June 20th

I lay awake staring at the rain drops on my tent ,my Alarm went off I silenced  it. 
It’s no good I need to move so let out the air  from my mattress then went and got more water.
As I emerged the other two hikers Pittsburg & Keebler were also packing up.
Dropping a wet tent is just as much fun as putting one up.
It had rained through the night but luckily it had now stopped. I put everything I could inside my pack before starting on the tent.
I unpegged it and released the fly from the tent before rolling , then gave it a good shake before dropping it over a tree to drip.
I folded up my tent and put it in its  bag and then the footprint. Then I put my soaked fly into dry bag and then into the tent bag, I will try and dry it sometime today.
The two boy’s (Pittsburg  & Keebler) headed out, I will finish my tea and I’d be after them ha ha.
Okay I am back on trail 6.45 a little late but hey Rain !!
The trail crossed onto a dirt road and there was a sign saying  mystery House. So when the trail dived back into the  woods I stayed on this track. I began to climb following the trail.,the morning was cool , not cold except for my hands yes I need better gloves.
I soon came upon two old dilapidated  wooden log cabins so had to explore wow love how they built these things
I headed off down the trail and then unexpectedly came a newly built huge log cabin.

Wow I’d love a  place like this.

I carried on along the  road until it reached the Cdt trailhead.  I was just reading the board when Pittsburg arrived followed by Keebler.  HOW ……

I was surprised to be ahead .as I had spent a lot of time looking at the cabins, I set off after them but the trail was so steep that I couldn’t match their pace and so watched them disappear into the distance. I struggled as the trail crossed numerous streams and bogs all while climbing.
After reaching the top of one part I had to cross a wide section of scree, there were cairns  to direct you but some of the big slabs moved when you stood on them freaking me out , then after this there were several large snow bungs to cross over.
Finally I was at the top, okay what’s over the saddle. I reluctantly peered over and thank goodness I was heading down.
The down was steep but aided by several switchbacks , Did i say that it was still incredibly steep. 
Once down I pushed on down the trail, but was slow going as I had so many streams to  cross. I guess I crossed  well over a dozen, some were easy other were fast flowing and surrounded by deep sticky mud. The streams flowed into the many lakes that looked gorgeous with the sun shining on them.
Okay I need a break and as it was sunny it would be a good time to dry my fly. I found a suitable spot and took off my pack, unpacked my fly and pegged it out in he sun. The wind and sun soon got the  job done as I  finished off some snacks and apple that I had  packed out.
I packed the fly away hoisted up my pack and continued down the trail. On my map it mentioned a Ghost Town.
I thought that it may be interesting and as I am also a tourist  I thought yes let’s take a look. It was off trail but I could detour back when done. Also I have food and a tent. I turned right from the official  trail and headed down a dirt road that was labelled old cdt.
As I followed this winding road, several Jeeps came passed with children hanging out of  the windows  and laughing looks as if they were having a lot of fun.
I passed by a sign for  Hancocks pass and then headed to the Ghost town. Mmm nothing  here, That was disappointing.Oh bummer. I turned around and began to follow the old train route back to the Cdt.
The good thing about this was the gradient, not steep so it was  easy to walk along.except that there was so much water where large streams dumped their contents. In some places you could still see the sleepers or what was left of them.
As I walked on I met several families on their way back from  this trail.
Okay I am hot .lunch break and time to remove a layer. I found a suitable rock, dropped my pack and ate lunch
After 20 minutes i was ready to go, I swung up my pack and was just adjusting it when Pittsburg  arrived.
NO you cannot be behind me.! shortly Keebler appeared
Snail how….
I explained Ghost town tourist .
We all headed off together but Pittsburg is fast and he was soon way out in the distance,Keebler then stopped to text his wife.
I pushed on up the old railway, in places the snow had blown over the trail, in other places there had been rock slides. I tried to imagine  how the railway coped with all this. I then came to a sign telling you about the railways and a competition to design the best snow clearance device. Very  interesting  as I had seen these machines at the Charma railway museum.
Eventually the railway became single trail again and with it more snow. I was crossing a large snow Chute when Keebler  appeared and found a better way to cross.  Further up the trail i encountered a huge snow Chute and halfway up was Keebler.  Omg I have to climb that!! It actually was easier than it looked but bloody steep , I was soon at the top.

Except I wasn’t the trail climbed sharply to my right… Really  I said to myself and set off after the boys.
Once over the trail dipped into the valley before climbing out once more. Great I thought more climbs.
But I seemed to have plenty of energy today so powered up the second hill, over the saddle, below i could see Pittsburg & Keebler taking a break. .

Just once more small climb snail then it’s all downhill.Keebler Said.
We sat here for almost 30 minutes before Keebler got up to push on closely followed by Pittsburg. 
I took up the rear. .yes yes once over the next saddle the trail did indeed head down.
As the tread  was good I was able to get some pace and soon caught up to the to boys who were deep thought. 
Look snail.
In front of us you could plainly see the two routes the Red route the official CDT zig zagged steeply up the mountain almost to the sky. The other took a more sedentary route up an Jeep track.
I had already decided on the alternate. 
Pittsburg & Keebler moved off and once again I’m in pursuit lol.
As I approached a forest the trail became very manicured, I crossed over a sturdy bridge and into the forest.The trail was immaculate, the tread uncluttered and the sides of the trail pegged with  tree trunks.
Looks very smart and omg there were switchbacks, to be fair they were a little overkill  but I’m going down not up, but of course there were about a dozen blowdowns to navigate over or around. 
It was at this point  I hit my hiking wall and my engine became a plod (limp mode). I plodded down and down and down omg it was a long way down.
Eventually I exited out into sunshine and crossed  over  another bridge as I crossed I noticed a tent up to my left with what appeared to be someone sleeping, well that’s a bit early !!
I carried on town the trail past several large lakes to my right and there was a family fishing.
I carried on okay this will do, I climbed up a small hill
Snail snail here….
Pittsburg &  Keebler had found the perfect spot. 
Their packs stood by their chosen  spots. 
Is this space free I said pointing at the dirt.
All yours Snail.

I dropped my pack then went in search of water with Pittsburg. 
We quickly found then returned to our camp  to set up.
Once that was all done we all sat on a huge log and cooked dinner.
Both boys did double ramen. Funny I’d  never thought of doing that. 
I peeled my orange that I packed out and offered  some to the boys before cooking my ramen (single portion) washed down with several cups of tea.
We would of sat chatting for longer but once again the Mossies  thought we should go to bed

Milage  17