JULY 14th 2022

Didn’t sleep too well guess it was the storm last night.  But I was up and on trail by 6.30. I continued down through the woods until I  got to bottom, here was a meadow covered in long grass.

So I soon had wet feet plus it was also boggy. As crossed I noticed two other hikers behind me but couldn’t make out if I knew them . Once across I couldn’t find the trail. The other two caught me it was mud bath and Sonic from Hawaii.  Together we located the trail  . See you guys up trail I said as they were much faster than me.

I carried on up the trail  and crossed a dirt road. The trail now began to climb and climb God I thought Wyoming  was supposed to be flat.
I chugged on up continuing to climb and climb. Bloody hell this is steep, it climbing until I came to an arrow scratched in the road pointing sharply left. Thanks for those who left this as I would have carried on down the road.  I took the left and followed the trail into the woods, although the trail looked poorly travelled as there was no visible trail and so was difficult to follow.
Sometimes there were cairns , sometimes there were posts, it was very hit and miss.  

Okay water  … in 2 miles . I pushed on and was soon in another forest, still climbing  Bloody hell  this is tough.
I stopped to slurp water and to catch my breath. Then I noticed another hiker behind me.
It was Boss a Norwegian  guy.
Almost there he said , as he passed me.
This was the encouragement that I needed and pushed on after him I caught him by the creek filtering water. I dropped my pack and did the same. We began chatting and he has decided to quit the trail and will fly home tomorrow. Sad.
As we sat there a hiker called Swiss Chris arrived followed by happy and T-bone

Okay it’s 11 miles to the trail and to encampment that’s burger and beer .
This wasn’t originally my plan ,as I planned to push through to Rawlins, but this sounded like a much better plan.
So I  took off after them , the next section however had a huge climb straight up, omg it was steep and didn’t seem to ever stop. I caught sight of Happy for a moment  that showed me where the trail was heading.
The trail now turned right and climbed near a stream before breaking out near the top and snow. Wow thought I had seen the last of that for a while.
I climbed over two lots of snow before playing find the trail, fun and frustrating. The trail wound its way around a large rocky outcrop  and was littered with quartz, some where big chucks resembled small icebergs.

Once  again the trail was a nightmare to follow, I made my way through and at last the trail appeared to head down.
Towards the bottom was the perfect place to take a break, as I sat there two deer passed  by until they saw me and bounced off.
Okay snail, miles the trail once again dropped down into a valley , I could hear water flowing so stopped and grabbed another litre before heading into another wood.
As i wandered through, I come upon Happy and T-bone taking their break. I pushed on through and began another climb through more rocky terrain. Happy soon came passed me and bounded up the mountain.
It was now beginning to heat up as I  walked though what looked like  a country park, Suddenly thunder rumbled and a few raindrops fell  but the sun soon chased that away. phew.
I pushed on through the afternoon and was now in long open fields bordered with trees.
Great I thought I can make some miles up here….but the nice green grass hid Marsh and soon I was pushing through bog after bog and I was not happy about it as the mud stank. Sometimes you came to a small creek where you could wash off your shoes  but then it was back into more stinky mud. ARRRRRHHHH. 
At last I began to climb out of the marshland  and was on solid ground , but not for long still more marsh, what a crap trail….
I began to follow another still trying to keep my feet dry and clean !!.

Soon I was on a real path  but was aware I had a large climb at the end of the day …the path  was welcome and I was able to get some pace before the big climb came. The climb was steep but not long and so I was soon at the top then of course heading down , and then emerged at the trail head. I walked to the road it looked deserted….
The only traffic appeared to be going the wrong way.
Oh a car I put out my thumb as it whizzed past okay I will give it 30  minutes.
A white truck came by and stopped he was a geologist carrying out work on water pollution from am old Copper mine.
He dropped me off at the Rv park $15 bargain an extra $1 for a towel and soap for the shower. 

Most of the guys who had passed me were here and set up. I put up my tent and then had a amazing shower.
OK food, I went across the road, Most of the guys were here so I joined them on a large table.
Mudbath had an enormous pizza. BOSS and Swiss Chris were drinking beer from huge glasses.  I ordered a burger and a large soda as still not allowed alcohol  Boo Hoo hiss .Later happy and T-bone joined us we sat there for several hours before moving next door. I was still on the sprite. 
Okay , its well passed my bed time so I headed back
As soon as I got into my bag the storm hit . Great flashes of lightening  lit up my tent followed by the sonic boom of the thunder.  God it was so loud
It seemed to go on all night until i fell asleep. 

Milage 19