"Be careful of bears around here. I'd hate to find your (looks me over) red bandana laying in the woods soaked in blood"
-Man on a 4-wheeler outside of Encampment with a pistol on his hip
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| Made it to Wyoming! |
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| Call Don for info |
Man, it seems as though these past few weeks have flown by now that they're over. Though, as I was walking through the desert before Rawlins, wondering where the shade was or going up a steep pass for the third time in a day in the Winds; time seemed to go so slow. It's amazing how relative a thing time becomes when you spend most of your waking hours hiking north with nothing to destract you from your wandering mind.
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| No, I didn't use the zoom on this photo |
From Steamboat, we went back up into the mountains of Colorado, only with heat and bugs being our adversaries instead of wind and snow- my how quickly the seasons change. Entering into Wyoming a couple days later, Bob, Speedbump, and I got the wonderful opportunity to catch the fourth of July fireworks in Encampment, WY. The firefighters of the town were setting them off in the baseball field- lighting them by hand with acetaline torches. Ahhh, small town america.
Then I was off to Rawlins, hiking alone for the first time on this trip, which I must say was very enjoyable even when I was getting lost on a daily basis. It's nice to know I can be self-sufficient and find my way from one place to another eventually.
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| Double rainbow leaving Rawlins! |
After Rawlins, I met up with Pod and Gnar again, and we began hiking into the Red desert- It was quite hot and inhospitable. Luckily, we were hiking near Balls and Sunshine who were being car supported by Balls' wife and Sunshine's mom, Teresa. Just when I didn't think I could get any hotter, they'd come driving by and offer me a cold soda or some water or watermelon! It was a revitalizer for sure, I felt spoiled by them at times.
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| The Red Desert looked mostly like this, minus the clouds. |
Then into Atlantic City, a wonderfully small respite on the edge of the desert. I wasn't sure I had enough food to make it the entire 140-mile stretch that we were about to do through the Wind River Range, but thankfully Gnar and Pod had a few extras they threw my way and we trudged back into the mountains, picking up E in South Pass City- she had recently done a 40 mile day to celebrate her 40th birthday- another badass woman!
The Winds were gorgous- I'll definitely have to come back and hike through Knapsack Col and some of the other Alternates that J.Ley suggests. Even thinking we had enough food, we almost ran out and were rationing the last couple of days. Also, we're officially in bear country with a few grizzley prints spotted in the northern section near Tohgatee Pass. So we've been hanging our food and smellables, as well as cooking away from our tents and carrying bear spray- just in case. In this next section, we'll be going through Yellowstone NP and up along the Idaho/Montana border- I can't wait!
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| The traveling Blueberry strikes again! |
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| Leaving Atlantic City, WY |
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| Thank you trail crew! Their horses were thirsty. |
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| Cirque of the Towers from near Lonesome Lake |
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| The Winds has signage |
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| So excited, even after pass number 10 or so of the day. |
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| The Green Lakes are really green from Glacial runoff |
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| This aggressive grouse was following me and trying to peck me. |
