6/27/15 Day 64, Janet’s Hut to Tennessee Pass M1829.3 10,508′
Tent – Nights Spent Alone: 7
15.7, 1172.6 Trip Miles
Mostly Sunny
Day’s of Snow: 7 – Day’s of Rain: 19 – Days of Hail: 11
# of Zero days: 6
6:39 am to 11 am and 7:23 pm to 8:20 pm
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
Unicorn
Critter Count
2 Marmot
2 Deer
2 Prairie Dogs
1 Fox
1 Chipmunks
1 Squirrels
1 Mole
Totals
1) 530 Pronghorn*
2) 169 Elk
3) 119 Lizards
4) 116 Wild Horses
5) 113 Chipmunks
6) 75 Deer**
7) 40 Cotton Tail Rabbits
8) 35 Squirrels
9) 35 Ground Squirrels
10) 29 Marmot****
11) 28 Prairie Dogs
12) 22 Horny Roads
13) 17 Jack Rabbit***
14) 11 Moose
15) 8 Snakes
16) 8 Pika
17) 4 Coyotes
18) 5 Moles
19) 2 Fox
20) 2 Porcupine
21) 2 Rattle Snakes
22) 2 Toads
23) 1 Mouse
24) 1 Skunk
25) 1 Weasel
*181 from car, **3 from car, ***1 from car, ****2 from car
The hut was nice but I slept very warm. As usually I didn’t want to get up. Then the thought I had to get to the PO before noon motivated me.
The hike up to Searle Pass, 12,044′ wasn’t bad as it was only three tenths away. We sided hills through some beautiful high meadows and cross a few high points then descended to Kokymo Pass, 12,024. From there it was all downhill. Well for a while.
We climbed along Hwy. 24 to Tennessee Pass. Short on time we hitched to town from the first road crossing which was three miles short of the pass. It worked out as I made the PO and went back out to hike those three miles later.
In town it was frustrating at first as planning my mail drop on July 4th was proving hard. Then as things do it fell into place. I stood around in the sun a lot in town as Rafiki and I kept running into NoBo and other curious soles. We had beer and BBQ as there was a festival going on in town. Main Street was closed.
Around 3 pm I was crashing and we made our way to a pizza place for food. There Tony Quinn a guy we meet from VT who worked at UVM (Rafiki works there) joined us then Moist, Abu, and Cookie Monster joined us.
I decided to hike solo so when Rafiki walked to the store I followed and planned to hitch back to the trail. I came out of the store and found The Gumps, Seth and Genny. Us three hitched backed to the trail and Rafiki stayed in town to meet a friend.
I got a hitch first, from three very nice kids. Asked lots of questions and were super cool. Once to the trail I powered out the three miles. Along the way I stopped for water. When I packed my water on my pack I thought I saw a pile of rocks in the field near me. I looked again and it moved. It was an amazingly beautiful fox. Big bushy tail and he/she had a coat that was red and brown. Almost spotted but big patches of color. Very cool.
I found The Gumps not far from the pass, I cooked a small dinner in a sea of mosquitoes and here I am.
Scatman
Brand Ambassador for: Outdoor Research, SuperFeet, Ibex, Julbo, Petzl, Dude Wipes, Platypus, ClifBar and Aqua Mira
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Get out there!
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