Day 61: 12 Pack Finds a Plate!

Miles Hiked: 21.2

Total Milage: 970.4

Location: Arapaho National Forest

This morning I woke up and did the last of my town chores. Luke left around 9am and I was bawling my eyes out about it. I got my bag all packed up and ready to go and went to 12 Pack and Hummingbird’s room. I said goodbye to Jenga (he is going to hike the Superior Hiking Trail) and 12 Pack, Hummingbird and I all went to wait for the bus. 12 pack met a man named Doug in town yesterday who offered to give all of us a ride back to the trail! We met up with him at “Ski Haus” a local outdoor gear store. Doug drove us in his van back to the highway exactly where we got picked up. He was super nice and it was great to have a ride back to the random highway spot vs asking a hitch to do that!

Once on the highway, we had a 11.5 mile walk on the side of it. We walked highway 40 for 1.5 miles and highway 14 for 10 miles. The highways were very busy and hardly had any shoulder at all. Ocasionally a semi truck would drive by so close to me and I’d have to jump off the shoulder which was really difficult when the ground sloped away from the highway at a very steep angle. Around mile 10, 12 pack finally found a license plate! He has he looking for one to put on his pack since the beginning of the trail. I’ve never walked on the side of a highway so much in my entire life and I think it’s funny how long it took 12 pack to find a plate. I’m honestly surprised he found one at all. He was so happy about it!

After we finally got off of a paved road, we walked on a forest service road for the rest of the day. I didn’t pack enough water out of town and I accidentally dehydrated myself quite a bit. I was so happy when we finally reached a stream where I could get more water. Right before camp, I saw two large animal footprints. One had claws and one did now. I think they could definitely be a bear! It made me really nervous that they were so close to our campsite. The water I got from the spring at the end of the day is some of the best water I’ve drank in a while! I made a pasta primavera meal that my friend Monica sent me for dinner and it was amazing! Having delicious food on trail is so nice.