On 8/14 I did 26.6 miles to Atlantic City, WY. On 8/15 I did 28.4 miles to the middle of the nowhere in the Great Basin. On 8/16 I did 32.9 miles to the middle of nowhere in the Great Basin. On 8/17 I did 37.4 miles to the middle of nowhere in the Great Basin. On 8/18 I did 16.1 miles to Rawlins, WY. On 8/19 I did 17.6 miles to the middle of nowhere. On 8/20 I did 29.3 miles to the middle of nowhere. On 8/21 I did 30 miles to the middle of nowwhere.
Listen to “In 3s” and “Groove Holmes” by the Beastie Boys as I try to groove across the desert.
After leaving the Winds it didn't take to long to hit open country. I'm am walking through a large empty expanse called the Great Basin. If you were to look at a map of the geographical contiental divide you would see it actually splits into 2 after the Winds and rejoins around Rawlins, WY. This split forms a basin where any water that enters it does not flow out of the basin. You may think an area that holds its water would be lush but I assure its not and I had to keep checking my maps to make sure I didn’t accidentally enter the gates of hell.
After leaving the Winds I resupplied in South Pass City. Wyoming is super liberal with their usage of the word city. I think it had a population of 20 people and the only thing going for the “city” was an abandoned mining town that was reconstructed as a historical site and a gift shop that accepted hiker packages so I was able to pick up a package there and push on. I needed some food and since a town of 20 cannot support a restaurant I went to the next city over to grab some grub. I walked 6 miles to Atlantic City, WY which was a comparable metropolis, it had a population of about 57 people. I walked down main street and could have put my tent up in the street and not worried about a car hitting me. Eventually we ran into a local who was picking up his mail on his motorcycle with a side car on it. We chatted for a few minutes and I told him it would be a dream hitch to get picked up in a side car to which he replied "jump in". The drivers name was John and he rebuilt an old BMW motorcycle from multiple bikes and said he had parts on the bike ranging from 1953 to 1961. He took me on a tour of Atlantic City and up on the surrounding hills. We rocketed down the street and up and down all of the dirt roads, I held on for dear life when he would make left hand turns as the side car and I went into the air. Unfortunately the town was so small the tour only lasted 10 minutes but it was a blast. He dropped me off at the local bar where I went in for some much needed sustenance. There wasnt much to do in town except have a few beers and talk to the locals. I could see the sun was starting to go down so I closed my tab. When I told the bartender I had to get going to find a campsite she just laughed and told me to setup my tent in their front lawn. This isn't the first time I've slept at a bar, but it's the first time I didn't get I trouble for sleeping at a bar.
The next day I got up early and pushed out. The early mornings and very late evenings are the best time to hike the Basin because there is no shade; my shadow is long during these times and is about the only thing keeping me company through this desert. I tried to hike with my umbrella for shade but the wind was too strong to use it. I went on a 60 mile stretch in the Basin without seeing anything resembling a tree not even a large shrub, nothing but short sage brush for as far as the eye can see, which is pretty far since it was so flat. I could easily see 15 miles away which is kind of a problem when you need to dig a cat hole. There is no tree or hill or anything to hide behind, you just have to risk it and hope there isn't a funny story to tell later.
While I was in very desolate environment. I did run into a few people I knew. I ran into Macro who I hadn't seen since Pie Town. He was heading North and we exchanged what we did to get around the snow and exchanged information for upcoming sections; I could tell he was in a hurry which is understandable since he has a fair amount of miles left to do before winter hits Glacier NP. I also ran into Dust Buster and Chisel who were also heading North. I met both of them 3 years ago in Washington State on the PCT. We laughed how strange it was to meet people we hadn't seen in 3 years in one of the most barren places we had ever been. We talked for an hour which none of us minded since it was the heat of the day and any excuse to not hike was a good one. The most important pieces of information we exchanged was about water. Being such a desolate landscape finding water was super important and what water was there was super sketchy. In the basin there are a lot of cows who love to shit in the water sources and once you get south of Rawlins a lot of the water sources are saline and have high alkalinity which will make you dig a lot of cat holes if you drink brine water. With the shitty water situation (pun intended) it was good to get first hand information on what water sources were reliable and which ones were going to stink.
Once I said my goodbyes to Dustbuster and Chisel it was just me and my 4 legged friends. While hiking though cow country is certainly nothing new I was in prime Prong Horn Sheep country. I easily saw over a thousand of them and some of the groups moving across the planes reminded me of gazelles running across the Serengeti. Along with the pronghorn I also ran into a lot of wild horses who aren't the least bit afraid of humans and will come into camp and check you out. Not nearly as dangerous as a grizzly but a few years ago a hiker tried to pet one and it bit his arm so hard it broke his bone.
The Great Basin was definitely hard. The water was rough, the sun was hot and I decided to make it harder on myself by running out of food. I thought I would have gone faster through the basin but the sun sapped the energy out of me so I ended up taking a half day extra to get to Rawlins, WY. That about last 18 miles I didn't have any food. I wasnt a happy camper and pushed hard in the early morning to town so I wasnt beat down by the sun. I decided to get a motel and spent the next 24 hours in town eating sugar and drinking water; it wasnt the most exciting town stop but it was a much needed rest before I start to gain elevation and get back into the Rockies.
It’s not so ugly as long as you have food and water
Pronghorn on the horizon as the sun is setting
That’s my trail for miles and miles
The Great Basin
I hope there is water out there
Gaining some elevation with the last light of the day as I head towards Encampment