September 8th
Segment 25
We woke up early and ate as much as we possibly could fit into our tummies and drink as much coffee as we could stand as we got ready in our room nice and cozy away from the elements. We walked out to the street at 6:10 to wait for Ruthless’s ride. It was dark and cold and we decided it would be warmer to walk then sit and wait. So we walked down to the Prospector hotel and found Ruth with Leah finishing up getting ready to go.
Leah had heard Ruth on a podcast in 2014 and has been following her adventures ever since! She was completely delighted to give Ruth a ride to the trail and meet her in person. It’s like hanging out with a celebrity!
We got a selfie with the mountains behind us before we headed back into the woods. The sun was coming up over the mountains and warming the air and it was looking to be a beautiful day.
The trail was wonderful this morning, rolling and climbing slowly. Gentle and embracing and luering us in and making us happy.
Ruthless caught up to us at a mid morning break and water collection with a new friend Laura. We leap frogged the rest of the day.We saw fresh smoke on the horizon looking north past Molas Pass. It wasn’t a lot, but it’s disturbing coming from California. We contacted friends and family to be on the look out. The smoke dissipated and nothing came of it thankfully.
We crossed the highway of tiny little tracks probably from a pika or chipmunks in the dust on the trail. It was so cute!
Laura beat us to camp and already had her tent set up. The four of us camped together by a beautiful waterfall and ate our dinners together.
We sat outside bundled in our warm layers.
We all confessed we didn’t like cold weather camping. Not one of us. We hate being cold or wet. But here we are doing this trail where it’s sometimes cold and wet, determined to finish.
Ruthless, Grit, Stoney & Bolt
14.7 today! Ruthless had a 5 day plan! About 15 miles a day and we’d be done on Tuesday! If we can keep up we will be done in 4 more days!!!
Jodie’s blog bikehikerepeat.com