Day Four. We were definitely taking all three alternate routes today! Saw our first (and last) cow elk when leaving the hut. The first 9 miles were "easy-peesy" downhill all the way to the Basin Store where we indulged in coconut-cream pie (Suzanne), vanilla ice-cream (Emma) and a cinnamon roll (Kristin) at 10AM. They were "expecting us" and complimented us on keeping our gear to a minimum (22-26 lbs each, Emma with the lightest gear) Air conditioning was bliss! Had cell reception too. Back on the paved road to the 'gas road' alternate. Funky little single-track marked with cairns led us to the gas roads. OK, so we got a little lost on the gas roads. What the heck is a "large, green 6" pipe protection" anyway? Oh, it was that thing that Emma was sitting on while Suzanne and Kristin were so-called navigating. Kristin eventually found a nub of surveyors' tape trapped in a shrub and off we went. We had a water party at the Mexico Mine, thank you San Juan Huts for the water stash. We needed it. By the end of the day, Kristin had gone through over 200 ounces of fluids and Suzanne accidentally poured Cytomax on her head to cool down. As usual, Emma was plenty of water to spare.
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| Sand flats. |
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| Emma checks out old car on side of trail. |
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| Suzanne poses by a cairn. Faint bike tracks in the sand, cairns and nubs of old surveyor's tape were navigational tool. Thank goodness for the Garmin. |
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| Cool alternate route. |
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| Beautiful, stark terrian. |
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| Emma wastes water while Suzanne reads the route. |
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| Rocky point. |
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| Sunset at Wedding Bell Hut. Day Four destination. |
gorgeous sunset & amazing terrain!
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