we pitched our tents and 
slackpacked another 10 miles (16.1 km) out and back, getting close to the Forest Service Road 104 Trailhead. While today’s hike was all gravel road, the last few miles became quite rocky, rutted and more difficult to traverse. Still, much easier than singletrack! And because we were slackpacking, it was so easy and enjoyable.
We met a lot of CDT thru-hikers today. One, Chew Toy, is from Madison, so we hope to meet for coffee a few months from now. Another woman was from Eau Claire, Wis., Ed’s hometown. What a small world!
I am looking forward to celebrating my birthday tomorrow in Steamboat Springs!
Snowshoe
Today’s Miles: 17.1 (27.5 km)
CDT Miles to Date: 1,025.8 (1,650.9 km)
CDT Miles to Go: 2,074.2 (3,338.1 km)
