CDT Part 2 – Day 14 – Wide Open Meadows

8/9/21

Daily Miles: 17

2021 CDT Total Miles: 248

Overall CDT Total Miles: 2318

When we were heading out from the hotel this morning, the sky was dark grey and it was really cold and windy outside. We were lucky to have a trail angel offer to give us a ride back up to MacDonald Pass.

When we got to the trail, it was even chillier in the mountains. We put on our windshirts and hoped that the climb we were starting with would warm us up. As we walked, the thermometer on Beardoh’s watch said 38 degrees. Maybe it wasn’t really that cold, but with the wind it definitely felt like that.

We saw several signs of activity in the forest from probably the 1800’s. We saw an old cabin that had collapsed, and we saw an old wooden trestle that looked like it went nowhere. It is always interesting to think about people living and working in an area which now feels like the middle of nowhere.

The walking today was again a combination of forest trails (with surprisingly healthy looking forests) and long stretches of wide open meadows. The sky felt pretty much smoke-free today and we had great views of the surrounding mountains as we walked.

We also had quite a bit of dirt road walking today. We expect that to be the case at least until we get to our next trail town of Lincoln. The walking on the road is pretty pleasant and easy. This afternoon we have seen more traffic on the road than we would have expected. We saw several cabins in the distance, so we figure that the traffic is connected with the cabins.

The wind was pretty relentless today and every time we walked through an open meadow, we would all put on our windshirts to try to avoid getting too cold. The hood of the windshirts also helped to keep our hats from flying off.

Tonight we are camped along the dirt road we spent most of the afternoon walking along. We found a group of trees that will hopefully provide us with some protection from the wind. It is pretty chilly and we are starting out with extra layers on as we go to bed. SweetPea already has two pairs of pants on and her down jacket. That is much more her normal for hiking. She’s even going to try out her down booties for the first time.