Tuesday, August 31, 2004
Perfect Day
08/31/04-1
I'm camped in a short rock outcrop just off the trail. I stopped hiking at around 8:45 PM. The sun set probably an hour earlier, and the waning full moon has not yet risen. This period of relative darkness gave me enough time to set up camp and lay in my bag to look at the stars, the Milky Way, and a few satellites. As I was contemplating the vastness of distances visible to my eye, I saw a shooting star and made two wishes: to be as happy as I am right now all the time, and to be respectful of other people all the time.
The moon is again incredibly warm as it sits just above the horizon, the night, like the day, is shaping up to be warm and almost still. The air moving is not wind, not a breeze, but a balancing of temperatures.
How did the day ending with such beauty, peace, and perfection begin? With a bunch of easy morning chores that included reviewing the maps for this section, incorporating Yogi's notes from her traverse less than two weeks ago, and deciding on a route.
The maps had a surprise for me. Jonathan offered an alternate that started where I slept last night, a purple route with my name written all over it (except the vague trespassing): The Sweetwater River Alternate. Rather than walk boring roads with no shade, I chose the river walk. I didn't crank out the miles, but I made acceptable forward progress while having a simply delightful day.
The alternate follows the Sweetwater River for about 10 miles. It's all cross-country hiking, but cow and wildlife paths provide segments of trail-like walking. I crossed the river 28 times and used the river as my path six times. Sometimes taking a mid-stream route is easier than negotiating steep banks, willowy sections, or deep muck.
This was a total freedom day, meaning that I knew I'd be getting my feet wet all day, so I didn't really concern myself with keeping them dry. I'd hop in the water as easily as I'd take the next step.
I love hiking rivers. I love the water on a warm day. I do not like the cows' influence on the river. I do not like seeing a cow pooping in the water I'm walking in. I hate being ankle deep in mud knowing that some percentage of the muck is cow shit. I was willing to make tradeoffs to do this river, and they were well worth it. The topo maps promised increasingly steep and tall mountains as the miles progressed.
At the narrowest place of the day, the rocks on the north bank were incredibly smooth and formed in various arcs and bowls. I took some fairly erotic photos of the warm, smooth rock reflecting the sun.
Then, I ran into two guys. Unfortunately, they were on a BLM mission to measure the recovery of the riparian growth after a 5-year grazing 'rest'. They seemed surprised to see me too.
As my miles increased moving downstream, the rocks in the river flow and on the banks grew bigger. On river crossing number 23, I wasn't paying enough attention to the large, algae-covered, smooth, angled rock I had just put my pole on and was about to put my foot on. I sort of fell in up to my waist, but the front of my shirt got wet too. All was fine, but getting wet in a slip was a little dispiriting.
Most of the crossings were calf deep, but some would get the bottom of my shorts wet. At points the current was something to contend with, but mostly the water flowed with a gentleness to match the warm day.
I left the river at Willow Creek, which was flowing. Instead of Jonathan's route back to the CDT, I made my own. I followed a wildlife trail that took an aggressive, but not unreasonable, line up the hill to the ridge, then walked the ridge to a large plateau area. My way got the climbing done in a short amount of distance.
Here's a wildlife report:
Two snakes, one in the grass, one in the water
Ten small, light brown-headed ducks
A flock of 18 sage grouse startled into flight
Several large-eared deer, singly and in pairs
Many antelope
Two blue herons
One tiny white egret, perhaps a juvenile
A cotton tailed rabbit with big ears
Perhaps a kingfisher
Many, many Clarke's Nutcrackers
Two big trout
