14    South Pass City / Atlantic City - Pinedale      150 kilometers

Atlantic City / South Pass City

Pinedale                150 km

As it was raining and cold in the morning we took our time before moving on to South Pass City after having spent the night in Atlantic City. Here we could out wait the weather at the information office. They had a nice wood burning stove running. While we hung around three hikers arrived who soon went on south. They had hitch hiked from New Mexico to just north of here. Finally the weather turned better and we moved on north. This was to be a short day today. In the morning as on many days I had some ice on my sleeping bag, as I had cowboy camped. We took the alternative on Ley's map on the way up to Little Sandy Lake. At higher elevations there were still a number of snow patches. But it was manageable. Crossing Little Sandy Creek almost turned into a swimming exercise for me. I slipped of a log and could just keep my balance in the water, which was more than hip deep and of course ice cold. Fortunately the back pack staid almost dry. We camped near the river and the wet clothing dried on a cloth line over night. Ley doesn't show the CDT route as Bear Creek does. He only shows the Cirque of the Towers route. Nevertheless we followed Bear Creek's route. It had basically no snow. At a number of places it is not marked and the treat is hard to find. We got through to Big Sandy Creek, which luckily is crossed on a bridge. Next morning we moved on. Soon we came into more and more snow. Finally we decided to turn around as progress was very slow. At this pace our food would not last until Pinedale.

At the Big Sandy Lodge, which was only started to be opened for the season we talked to the hosts. They gave us some ideas how to get to Pinedale. Moving on we used trails, which were on the maps but did not really exist anymore. We also had several miles of cross country hiking just following our compass. Next day we finally came out of the woods and onto another gravel road. This lead to Big Sandy road and from now on it was road walk. First we got to Boulder were we staid at the Motel and then on to Pinedale the next day. Here I visited the Rodeo in the evening. Quite interesting for me. The only Rodeo I had previously seen was in Chile in the last Century. Next stop will be Jackson for resupply.

The Mercantile in Atlantic City

Interesting fence line in Wind River Range

We had to get across the Big Sandy River fording the ice cold water

CDT heading across snow fields to Fish Creek Park

Barely existing old trail in Muddy Ridge area

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