Very windy day

Day 129

Date: 07.09.2022

CDT Mile: Mile 2'660.7

Miles hiked: 23.9 miles / 38.2 km

Elevation: 4'905 feet ascent (1'496 m Aufstieg) / 5'174 feet descent (Abstieg 1'578.1 m)

Camping at: 6'467 feet / 1'972 m

I thought once we are done with Colorado days are only gonna be much easier. But then we hit the Wind Ricer Range and after that the Idaho/Montana boarder with many up- and downhills. Also today is gonna include a lot of uphill hiking. I struggle a lot in the morning. I have no energy and the uphills are killing me. Also, it is very smoky. Water is scarce too. A couple of miles in we get water of a spring out of a metal container. That will be our only water source for today till wed each Dave's Outfitter in the evening. So we camel and buckle up, making our packs heavy again. Later in the morning the wind picks up. This might help us with the smoke. The views were nice, but super smoky. But the ground was amazing. We hiked on purple stones, really purple rocks, I have never seen that before! After lunch the trail became a little easier however I managed to lose the trail two times! Don't know how, but luckily I always found my was back to trail shortly later. We made it to Dave's Outfitter around 4.30pm. Dave is a really interesting guy. He lives in the mountain, out in nowhere, and has built up a outdoor gear store there. It is like a nepalese store, filled from the bottom till the roof with gear, with only tiny aisles between all the stuff. One could spend hours in here and still not see everything! I get a new filter, new injini inliner socks and insoles for my shoes. Dave has literally everything, somewhere! I even get to have an outdoor shower in his back 'garden', with some warmish water. It was as rather short but refreshing shower! We took so much time in Dave's store that we decided to stay here for the night. Dave allows hikers to camp in his backgarden. We are the only hikers here, but as of his guest book about 15 other hikers have passed this place today! As no one else shows up, we pitch tents and call it a day.

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