CDT Day 60 – Green River

Date: 8/20/20

Daily Miles: 16

Total Miles: 1065

The last few days have been a little hazy…as though there is smoke from a forest fire being blown into the area. This morning when we woke up, the smoke was a lot thicker in the air. We couldn’t smell the smoke, but it was definitely casting a fuzzy look to everything.

Today felt like we had entered into a new landscape. We were leaving the rolling hills with few views and entering big mountains with striking views. There were also a lot of people on trail today…lots of backpackers out in the Winds for a few days.

We met our first southbound CDT hiker, Honest Abe. He seems to be on a pretty aggressive schedule, needing to walk close to 30 miles a day. It just made us happy that we don’t have the time pressure on us anymore.

The walking today was really enjoyable and the scenery was nice. We walked for awhile along several beautiful lakes and a big glacial river with water that was creamy blue. The large rocky mountains around the valley created a very dramatic image.

We talked with several more hikers today about the upcoming alternate through Knapsack Col. What we heard today (that it was a lot of boulder scrambling and loose scree), made us rethink whether or not we should hike the alternate or the regular trail. We let it ruminate in our minds for a few hours while we walked. We decided not to do the alternate, since that kind of off-trail hiking can be pretty hard on SweetPea’s hip (plus she is nursing some minor shin splint pain). We made the plan to continue with our light days to Pinedale without the alternate.

We continued our relaxing pace with a two hour lunch break. Beardoh has been hanging up his hammock everyday during lunch. SweetPea is happy just to lay down during lunch with her backpack as a pillow. We took time to read and relax after eating…just enjoying our lunch spot next to the Green River.

In the morning, we walked across a small bridge, which is apparently going to be replaced by a bigger bridge. We saw the staging set up in the river, and the footings on either bank under construction. And in the afternoon, we passed a Forest Service crew who had dismantled a bridge and were working on building a new one. With all the foot traffic in this area, it seems that having bridges is a priority.

We called it a day around 5:30pm. With so many backpackers in this area over time, there are lots of really nice campsites. The mosquitos are definitely out in force, so we are both in our hammocks, safely separated from the bugs.