I spent my morning hours to take care of a bunch of logistics for resupply. The best news was that Johannah from Old Faithful post office (PO) confirmed that Encampment PO bounced the box to Derby PO and I was so relieved to hear that! We both had been trying to get in touch with the Encampment PO but apparently, the phone number that was listed on google map was wrong! Thanks to Johannah, using the PO insider communication system to get hold of them, it happened!

I walked to the intersection of the road and I-15 on/off ramp and hitched a ride back to the trail. I waited for almost an hour watching cars go by. A commercial truck driver came off the ramp, stopped and said, “God bless you!” and gave me $5. I told him that I’m a hiker and just looking for a ride to the trail, not for the handout. He said he would pick me up when he comes back if I’m still there. I wondered if he thought I was a homeless person first. Another few minutes passed and a red Tesla pulled over for me. I was so happy! Steve, a backpacker, gave me a ride and we had great conversation. I asked him to drop me off on the shoulder of I-15 right next to the trailhead. It was so strange to hop over the interstate fence to get back on the trail. As a thru-hiker, by now I’m used to doing weird things such as this, taking a shade refuge in a culvert, etc.

I felt relieved to be back on the trail. It was a dirt road that led me to rolling hills of sagebrush. Cows hang out on the land and soon, it became a trail. For the next four days until I reached Bannock Pass, I went up and over the ridge line many times. The train reminded me of North Cascade Mountain in Washington. The elevation is not high, but the slopes are pretty steep. 

My highlights of this section include seeing beautiful sunrise almost every day and hiking through thunderstorms for the first two days and it was refreshing to feel the rain in the sagebrush dry land. I love smelling of the moisture in the air with the scent of sage. 

Seeing a bunch of CDT southbound hikers (SOBOs) and saying hello to them was fun. Many of them took a moment to congratulate me for making this far and super early. They said that they only met one or two NOBOs hiking the redline (official CDT) through Colorado and asked me about snow traveling experience in San Juan Mountains and they gave me so much compliments for getting through. These people know what it’s like and I felt seen and heard by the fellow thru-hikers. As we say goodbye, many said, “You’re almost there!” Although I still have 700 miles to go, putting in the perspective of 3,100 miles, it feels like I’m getting close to the end and I agreed it’s only 700 miles left. I noticed that there is a  difference between the PCT hikers and the CDT hikers. All SOBO CDT hikers yielded to me when I was going uphills. It is a basic backpacker etiquette to yield to the uphill hikers; however, most PCT hikers didn’t follow this etiquette. I don’t expect people to know about it, but if you just think about it, it’s a common sense. Uphill hikers are spending more energy and effort to come up the hill and it’s a courtesy to make it a little easier for the downhill hikers to yield. The CDT hikers also seem to know a fine line of what information to exchange and over sharing or talking too long. Some people just say hi and go. I appreciated the amount of interactions I had with them.

I felt most fatigued during this time. I lost quite a bit of weight and also am recovering from a hole in my leg, consuming more calories for healing. I am looking forward to getting to Butte, MT where Brett and Sallie, my new friends I made at Yellowstone, will pick me up and take me to Bozeman where I have much better options for good food!

My most favorite part of this stretch was towards the end- the 14 miles of trail that went up and over the Elk Mountain. After walking on the dirt roads and surrounded by cows, hiking the trail was soft on my feet and I enjoyed quiet without hearing moos over and over. The wildflowers are almost all gone on the dry sagebrush land but they were blooming in full along this last section. 

I smelled the smoke in the morning of on my last day before reaching the Bannock Pass. There has been thunderstorms everyday and I wondered if a wildfire started somewhere nearby. It reminded me of the time when I was on the PCT and just three days after I made it to Canada, the land agency closed the last 150 miles of the trail due to the fire, turning all the PCT hikers. The fires are huge concern for the PCT hikers. There was even an article about thru-hiking the PCT is no longer possible in the last decade due to wildfires. I haven’t heard much about the fires on the CDT and its impact on the hikers so I hope I can continue on without encountering the wildfire closure of the trail. 

Whatever happens, I’ll just meet the challenges, knowing that nature has its own way and I am just there with respect, knowing my boundaries. If it’s meant to be, I’ll make it. If not, I won’t. And that’s okay.