Date: 8/28/20
Daily Miles: 18
Total Miles: 1186
We got up in the dark so we could get to town sooner today. By the time we started walking, it was finally light enough that we could turn off our headlamps.
The walking today was pretty easy…we started on trail and then it turned to dirt road for the rest of the day. We were able to keep a pretty good pace most of the day.
In the late morning, we came across a guy out for a ride on his horse. He asked about where we had come from and where we were going. He asked us incredulously if we were going through the Great Basin (or as he called it, the Red Desert). When we said “yes”, his response was “I hope you enjoyed what you’ve already been through, because it’s pretty ugly from here on.” That gave us a chuckle, and we had to appreciate the local honesty.
By 11:30am, we had made it into South Pass City (quite a stretch to call this a city) which was tucked in a little valley – we didn’t even see it until we were practically on top of it. When we arrived, we met three northbound CDT hikers: Merman, Montana, and FreeStyle; as well as a section hiker, Sunshine. They were all super fun to hang out with and we enjoyed chatting with them while we had an early lunch. In fact, Montana thought that he may have gotten trail magic from us on the PCT in 2018.
We mailed ahead our hammock gear and our bear spray, so our packs were feeling really good. We were anxious to get to Atlantic City, so even though we were enjoying our time hanging with the other hikers, we figured it was time to move on. Before we left, Merman had us try some of the mead he was carrying with him (he had a 1L bottle he was carrying). It was really good!
We headed on to Atlantic City and made it in by 2:00pm. We enjoyed the rest of the day with showers, lemonade and snacks, time in the hot tub, lots of food at dinner, ice cream before bed, and good conversation with the lodge owner and several bike-packers who are riding the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. Definitely a good day.
Questions or thoughts on this article? Please leave them below: