7.10.2013

Gail called from from Atlantic City, WY after her first leg of the CDT this year from Rawlins, WY. See here for the route and the terrain. She said that overall the terrain is "harsh, man alive geeze", but the natural sources of water are really "lovely".

She said that it's been hot, but not too uncomfortable, except between 3 and 5 pm. She had one stretch of trail that was 30 miles long, with a cattle watering tank at mile 20. The tank was there, but it was too gross for her to filter and drink - and she's filtered some pretty disgusting cow drinking water before. But, she got some trail magic. A sheepherder was camped nearby with a mobile home and a horse trailer. Gail said she approached the trailer expecting a "Brokeback Mountain experience." She asked the guy for some water, and he said sure, so she asked if she could hang out in the shade, and he said yes. She ended up hanging her hammock inside his (clean) horsetrailer for the night. She said she had a pleasant evening with the guy, who was apparently her age and nice (I didn't ask if he was cute.) He owns 1000 sheep and has leased 1/2 million acres of federal land to graze them on. Gail has two pet sheep, so she told the guy that she has sheep too. Later it came up in conversation that she only has two.

She's walking through BLM land, and so she sees the white crewcab trucks frequently and has talked to a few BLM staff. The trucks never have BLM badges on them, and she asked why. They said that if the badges were on there, the truck would be a target for vandalism. The government is not generally regarded in Wyoming. But she said it's sort of funny to her since the white crewcabs are so obviously BLM. No need to discuss the politics of the situation on behalf of my mom or myself here.

Gail's staying at a place that has scotch tastings twice a month, and she scheduled herself there on a scotch tasting night. She's doing laundry first in the bathtub and taking a nap, but then heading to the saloon after. She will call me again later with a blow by blow scotch report. She's not much of a scotch drinker, but her hosts said they'd take care of that. She's also looking forward to a real meal. She hasn't been eating much because it's too hot to eat. She says that even her Snickers bars look like "a hot turd".

Gail should mail me a camera card tomorrow so I can post photos.