A Long Goodbye to Colorado, and Wyoming Looms

The first 70ish days of this journey are behind me and the only thing standing between me and Canada is another 1,000+ miles of trail.  Halfway through?  Not entirely sure due to the varying length of this trail and the route selected.  However, I have decided to mark my parents’ visit and the family reunion as my mental halfway point.  

Six days with my family and five days without hiking allowed me to mentally reset and look forward to the next section of trail.  From here on north, there are no more planned stops and no more friends to visit along the way.  It was great to have a few pit stops in Colorado but it has taken about a month and a half to get through this state, 12 days of which were zero days.  Sixty-five miles until I cross the border into Wyoming and check off another mental milestone.

Back out on the trail, I find my motivation shifting.  What to I cannot not be certain but what is certain is my desire to keep walking north; the only time constraint now being the impending snowfall that is bound to hit Northern Montana sometime in late September/early October.  Possibly later, possibly earlier.  There is no knowing.  The next two months hold unknown territory and a complete freedom to go whatever pace I’d like.

Hiking is habitual at this point and the process well ingrained.  Asleep by ten every night, I rise early.  Waking with the sun leads to long days that are slowly getting shorter.  July has brought with it more threatening-looking clouds but only one day with rain, not lasting more than an hour.  Dropping off the high mountainous shelf of Colorado, the trail returns to cow-infested grasslands.  The scenery changes every day and curiosity carries me forward. 

Thanks for reading! Peace and Love

 

Just read: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson

Currently reading: Villa Incognito by Tom Robbins

“Participate in the dance of creation” 

 —Eckhart Tolle