This was another very remote stretch of trail — we saw no one else on the trail at all for these three days.
Day 16 – Mile 259.7 – Stuck in Winston
Today we had a relatively easy hike to a small highway to hitch into the town of Winston (population 67) about 23 miles off trail for a resupply. We saw 3 elk! We hoped for a quick in and out of town. We got to the highway around 11:15, but it took 2 hours to get a ride. The guy who picked us up let us know the only store in town was closed on Tuesdays. We told him bummer, we’re completely out of food so we’ll have to hitch to the next town. Turns out he owned the store, so he said he would give us food for today, we could sleep outside the community center, and we could pay him tomorrow. We grabbed our resupply box (with dinners only) from the post office. Then we grabbed lunch and dinner supplies from the store. Then we hung out outside the church all afternoon using their wifi because there was no cell service in town. Not quite what we hoped for, but it turned out to be a relaxing day. Hopefully we can grab more food tomorrow and get a quick hitch back up to the trail.
Day 17 – West of Mile 265 – Walking backward
Our resupply this morning was quick and efficient. It was also less money than expected! At around 9:30 we were at the road trying to get a hitch back up to the trail head. After the delay in Winston yesterday, we were excited to get a hitch quickly. Two guys who work putting up power lines drove us all of the way to the trail head, including about 15 minutes out of their way to drop us off. To make matters better, the trail was easy and we covered the 12 miles to water quickly. We thought the only excitement of the day was the forest fire growing in the distance… But we’re optimistic it will not get in our way. But when we got to the spring, trouble set in… The spring was dry. We searched all around and found no water, so we started walking down the nearest forest road back toward the trail head where we started, hoping to find water on the way. After a few miles we found a cattle tank, but it was dry! We walked about eight miles backward and still didn’t find water, so we decided to make camp and we will walk all of the way back tomorrow morning. Fortunately, we knew this spring had a chance of going dry so we brought enough water to go backwards. It is 20 miles from the spring to the next water source though, and we didn’t bring enough water for that. We set up camp next to a dammed pond we hoped would have water, but it was dry. Ultimately, today we walked about 20 miles and we are 4-5 miles behind where we started (because we might have to go all the way back to the highway for water). We are trying to be positive — the dirt road walk backward has been very pretty and different from the rest of the hike so far. Also, on the sandy road we saw tracks from turkey, bear, elk, cow, wolf, mountain lion, and coyote — just about everything!! Tomorrow we will get enough water to hike 32 miles to the next water source — that will be heavy. For dinner we are having coconut PB noodles — yum! -T
Day 18 – Mile 280.3 – Water is heavy!
Today we woke up next to the dry dammed pond. We ate a quick breakfast and continued heading towards the highway. After 3 miles there was another dammed pond. Tim went to check it out and found it full of muddy WATER! Yay! We spent 1.5 hours filtering enough water for 30 miles and overnight. Then we headed back to the trail on dirt forest service roads. We saw 7 elk this morning. They were all within a couple miles of they pond. I guess they are drinking the water too probably. We got to the spot we left the trail at around 2pm, which ended up being a 22 hour and 22 mile detour for water. Oh well. We bought some extra snacks in Winston, so we should have enough food to make it to Reserve. We are confident about our next water source, as it is a wind mill pumping up ground water for cows. The water was very heavy, which made hiking more tiring than usual. We found a beautiful spot to camp tonight though with a view of sunset and the fire that we’ve been watching for a few days. -R
Muddy water, my favorite!! xo sistray