We had a great campsite last night, with a beautiful sunset.
The original plan for today was for Ed to drive me up a Jeep road back to the trail, where I’d continue on and meet him where the trail crosses Bison Basin Road.
But once again we changed plans to be safe. As I’ve mentioned before, Ed is bad with directions, and we had no cell/wifi. So we opted instead to drive together to Bison Basin Road and do another out-and-back to cover the same miles. Not as fun as doing every original step on the trail, but you have to pivot when given some challenging circumstances. And in this case, the scenery was pretty much the same anyway.
Hot and Windy
We headed southbound on the trail around 9:15 a.m. Late, yes, but it took a while to drive here. The roads are gravel and hilly and curvy, and even with a Jeep, you just can’t go fast. At least for those of us who aren’t used to this terrain! (But we can drive excellently in snow and ice!)
We were happily surprised to have some cell service at the top of one big hill. This meant we could message our kids and friends and download some podcasts. Overall, our time out was fine.
Return Trip Is Hard
The return trip, while we made better time, was more difficult. We were tired, of course, plus a fierce wind blew in our face the entire time. And the sun was relentlessly hot.
We met a hiker from South Korea going SOBO and chatted a bit. That was the only person we saw.
Back at the Jeep, we struggled setting up our tents in the fierce wind. Later, we realized the wind usually dies down as night falls. We should have ate first, then set up camp. Live and learn!
Snowshoe
Today’s Miles: 20.8 (33.5 km)
CDT Miles to Date: 1,254.8 (2,019.4 km)
CDT Miles to Go: 1,845.2 (2,969.6 km)
