Aug 25 – Urich

Beautiful morning walking for the start of the day. Walked by the remainder of Dewey Lake on the way out of camp and had nice views quite quickly after a short climb.

Got out to Hwys 410 in about an hour and sat at the picnic tables near the overlook people and car watching with JJ, Wolfpack, Analog and Moonshine. People watching in a situation like this is pretty entertaining. Especially with a group of thruhikers who have been on the trail for nearly four months. Collectively, we are slightly jaded because of living mostly out in the woods. We know it, and we know this experience will end, but we have fun for a few moments. Our perspectives are collectively similar because of the shared experience, and even the motorcycle riders in the group will make fun of the dentists on their hogs as they go noisily up the highway….or the weekend backpackers headed out in jeans and flannel, with gear falling off their packs as they head out of the parking lot.

Much of the walking today was just shy of ridge walking, where we were on the edges of slopes with great views of the surrounding mountains and valleys below. Not a lot of water on the trail today, but once we were up on the ridge, it was not hot nor overly exposed, so the need for water was not as great.

Walked with Analog for the afternoon. Enjoyed chatting with him about Minnesota, and Northern Exposure (the TV show). I rarely run into anyone who has the same fondness for that show as I do, so we had a good time chatting about that.

Tonight we are camped near Urich Shelter. We intended to stay at the shelter, but there were three people with horses here and they have commandeered the shelter for themselves. So we are camped a little further down the trail in a fairly flat area. It is JJ, Wolfpack, Moonshine, Analog, and myself. Not sure where Qball is….he went ahead yesterday after lunch and we haven’t seen him since….he is probably in town eating ice cream and pizza by now.

Daily Distance: 26
Trip Distance: 2,344.2