My partner is back. You all should remember Blue from the AT. My Bluber, my partner at the Cafe and my hiking buddy who makes me laugh, is great company and keeps me relatively sane. There is something beautiful about being with someone who is just as crazy as I am.

We pulled out of the lodge at 7:30am. Not the earliest start but it’s day one for Blue so I need to break her in slowly. Our first section we had to walk through muddy bogs. We desperately tried to keep our shoes clean and dry but within a few miles, we embraced the mud. Our shoes, socks, gaiters and legs were covered in the muddy substance. Luckily we usually had a creek, river or stream that we could submerge in and that would clean us up till the next muddy bog. And so the day went. Mud, rinse, repeat! Welcome to the CDT.

On the other hand, good news came from Ranger Sean. He said that Many Glaciers was opening back up today, St, Marys is getting there but Going to the Sun Road is still in a state of flux. They had a historic rainstorm that the park had never experienced. Six inches of rain alone near Chief Mountain in a short period of time. He had a single bladed saw that he was carrying to clear the trail of fallen trees and branches. What about a blow dryer to take care of the mud?

We saw a handful of day hikers, one CDT hiker who was headed north trying to get some miles in, four Sobo hikers and my favorite couple Coyote and Radio. Blue and I were sitting eating a snack when they stopped to chat. They plan to blow through to Lincoln, some 180 miles and carrying 9 days of food. Just to give perspective, we are carrying 8 days of food and plan to hike 140 miles. So needless to say, Coyote and Radio will not be seen for awhile. I prayed over them before they left and hope to see them somewhere down the trail.

After our long day, we came to our Railroad crossing. Only one-tenth of a mile to go when the longest train in Santa Fe history slowly chugged up the tracks. And then it came to a sudden stop. Blue and I were both done for the day and just wanted to get to camp. I decided, after waiting for at least a half-hour, maybe we should have dinner as we wait. Natalya had another idea, why don’t we crawl under the stopped train?

This woman is crazy! All I could think of was the train starting to move and crushing us, or maybe just loosing a limb. Or what if we got through only to get hit by another train going the opposite direction? This seems like sudden death or at least chicken with a train! I pulled out dinner and waited. Blue went ahead and did the same.

After what seemed like an hour and no movement, Blue was done waiting. She packed up her backpack, climbed up the train, across and back down, then scurried across the other tracks. She then walked back and told me to give her my pack and get my butt up and over the train. Peer pressure is alive and well even in old age! I did so and we were Scott free, finally on our way to our campsite. And to think that was only day one with HoboBlue! I am in for it…

The fact is that Blue is the other side of reason. It is always good to have someone to bounce ideas off of, to come up with options and to make crucial decisions.

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.”
‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭4‬:‭9‬-‭10‬ ‭