A campsite on a slant is not a good way to spend the night. At least I had the foresight to take the uphill side so I wasn’t squished all night. Unfortunately, Pam is not a passive sleeper. If she feels compressed, she believes people are trying to steal her oxygen and she makes free use of elbows. If Pam is ever attacked on the street she would probably crumble in a heartbeat as long as her attacker doesn’t put a hand over her mouth. If they make the mistake of interfering with her air flow, you are looking at a dead attacker.
Every time I got an elbow in my side, I decided I might as well get up and pee rather than wait until I start dreaming of water (my usual cue). As you can guess, I didn’t get a lot of sleep but I did get up without my usual sense of urgency to head to a tree. Since I was sleep deprived compliments of Pam, I was more high strung than usual. As anyone that knows me well will attest, I am usually an extremely laid back, take it as it comes, never ruffled person. Today, Pam insisted on me taking an Ativan.
We’re already slow going in the morning so if you want speed, it’s probably not a great idea to medicate Curtis. We finally got everything done and got out of camp by 10a. Everyone will be relieved to hear that my sphincter has finally relaxed enough from the drive over Schofield Pass to be fully functional again so I’m walking with a little more pep in my step today.
The first 4 miles were all downhill so it was a pleasant walk. When we got down to the meadow at the low point of the valley, we ran across a lone hiker that had somehow gotten turned around and didn’t know which valley he was in. He didn’t have any food or even have a map with him. I can’t remember who suggested we ask if he had any money on him—with 5 of us we could easily over power him and no witnesses. Instead, we showed him on a map where he was and offered him some water, but he said he was fine.
Not too much further, we came to a stream crossing which required us to switch into our water shoes. While our feet were drying out, we decided to have some lunch. Pam never eats enough when we’re hiking. She claims that she can’t hike with a full stomach. I think she doesn’t like to acknowledge that we need 4-5000 calories a day and tries to maintain eating at 1500 out of spite when I tell her to eat more.
Back on the trail, we stay bunched up for a while. We run into a couple in running shorts and fanny packs. We are about as far from a trailhead as you can get on this loop. Turns out that they are running the trail in a single day. Not only that, this is a very popular trail for doing just that. This is a level of fitness so far out for anyone from Missouri that I can’t grasp it. Pam’s brother lives in Boulder and the people tend to be more fit there. We just can’t wrap our heads around the level of activity that makes you want to run 30 miles in one day. In Cape Girardeau, 30’ to Andy’s Frozen Custard seems to be the norm (and often that 30’ proves to be too much so the drive through is pretty busy).
Our lunch spot was at the low point of the valley. We’ve got a little over 2000’ to climb in the next 2.5 miles and it’s a steady climb. I’m guzzling water and Pam is getting a little light headed. This is also the first time we hear Brad say “How do I get out of this chickenshit outfit?” Pam almost goes down (so hard for me to not say “I told you so” when I was trying to get her to eat more at lunch). I talked with Joan and she told me she had some extra Gu. I didn’t know what it was but if Pam will take it, I’m all for it. Tom gave Pam a rootbeer Gu and after a few minutes she was raring to go. This is definitely something we need to start carrying since Pam doesn’t like to eat during the day.
We stopped for water in another mile and then it was my turn to die. After the water break, I had no energy left. As we climbed a rise in the trail, we could see a steep trail switching back and forth across a mountain. They told me that was Trail Rider Pass but I didn’t want to believe them. Sadly, we kept turning towards it. As I became more convinced they were telling me the truth, my energy ebbed more and more. I was definitely the weak link today. Pam, in the interest of future beneficiary status, said we have to stop. There’s a nice campsite in a clump of trees at the base of the pass. That night we camped at over 11,500’.
Once again, we skipped the campfire, but Brad had his cigar while we were setting up camp and cooking. This spot was great except for one thing—the trail was literally all we could see hanging over our heads for first thing in the morning. Tom and Joan told us they were going to have to take off in the morning and leave us in their dust. They had to get out by Thursday and we were in no hurry to get out before Friday. They had kept the return shuttle reservation for 3p and it was obvious we were only going to hold them up (they weren’t that callous, that was how I interpreted it). They had to be back in Minnesota by Saturday to help move their daughter and they were driving.
We sat around after supper and watched the sunset, but it quickly cooled off when the sun went down. Once again, I thought I heard Brad sobbing from his tent when we went to bed. He really wanted a campfire.
