Day 69 – No shortage of adventure

After today’s ride I sure don’t feel shortchanged on adventure. I’m sure the Wyoming Range is beautiful and full of challenge,  full of unknowns, but the CDT had all of the above, and then some.

It was perhaps the most difficult route finding on the trail yet. It is compounded largely by the fact that no one seems to know what the official cdt is. The GPS has one idea, signs and blazes have another, and Ley’s maps are all over the place with options and possibilities.  I don’t think there is a single inch of actual constructed CDT.  Just lots of old routes, old trails, old roads and empty meadows.

Having come off a fair stretch of divide roads, we were up for the challenge.  Route finding of this sort can be a blast if you’re in the right mindset.  It sure keeps you occupied and keeps you guessing.

We definitely had a few wrong guesses and off-route excursions, but overall the route does indeed ‘go’ and without too much struggle or hike-a-bike.  It’s just not fast.  It’s usually rideable, and always demanding.

There were nuggets of great riding hidden in the rough, but today definitely wasn’t about the riding.  It was about the places the trail took us, the psychedlic flowers and getting lost in the woods.  It was about meeting thru-hikers and sharing the trail with them.

Eszter had the quote of the day, “I guess the takeaway message is you shouldn’t follow a hiker who has the trail name ‘Oops’.”  That made me laugh for a good 5 or 10 minutes.  Indeed, we had come upon Oops right at a critical junction, and though we tried to point out we had missed something, he muttered something to himself and kept walking… the wrong way.  Oops.

We also met Smiles.  I love it when hiker’s trail names fit them so well.  She had a grin a mile wide, and plenty to smile about.  I think a lot of hikers would get frustrated in this piece, but she was more stoked on everything thru-hiking than any hiker we’ve met.

It was a surprise to run into a group of horseback riders.  It seemed like such a remote spot and we had only recently been following some actual tread.  The riders were ever so impressed with us when they learned what we were doing.  We trotted along with them (in line) down the trail, chatting away.  One guy told me there was a big trail in the east that we should go ride our bikes on — the Appalacian Trail.  Yet another positive encounter with other trail users on the CDT.  Bikes belong.

Further down we finally caught Southern who was making a break for the highway to hitch into town after 8 days out in the Wind Rivers.  He had passed us back in the morning, somehow.  At that point we had covered only 18 or 19 miles and it was mid-afternoon.  We were just barely going faster than hiking pace, and quite content with it.

Just as it was looking like the CDT was letting up by giving us an actual dirt road to follow, the trail threw us another curve ball — mud.  We never saw much rain, but the roads near Togwatee Pass had been hammered.  I know this area is well known for its death mud on the divide route, so I was a little worried at what we might find.

Sure enough, the ATV trail that connected two more major roads was slick and had mud capable of locking up tires.  We ran into our first southbound thru-hiker here, a very talkative guy named Blue Suit.  He told us we had 3 or 4 miles of muck before things would improve.  Oof.

It was slow, but more or less rideable with care.  Just like most of the rest of the day.  Our bikes got trashed, I cursed a little, but the pavement was reached.  A mostly downhill coast brought us to the Lava Mountain Lodge, where $25 gets you a grizzly cabin complete with heat and power.  It was off route for us, but considering everything on route for the next while goes for $200+ a night, it’s well worth the pedaling.  It’s got a nice relaxed vibe, too.

Not the first time this hose been used to remove death mud

I’ll dream tonight of mega flowers amongst huge dead forests, riding along the continental divide.  Just one of many great riding moments.