Last year Jared and I made an attempt of this route and had to re-route last minute due to injury. This year we were rest, health, happy, and itching for some trail time. I’m always amazed at the scenery and difficulty of the Wind River Range (the joke of the day was, “Wow, pretty, but not as nice as Leadville” (which was going on the same morning). I was determined to do a better job keeping pace with Jared this year, especially in the cross country sections-the guy eats boulders and snowfields for breakfast. The backdrop for adventure looked like we were running into a painting. After taking the Highline trail around the Green River Lakes we veered off to take in Vista Pass and Knapsack Col on the CD trail. I felt great all morning. We ran into a few hikers that were doing the CD trail over 5 months, man those packs looked heavy. We had to skirt around a cornice to get off the Col and whoosh, Jared was gone. After a sketchy jump (that Jared caught on camera) and nearly breaking my leg punching though the snowfield we plowed on. A long cross country section and a swim later we found ourselves at North Fork Lake,where we bailed last year. I was feeling pretty crappy (literally) but we decided we wanted to at least get to Big Sandy, even if we had to deviate from our original plan. Luckily we had GPS and maps. We only got off course once before we were pinned down by a thunderstorm. In a pinch waterproof maps make great space blankets. We hunkered down under a rock and instantly I was snoozing. Once we decided the worst of the storm was over we decided to plow on. The Fremont (CD trail) from here on in was like a big outdoor treadmill. Neither of us had done this section so it seemed to take forever. It was rolling: climb, descent, marshy creek crossing, climb, descent, marshy creek crossing, repeat. Finally we made it to our destination. Sort of. It took us 20+ minutes to find Mindy in the campground. Unsure of the distance exactly my body felt very much like I’d run 100 miles. After 21 hours of scree, lightning, and swamp foot, laying down on the ground never felt so good.

Gear:

Patagonia Long Hauler Shorts

BD Fleec Gloves

Patagonia Trucker Hat

Patagonia Merino Socks

Patagonia Sleevles Cap 1

BD Flash Pack (my cool new special edition Ultraspire Omega pack was previewing the UTMB course;))

UltrAspire Isomeric Pocket Hand-helds w/ filter bottle

New Balance MT 110

Adventure Powered By: Snickers, EFS, Honey Stinger Waffles, and Salted Peanut Rolls!