August 16, 2013

August 16, 2013

Rawlins, WY to 4 miles north of Muddy Creek

30 miles

 

It's always hard for me to leave the comforts of town, such as a soft warm bed, an air conditioned room, water available straight from the tap with no treatment necessary. To take full advantage of my time in town I slept in until 8am, ate the complimentary breakfast at Penny's Diner next door, and even took another shower before sitting down in front of the TV for an hour or two. 

 

Checkout was at 11am so I finally left my room about 10:45 and started walking back toward the "trail." My pack was loaded down with 6 days of food to get me through the next 179 miles, as well as 4.5 liters of water to get me through the next 30-34 miles until the next good water source. Needless to say, my pack was heavy this morning. I estimate it to be around 40 lbs, which is the heaviest it has been yet. Not exactly fun to hike with, but luckily the hiking today was very mellow and basically flat. It also got lighter as I consumed the water and snacks along the way. Also of note, I didn't see any people at all today as soon as my feet were once again on dirt road (trail) south of Rawlins. It's kind of strange in a way, but after hiking solo for as long as I have, it's something that I have kind of gotten used to. That being said, I'm always happy to cross paths with people and have a conversation. 

 

Below are a couple of haikus that sum up the day:

 

 

Red road winds along

Puffy white clouds streak the sky 

Sagebrush paints the hills