Audrey, the hostel owner who kindly offered me a stay at her home, took me to the Walmart this morning. I performed my resupply before eating breakfast — it is never a good idea to resupply hungry. I bought a lot, but it’s probably for the better.
Again, I loitered the Sonic, junking out and repacking my food items. After many hours at Sonic, I walked to the downtown of Salida about town miles east. I booked myself a room at the Simple Hostel, did some gear maintenance and chores, and ate a meal at Mo Burritos (a local Chipotle-like joint).
Returning to the hostel, I did more chores, then headed for ice cream by the Arkansas River, a major tributary of the Mississippi. There is a fascination with walking along the point at which these major water sources originate — the Colorado, the Arkansas, the the Rio Grande River to name a few. Our civilization of specialization hinges on these flows to provide water to our household taps, but we rarely give thought to where our water comes from. I forget, but much of San Diego’s supply drinks from the Colorado River, which has official headwaters in Rocky Mountain National Park.
The hostel was packed tonight. There were five individuals in my quarters, with beds enough to fit eight. A British nurse who’s hiking the trail (at least snow free alternative direct routes) took a look at my wound from the emergency glissade before Lake City. Her analysis said it was healing fine and uninfected, but she did recommend another day off. I’m doubtful I’ll take another full day, but I may take my time getting out of town tomorrow.
Other hikers are starting to pop up around me. Most of them followed the Great Divide Alternate, the dirt road bike route from Mexico to Canada, to Salida. It’s an even more extreme lower elevation cutoff than the Creede Alternate I’ve previously mentioned. I’d presume it cuts of nearly 250 miles of Colorado mountains. The Great Divide crossed the CDT about 50 miles, before Monarch Pass, so many people, following the ever popular FarOut maps, hopped on the CDT at the merge.
Signing off,
Zeppelin / fReaK (ON a leash)
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