When you sleep through your alarm, no worries. The cows will wake you up! I slept great. The ground was soft and flat, and the creek was flowing. Even if I was smack dab in the middle of cow central! First night that me and Fearless were sleeping in separate areas. She was above on a plateau that had trees for her hammock, and I was amongst the mooing cows. Good thing as they were my alarm clock this morning.

We beat feet out of the cow pasture and headed directly into the most beautiful section between Leadore to Lima. It was forested with old growth trees, huge mountains towering above us, with promises of Big-Horned Sheep. Never saw a single one but if I were a majestic creature like that, I’d definitely find myself a home in these peaks!

Most of our climbing took place in the early part of the day. There was a lot of route finding as the trails are crisscrossed with cattle paths and intertwined with the unmarked CDT. You would think they, whoever they are, would attempt to mark the trail a bit better. So needless to say, we were off track quite a bit.

Our biggest and most challenging climb was 1000’ up in less than a mile. At home, there is a route we call Training Hill. This was comparable. Biggest difference is my starting point is near 10,000’ and I am carrying a loaded backpack. I felt it was equivalent to climbing Everest with different Base Camps along the way. Okay, that’s a bit of a stretch but I was huffing and puffing like I was on the biggest peak in the world!

Afterwards we headed down for lunch and once again were a bit confused with the lack of signs. We got to a point where there was a severe drop, which neither me nor Fearless were willing to attempt. There was a barbed wire fence we could crawl under but Fearless hadn’t had her tetanus shots recently and wasn’t game for that. So we backtracked, again, and found a more gentler easier path to follow.

Life on the CDT is no PCT! The PCT as I call it, is the “piece of cake” trail. The ground is manicured, little fairy’s come and clean it nightly of unsightly roots, ruts and logs. And it’s properly signed! But this CDT is a “free for all.” It truly is unlike any other trail I have hiked. I have a love-hate relationship with it and honestly, if it wasn’t for Fearless coming along and sharing this day to day hike, I’m not sure if I’d still be out here. Seriously, she is my ray of sunshine when things go south. And that’s virtually daily as we, in fact, are heading southbound.

So we continued onward to lunch. We found the creek and sat for awhile. Once we were done, we realized once again, we were off trail. Luckily it wasn’t a terrible miscalculation and we climbed our final pass of the day. We ran into a guy from Czech Republic and talked for a bit. And the next three Nobo hikers were all from the Czech Republic. They didn’t know each other, but yet they all started on the same day and here they are months later within a couple of miles of each other. That’s hard to believe!

Our final destination was Harkness Lakes but when we arrived, it was nothing short of a swamp. There was a group of teenagers from NOLS and shared with us their course they were taking. It is an Outdoor Leadership School and they hike around central US in search of adventure. Not a single cell phone was available and they were cooking their own meals, journaling and actually having conversations with one another. It was such a pleasure to see young people outdoors!

We moved along and ended up back with the cows. This area is prime real estate for Angus Beef. They are fattening up for the day that they will become steak on my plate. For now, they are mooing all day long and taking over every quality flat spot with their cow pie excrement. What I’ve come to realize is a hard cow pie is easy to chuck and so I did. I made myself a home for the evening. Fearless was not as impressed and being there wasn’t a tree in sight, she resigned herself to sleeping on the ground in her makeshift poncho turned tent. I was quite impressed what a little improvisation can do! And once again, we were settled for the night, living as cowgirls on the range.

This section has taken a toll on me and has truly tested my patience in so many aspects. I question my ability, my desire, my willingness to keep going. But just as James reminds me, there is joy that can be found in the toughest of situations. Instead of focusing on the trial, I remind myself that I am growing, I am getting stronger and I am not alone in this journey.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James‬ ‭1‬:‭2‬-‭4‬ ‭