Day 142 – 9/11/13 -17.2 mi (2611.2)

This whole short day thing is pretty awesome. We slept in and didn’t leave camp until 8am, and took an alternate to the official CDT…a longer alternate! We went over Dawson Pass where we saw our first bighorn sheep (ewes only) of the trail. Other wildlife sightings today were otters in Two Medicine Lake, a moose, and mountain goats.

Next we traversed along a very scenic ridge and around a mountain with awesome views the whole way. It was great to have all the time in the world to take silly photos, climb out to rock outcroppings, and just plain enjoy the scenery.

We dropped down into a valley and stopped beside a lake for a very leisurely lunch. I even took a nap. I never take naps.

Even with all the deliberate dawdling, we got to camp by 5:30. We are sharing a campsite with Papa Smurf most nights, due to permit limits and being a group of 5. We also had other campmates, a group of guys from the east coast who were on their last night of a week long trip, their itinerary the exact reverse of ours.

I was in my sleeping bag by 7:30. Weird.