Day 60, 61

Zero day in Lander on day 60. Was very successful at doing nothing all day. Just kept my shin elevated and iced most of the day.

Day 61, got a ride out to the trail with a trail angel Chance has been staying with in town, Bill, around lunch time. We ran into A-Bear chatting with a police officer where the trail crossed the highway. Turns out everything was fine, the PO was giving him water. Bill drove A-Bear back in to Lander, so that was cool.

We walked and chatted, catching up since we hadn’t walked together in a week. We just followed a series of jeep roads, although we started in private property so we had to jump a barbed wire fence or two to get on track. It’s pretty damn flat out here, basically desert. Looking to the horizon, this is it for the next hundred miles. I don’t even mind, easy sounds OK right now.

The only problem is water! We stopped at dinner time at a water pump powered by a windmill. The only trick was it doesn’t pump out accessibly, but into a locked tank. We were able to get in to the pump and by jamming a handkerchief into a certain spot, get the water gushing out onto the ground temporarily. Then the wind died and we had to wait for it to pick up before the water would pump again. This could be our new game, kinda like tilting windmills.

The rest of the evening flew by, I didn’t want to stop, but I ran out of light. I may have to do some night hiking to beat the heat in the next few days as it’s been well over 30C for the last 3 days.

Daily Summary
Date: Aug 23, 24, 2011
Day 60, 61
Daily Distance: 17 miles
Trip Distance: 1167 miles