CDT – Day 40 – Fish Pond to Rawlins

6/3/15, Day 40

Fish Pond 1383.1 to Rawlins 1395.6, 6781′

Hotel – Nights Spent Alone: 7

12.5, 739 Trip Miles

Mostly Sunny – Breezy

Day’s of Snow: 7 – Day’s of Rain: 12

# of Zero days: 5

7 am to 11:21 am

Gila Crossings Final Total:  221

Critter Count

29 Pronghorn

16 Prairie Dogs

2 Jack Rabbits

1 Cotton Tails

1 Rattle Snake

Totals

421 Pronghorn*

119 Lizards

116 Wild Horses

56 Elk

36 Deer**

35 Cotton Tail Rabbits

33 Chipmunks

22 Horny Roads

20 Squirrels

16 Prairie Dogs

12 Ground Squirrels

12 Jack Rabbit***

6 Snakes

4 Moles

3 Coyotes

2 Rattle Snakes

2 Toads

1 Mouse

1 Skunk

1 Marmot****

*174 from car, **3 from car, ***1 from car, ****1 from car

Another day in the basin. Today was short thank god. I slept okay but the ground was pretty hard. The moon rise was amazing and it was so bright being that it’s full.

We got a latish start knowing town was only 12 or 13 miles away. Unfortunately the miles seemed long to us. It got hot fast and the last miles to town always seem to take longer. You always just want to be done with hiking, even though you know you’re just going to get up again and do more.

We did see a rattle snake on the way. Rafiki walked right past it and did his business just 10 feet away. He didn’t see it until he started to return to the trail. When I caught up he showed me it. As we approached it started to rattle and finally had enough of us and started down a hole he was coiled around. He just left his tail sticking out and rattled.

The Rattle Snake Rafiki almost stepped on

When crossing through a gate Rafiki held the gate and I stepped through and said thank you. I forgot to take a few extra steps so my hiking poles which were hanging like a sword at my side but only more horizontal would clear him. I turned and smacked him with both tips right across the face. He replied with “No, thank you.”  I felt really bad. No damage was caused.

Once in town we went to lunch at Buck’s. It looked good but the food was just okay. I downed like three Mountain Dews. High Country Bar & Grill in Chama still had the best food.

Green Vastness

After that it was just logistics and planning for the miles ahead. We will be hitting snow in the next three days. I’m not sure what to expect but it will be an adventure for sure.

Just like the trail, towns like Rawlins are hard too.  Big towns are harder to get around,lodging is more expensive and sometimes the vast amount of options is over whelming to the hiker mind.

I remember being excited to get there then quickly realized why I was hiking in the first place.  I can’t say any of my meals were good and unless I was sleeping I was doing a chore of some sort.  That is the reality of town, you’re always doing something or sleeping.

Back to Day 39, Forward to Day 41

Scatman

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Get out there!