Cruising the trail

Day 121

Date: 30.08.2022

CDT Mile: Mile 2'446.1

Miles hiked: 30.1 miles / 48.2 km

Elevations: 5'259 feet ascent (1'604 m Aufstieg) / 7'700 feet descent (Abstieg 2'348.5 m)

Camping at: 7'470 feet / 2'278.4 m

We got up and before hiking out we had to enjoy the beautiful sunrise up here. It was amazing. The golden colors and the late mirroring the mountains. Then we started our descend to the valley, from where we had to climb up to Cutaway Pass. This trail was a nice climb, with loads of switchbacks till the top of the pass. We climbed 5 passes today. So either we climbed or we descended into the next valley. We wanted to hike as far as possible today, may even hike into Anaconda by this night. But due to the sunrise being that nice, we started too late to still be able to reach town today. But the closer we get today, the earlier we are in town tomorrow. After Cutaway Pass with 9'032 feet we descended to 7'850 feet, then we climbed Rainbow Mountain with 9'264 feet, hiked down to 8'326 feet, up again to Goat flat with 9'337 feet and over to Storm Lake Pass at 9'148 feet (a truly beautiful section with amazing views!), down to storm lakes and there we finally breaked for lunch around 3pm. Again we hiked more than 17 miles and did over 4'700 feet of uphill climbing already, we are cruising! Also, we run into two elderly women, day hikers, who wanted to know all about the CDT, our gear and hike. We chatted to them for quite a while, which delayed our lunch. We only wanted to break to quickly eat, but this 'morning' was thouger than we thought and our short stop ended in a 1.5 hrs lunch break. After lunch we only had one climb left up to Twin Lakes Pass, at 8'725 feet. I was done with uphills by then and looked forward to some gentle descending. But not on the CDT, the descent was brutally steep for the first couple of miles. I was tired and hiking up and then steep down the pass took much longer than anticipated. But then we run into two hikers, and one of them recognized me! He hiked the PCT in 2018 and we got to know each other very briefly on trail. He still remembered me though, which is crazy. This year he is hiking the AT, the PCT and the CDT in one single year! Respect man, but nothing I could ever do or would ever wanting to do. Again we chatted for more than half an hour before we moved on again. I got my energy back and the trail finally became easier and faster to walk on. When passing two women we stopped again. Also these two women were amazed by what we are doing and gave us fresh cherry's and cucumber, a very nice gesture. It is getting late, hence we decided to stop for dinner and hike as long as we can and want to. My foodbag is nearly empty. Only one ramen left, some oreos and some sweet peach rings, two Swissmiss chocolate drinkmixes and coffee! It's about time I get to town tomorrow! I think my foodbag has never been that empty and light on the whole CDT! We hiked on in the night, my first nighthiking since new mexico. As we reached the highway we found a flat spot next to a dirt road on a private property, there was only an old shed. We decided to stealth camp here. It was already past 10pm and we will hike out early tomorrow. We hiked more than 30 miles today with loads of climbing, I definitely have my hiker legs. Wow, I am a little proud of my performance today! And then I felt asleep, not able to move anymore, dreaming off chicken fried steak with gravy for breakfasts!

---