End of the Teton alternate, the Winds and Cowboy Wisdom

 

The Winds – finally the trail enters the section considered the “most beautiful” of the whole Continental Divide Trail. Green alpine meadows stretch between sharp rugged peaks. An endless amount of clear lakes are inviting us to stay a while, take a dip, stretch out in the sun. It’s August and the bugs have disappeared. Mostly. It’s August and winter feels so far away. Snow in Colorado? Unimaginable.

But don’t be fooled, there’s something going on behind your back: dark clouds are brewing up a storm. The sky is spitting hail on our tents, thunder so loud, it might make the granite crumble.

Beyoncé is singing “this ain’t Texas….” while I climb up Texas Pass and the gamble with the elements paid off: no people and no clouds. The winds are not a well-kept secret, but they’re well worth it.

 

Day 47

Every time a car passes me, a cloud of dust envelopes me. And there are a lot of cars on Union Pass Road. “Just to the campground” I tell myself. “Then I’m done. I did it. The Teton and Gros Ventre alternate is complete.”

I haven’t showered in a while. My clothes haven’t seen a washing machine in ten days. I couldn’t wait to finish, stick my thumb out and get to Pinedale.

5 miles later I’m released from my quest. And 20 minutes later I sit in Paul’s car, Pinedale bound. Paul is 75 and just coming back from a climbing trip with his mate Steve. “Most of my friends are already dead. I’m still climbing” he jokes.

During the drive, he shares stories of his past and his life now. He’s worked as a guide, moved to Colorado. From his stories he seems happy, maybe not happy but content with what his life has been. I wonder what it feels like to be 75, to have so much to look back on. When he drops me off at the Jackalope Lodge in Pinedale, he gets out the car to hug me. “But I smell” I exclaim and he hugs me anyways.

Tired and dirty, Tyler at the Lodge lets me check in early. The shower feels phenomenal before I scavenge the supermarket next door for ice cream and treats. Trail towns, what paradise.

Day 48

“How did you sleep?” Tyler asks the next morning when I walk into the little reception to get coffee.

“Really good. Actually so good that…”

“You want to stay another night?” He finishes my sentence, unsurprised and I nod.

As a treat for the last week, I decided to take a zero. Later that day the dorm fills with a few nobos, it’s good to see other thru hikers again. There’s 5 of us. I hadn’t seen that many thru hikers since Lima.

Day 49

9 am, post office pinedale. “Maja!”, I turn around and squint my eyes. A blonde man waving at me from an old tacoma. That must be Conrad.

“I think that’s a thru hiker”, I tell Conrad while we’re leaving town to the trail head.

“Do you want to pick him up?”

“Yeah!” We pull over.

Next stop: the Winds.

The three of us hit the trail and we all hike together. Neatly behind each other in a row. Chatting or being silent, striking up conversations with weekend hikers when we pass them. Everyone is in such a good mood, raving about the views, the trail, the mountains.

And sure thing, the winds keep their promises. Alpine meadows, clear lakes, rugged, granite peaks. Beautiful doesn’t even cut it.

Day 50

“Bagel?“ – „yesss“ I answer enthusiastically and he throws me the bag. Eventually J and I are standing next to our packed backpacks, no movement in C‘s tent. He’s still asleep. „What shall we do?“ I ask, but J just shrugs and shoulders his pack. A wave of guilt washes over me as I follow him onto the trail and we disappear into the mountains.

For some reason I don’t understand myself, maybe I just wanted company for a bit longer, I climbed Knapsack Col northbound with J. And climbing is what we did!

There’s no trail to get up Knapsack, on either side. Just rocks and boulders of various sizes and a vague direction of “the top”. After a few minutes, we split up. Both of finding our own, individual routes before meeting at the top.

On the way down, there’s something unusual between the boulders. Something pink and purple. “I know that outfit”, I think.

I hadn’t seen her since glacier national park and I had no idea she was right behind me. „Mooosey“ I shout, excitedly.

Day 51

I wish I could write something cool about Texas Pass. But you just gotta see it to believe it and see it to understand that it’s hard to find words for this place.

Taking the cirque of the towers alternate was well worth it, beautiful camping on both sides of Texas Pass and make sure to take the trail along clear lakes before afterwards.

Day 52

„It’ll be dark when I get to my intended campsite tonight“, I think, glancing down on my watch, which I hadn’t even paused. This break wasn’t planned and now I have been here for 1.5 hours.

Here: next to Big Sandy Lake, next to Tim and his horses. And I don’t wanna go.

I mean I wanna hike, but I’ve been enjoying this conversation too much.

5 beautiful horses are grazing in the lush meadows next to the water. Surprised and mesmerised, I had stopped to take a picture when a man wearing a beige cowboy hat approached me.

We shake hands. His hand is huge and warm and strong. „Tim“ – „Maja“. And we start talking about the mountains, horses, Wyoming, hunting, life. I have a million questions. And he patiently explains what each horse does, their strengths, team roping, hunting seasons, the history of the winds. His family.

My curiosity is infinite. I wanna know everything. Or maybe I just don’t want this conversation to end. He’s unobtrusive yet warm, his energy is fatherly. Undoubtedly, there’s a gap in my soul he’s filling right now. Unknowingly.

„So you gonna settle here after your hike?“

The question has come up a few times this year, by various people. I don’t know if it’s because this part of the States is less of a revolving door than the west coast (and I don’t mean that in a negative way at all, love you CA, OR + WA) or if I‘m just getting older and people expect me to think about that: settling down.

I always say I’ll figure out what I’ll do with my life while hiking. Do some soul searching.

„I have 5 months of hiking to think about it“ is a great lie to tell yourself.

Instead we’ll think about anything – ANYTHING – like what makes a storm really stormy? How many calories does a butterfly burn while flapping its wings? Can you eat cream cheese 7 days unrefrigerated?

But while I was standing next to Tim in the Winds, his buckskin horse Sage gently nibbling on my sleeve, I didn’t need to look for an answer, the answer came to me:

I think I want to.

Day 53

I’m riding into Lander, WY in the bed of a pick up truck. The breeze in my hair, the sun on my skin. I’m hungry and the thought of town food is almost unbearable.

The winds flew by, I have to admit. In hindsight, I wish I would have slowed down. But I barely brought enough food to sustain me the last 4 days and the remoteness of that section makes resupplying a challenge.

After lunch with the couple who picked me up, there’s something even sweeter than my milkshake waiting for me at the RV park: Inspector, Pistol and LAF are all there. Hiker trash, lots of it. Later we’re joined by weather man, raspberry, Finn and mugwort in the city park. Wow, my lonely days in the Tetons feel far, far away.

Day 54

Strategic meeting in a diner over infinite coffee refills, hash browns and cinnamons rolls: 100 miles. Through the basin. In one go.

“I’ve never done 100 miles before”, Mosey says. But she’s more prepared than the rest of us: pace schedules, calories per hour, stretching breaks.

An idea has become a plan. “This is crazy”, we grin at each other, mischief written in our faces.