Day 64 - Out of the Winds

Today was our last day in the Winds, and the character of the trail changed gradually. We left the high, imposing peaks and green valleys for increasingly dry and open plains. As expected, water started to be an issue. Several creeks were dry, and one we did dip our bottles in had a minerally, coppery taste which we masked with grape Hawaiian Punch.

We also solved a few concurrent mysteries: Who was that mysterious sobo we saw at Big Sandy Lakes? Whose footprints have we been seeing just a few hours ahead of us? And who is this mysterious friend of John and Regina's? Every time we saw J&R, they mentioned they were hiking with a 'Gary', but he was never there. He was always off doing a high route or alternate. Gangles and I were convinced Gary did not exist. And then just like "Harvey", that James Stewart movie with the giant imaginary rabbit (I'm blanking on the name), we saw Gary.

He goes by 3 different trail names, in addition to 'Gary': Thought Criminal (AT), Half Fast (PCT) and Summit Bagger (CDT). He's one of the few people to have done all of the 14-ers and 13-ers in CO. And he's a literate and interesting guy. We hiked together the rest of the day, which was fun.

We were trying to do a long day, to set us up for a short day into South Pass City and Atlantic City. Long story short, we fouled up up our mail. Most people go into one of the two places, but we had packages at both. So, we hiked til dusk and had views of gorgeous pink sunset, replete with coyote howls. Early morning tomorrow to South Pass City!


Mileage: ~29mi from Little Sandy Creek to close to Hwy 26