000 Anneliese’s Continental Divide Trail Pages Page Four - Today’s Date is 30 May 2002

My CDT Hike 2002

May 17 - Rob Comes to Wyoming 00 The tent had quite a bit of frost on it. We packed up and Curly was to now drive five miles ahead and begin hiking toward me. Then when we met we would hike toward the car together. We hiked for about 13 miles to a road junction and then drove along County Road 21 out to Hwy 80. We drove to Rawlins for gas, the post office, food, and then checked into the Best Western. I called Phil and told him what happened and he told me that Rob was looking all over for us. I called Rob and - thank goodness he has a cell phone! He was on his way to Rawlins. Curly washed her laundry, I had a call from Michelle who was staying at my house. Evidently Ron had been there and he picked up his stuff and left a note indicating that he and I were not compatible hiking partners. Oh well... Soon Rob came and we went to dinner together.

May 18 - We See Wildlife 00 Rob, Curley, and I are hiking Segment 7 from County Road 503 N to Rte 71. It has been a most glorious day. We took lots of breaks and are camping near Muddy Creek. We've seen pronghorn, hawks, a small snake, a wild horse, a beautiful black stallion, and we also heard coyotes.

May 19 - Still a Roadwalk 00 We were up early but decided to have hot beverages and oatmeal. It's still a roadwalk but on a dirt road with hardly any cars. All three of us hiked to Bridger Pass and then Rob drove ahead five miles at a time and Curly and I hiked to the Rte 71. It ended up being 24 miles. Temperature was about 78 degrees according to Rob's car thermometer. The trail through that section has very moderate ups and downs through mostly sagebrush with occasional aspen groves - like a patchwork quilt. Photographed a lovely flower which I didn't recognize. The area is really dry and could desperately use some precipitation. We drove to the trailhead for Segment 6 and found a lovely campsite about two miles north of the trailhead. The first 1.2 miles was a roadwalk on Rte 401, which was quite busy in the early morning hours.

May 20 - Where is Segment 5? 00 The rest of the 6.3-mile segment is quite nice, and on a two-track road. We saw many pronghorn antelope fleeing in the opposite direction once they noticed us. They can really move, and we guessed they obtained speeds of up to 30 mph. We had an additional 2.8 miles to Rte 503 which is where we had left my car. This is an excellent access road and only five miles in from Rte 401. We hiked the roadwalk after completing the 6.1 miles to Rte 503 because of the location of our campsite. Then we tried to find the trailhead for Segment 5. Even though we talked to a Forest Service person, we were not able to find the CDT trailhead or crossing. We decided to call it a day and selected a camping spot at the edge of the forest. Lots of phlox there and it looked like it could rain. We also noticed that snow was very much present and lay deep within the forest. There were many Spring wildflowers.

May 21 - Hike through Rawlins 00 We drove back to Rawlins for breakfast at a local place. Then Rob dropped us off at the north end of town and headed for home, meanwhile we hiked to my car on the south end of Rawlins. At first it looked like a nice day but before long clouds rolled in and the wind picked up. We actually ended up putting on our rain gear. There was a little bit of not-quite-freezing rain. Hiking along Rte 71 wasn't too bad since there is little traffic, although the road shoulder is very narrow. We did about 18 miles. Because it was so windy we checked into "The Lodge at Rawlins", $26.75 for each of us. We were done hiking by 3 pm. We showered, did laundry, and washed my car. As we were driving back to the motel we noticed a biker who was walking, and as it turned out, Curly had seen him in New Mexico. He joined us for dinner at the Chinese restaurant. Afterwards we all did some shopping at the City Market. On our walk through town in the morning, Curly bought a note book and we took it to the post office to be used as a trail register.

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