Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Red Route to Leadore
07/28/04
Great trail today. I woke up before the sun was up. I went back to sleep. A bit later, I was doing my morning chores as the golden pink sun sped up behind a white pine tree. The horizon was warm and thick in what appeared to be smoke from a forest fire.
Despite the warm tones, it was cold. Spur's VIT (very inaccurate thermometer) said it was 38 degrees.
As the morning progressed, I noticed the recent work on the trail. And the trail was replacing bad, steep jeep tracks.
I took off and soon was ahead of Apple Pie and Spur. My destination? Bannock Pass, the gateway to Leadore, Idaho. (Leadore is pronounced lead, like the metal, and ore, how the metal comes out of the ground. I know I already said that, but it takes practice to get it right...)
We'd slept 14 miles from the pass, and I wanted to get to Bannock Pass as soon as possible. First, the sooner I/we got there, the sooner we could start hitching. Bannock Pass is known as a long, slow hitch because it's a dirt road with not much traffic.
Since we had such a clear rendezvous point, I just hiked on, not adjusting my pace for the group. I walked along miles of fancy fencing. The trail just kept on going, moving through trees, posting through sage hillsides, and uh, where are my maps? I lost my maps, guidebooks, notepad and pen. They were in a Ziploc that I had in my front pocket. I used to keep the packet zipped in my camera bag, but I wanted better access. Now I had no access. Should I wait for Apple Pie and/or Spur to come along?
I decided to keep following the trail until I could not follow it any longer.
The blazes and signs continued, and I walked and walked, pushing for the pass/bed/hot meals.
The plan worked: I found myself approaching Bannock Pass as the noon hour wore on. I didn't stop to eat lunch. Why would I when I could eat in town?
My final approach allowed a view of the road approaching the pass. Wow. I wasn't seeing any cars. Not one. Hum. When I was about 1 minute from reaching the pass, a giant red pickup zoomed past. My feeble hiker shouts were no match for a cresting diesel going 60 MPH. The first car I'd seen on the road, and I'd missed it.
But wait...
When I got to the pass, I realized I needed to figure out which way to hitch to get to Leadore, but without maps it might be tough. Wait! DeLorme maps to the rescue again. I kept those for access only when I needed them. I discovered that the red truck had been going the way I wanted to go. Oh well.
I began my hitch preparations, including combing my hair, dabbing water on my face, retracting my poles and attaching them to my pack, and changing attitude from I-gotta-get there to pick-me-up-I'm-not-an-escaped-convict.
I got all my chores done before even one car came by. I reevaluated where I was standing. I looked at where I was standing in terms of the driver's perspective. I was not pushed for time. I might as well use it to increase my chances of a ride. Now I just needed cars.
I wandered over toward the cattle guard on one side of the pass to look for a dust plume from a vehicle going my way. Nothing.
But then I heard a sound. Within the next 10 minutes four cars going the opposite direction came by.
Finally, a beat up pickup truck stopped. It was an old guy who knew lots about local Indian history and had been catching 5-pound trout at the reservoir today. He didn't know where the Leadore Inn was, but agreed to help me find it.
Turns out, it's not hard to find anything in Leadore as long as its there. The Leadore Inn was easy to find. I thanked my ride with visions of a bed racing in my head.
Mike answered the door and let me know that both Apple Pie and Spur were already checked in.
What???
Yes.
It turns out the lost maps had a red route and a purple route. The red, real CDT was signed and blazed, so that's what I hiked. They'd taken the shorter, purple route and had left a note at the pass that I missed. Their ride picked them up 20 minutes before I'd arrived at the pass.
Soon we were off for some remote trail angeling. A hiker from a few years back buys milkshakes for hikers who show up. It's a great way to give back.
Oh, I forgot to mention, the group is now the Traveling Show. I starting singing, "I was born in the wagon of a traveling show/Mama used to dance for the money they'd throw...", and Apple Pie pulled the name out in a Eureka! moment. I don't recall why the opening lyrics for Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves came into my brain, let alone out of my mouth. Let's just call it channeling.
