CDT – Day 105 – Harkness Lakes M2234.2 to Saddle M2264.5

8/7/15 Day 105 – Harkness Lakes M2234.2 to Saddle M2264.5 9543′

Tent  – Nights Spent Alone: 15

30.3, 2071 Trip Miles

6:13 am to 8:03 pm

Day’s of Snow: 8 – Day’s of Rain: 37 – Days of Hail: 18

# of Zero days: 11

Gila Crossings Final Total:  221

Tick Count: 4 (4 more crawling on me)

Wanted List

Mountain Goat

Grizzly Bear

Sasquatch

Black Bear

Bighorn Sheep

Velociraptor

Mountain Lion

Beaver – SPOTTED

Unicorn

Wolf

Buffalo

Critter Count

50 Elk

3 Squirrels

2 Chipmunks

1 Ground Squirrel

1 Pika

Totals

1) 618 Pronghorn*

2) 434 Elk*7

3) 269 Chipmunks *5

4) 174 Deer*2

5) 153 Marmot*4

6) 120 Lizards*6

7) 116 Wild Horses

8) 95 Squirrels *9

9) 61 Ground Squirrels*10

10) 55 Pika

11) 46 Cotton Tail Rabbits *8

12) 30 Prairie Dogs

13) 22 Horny Toads

14) 17 Jack Rabbit*3

15) 14 Moose

16) 8 Snakes

17) 5 Coyotes

18) 5 Moles

19) 4 Porcupine

20)  2 Mouse

21) 2 Fox

22) 2 Rattle Snakes

23) 2 Toads

24) 1 Beaver

25) 1 Badger

26) 1 Skunk

27) 1 Weasel -Long Tail

*259 from car, *2 – 48 from car, *3 – 1 from car, *4 – 2 from car, *5 – 1 off trail, *6 – 1 off trail, *7 – 9 from car, *9 – 1 from car, *10 – 5 off trail

It was pretty cold last night. Around 3:55 am I woke up to pee (in my thunder jug) and afterwards I spent the rest of the time curled up the best I could in my mummy bag. Despite the cold my tent was covered with dew.

Today was filled with climbs but bigger than day one and not so much up and down. It was a roller coaster for sure but gradual. The tough part today was the exposure to the sun and the rocky tread. We were on open mountains and rolling terrain only filled with sage and grass.

We only saw one section hiker named Kelly head SOBO at Tex Creek. Though we did see a huge family all on everything from a dirt bike to quads to mules (the motorized one). They gave Toast and I waters when they passed. They knew we were headed into a 8 mile roller coaster without shade or water.

We passed Morrison Lake before the shadeless roller coaster. The lake was an amazing green on the edges and electric blue in the center. It was pretty amazing to look at. Speaking of color we had an amazing sun set tonight as well.

Lot and Bailey didn’t make it to camp with us. Lot said his hamstrings were bugging him. At lunch he said not to wait he’d hike until dark but he also said he didn’t want to do the last climb. We climbed half way up it. I’m guessing he stayed at the bottom. Hopefully we’ll see them tomorrow. Lot is a great guy.

Tomorrow it’s I to Leadore, pronounced “Lead” “Ore” like the two metals. It’s supposed to be smaller than Lima. Lima was tiny do we’ll see what we find.

Scatman

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Get out there!