Goodbye to Jason - Day 317

  Today was probably the last of the high vistas for a couple of days. The colors are hanging in there, but the day was overcast, so they aren't bright. This is from an unnamed high point.


After that, we crossed the Encampment River. The crossing was a big nothing, but that is not always the case. Several bridges have washed out here, and currently there is not one. Today we just stepped across on rocks. They weren't even big rocks. It was great.


Then we crossed several mud pits and scrambled up this steep climb to Pine Ridge.


There were decent views from Pine Ridge.


I like rocks at the edges that are a little unusual.


Then... I guess we liked the rock scramble and the mud so much that we did it again. We (I was leading so I have to take responsibility) walked out of the overlook back in the direction we had just come from. We backtracked about a mile before we realized what we'd done. So then, we had to do it all a third time to get back to the correct direction. There were several "red flags," but apparently we were too much in snooze mode to realize it.

There was a trail detour that sould have saved us some mileage for the day, but we more than made up for it with the duplicate trail. Bummer.

I ended at a place where Annie could pick me up, but Jason is now going on ahead and will be camping out again. He has big hiking plans for the next few years. But what a great companion! We had a surprising number of things in common for two people who are 31 years different in age. I'm sure we'll stay in touch.


After that, Annie and I went out to eat at the Rustic Inn. I have to admit it; their pie crust is better than Betty's Pies. I think Betty's quality has slipped. We had turkey sandwiches on cranberry-wild-rice bread with cranberry mustard and bacon. I had cherry pie and Annie had lemon cream pie. All excellent.

I'm surprisingly tired today, given that the mileage was shorter. It was truly chilly and windy, so maybe that's it. I'm sure I'll be fine tomorrow. The athlete's foot seems to have finally really cleared up. Annie is doing a great job as my helper!

Miles today that count 11.0 (plus about 2 more). Total miles so far: 3653.8.

See Gooseberry Reroute