CDT97
30th July Sunday
27 miles , (2,374 miles so far)
Last night I got a bit of a fright just finished dinner and was getting comfortable and slowly drifting off to sleep, I then heard what sounded like a herd of horses crashing through the bush heading towards my tent. What could I do? I listened as i reached for the tent flap to unzip. The noise was so close, maybe they were metres from my tent, then it came to abrupt halt, I can only assume were either Elk or deer, there was quiet and then they turned and as quick as they appeared they were gone to quick for me to see them as I poked my head out of the tent.
Signs long the way
Fantastic day with the trail well marked and clear, passed a couple of lakes, Rock Island Lakes, and if the timing of the day was good, it would have made a great camp site for the night.
While having lunch, at 3 o’clock, father and two daughters came up on the trail, giving me a surprise as i hadn’t seen anyone for two days. They were carrying fishing rods and came from where I’m about to head, a big long climb up to the ridge which is why I stopped to refuel myself for the two hour uphill struggle.
Well maintained path with great bridges to keep my new shoes dry
On my final hour for the day, I passed a large group of CDT hikers heading south, first two was OilCan and Geoffrey both Canadian’s that had done the Te Araroa the trail in new Zealand couple of years back. OilCan said that there were 13 in this group, it was explained to me that they were couples or individuals doing the trail but have bottled up together and travel as a group.
I really don’t know how that’s going to work as some nights I find it hard to find a decent spot for myself let alone the 10-13 tent site required.
I didn’t stop and talk for long with the rest and I was more concerned in finding a place to pitch my tent at 8pm.
New shoes, still clean and time to make camp
It was a great day, although I had a couple of hard climbs I really enjoyed the views, tomorrow I’m thinking of doing 30 miles just to break the standard 27 miles per day.