Hike plus day 12

On Suday I woke up late and checked my email. As I did, a friend messaged me and asked why I wasn't hiking. I decided to go on a hike. I drove back to the paintrock canyon. I filled up 4 liters of water to take with me, and made a couple of peanut butter and honey sandwhiches. These have been my staple diet the last two weeks. I started the hike through a burned hillside made of silty soil and dry dusty tracks. I walked about a mile and then came to a ranch. The ranch looked like a paradice get away for rich people. There was a large building with walls of glass and little cabins that looked like tree houses attached to it. I really wanted to check it out. I walked by a rancher and kids loading hay bales onto a trailer and gave a big wave. They waved back and on I went on my hike. Trail started on BLM land and then it did 2 miles on private land to get back to BLM. I am going to write the ranch owners a postcard for letting me hike there. The trail just follows the paint rock creek as it cuts its course toward the bigger rivers.

The rocks were great. The formations with reds, blacks, oranges, yellows, and greens in the rock made me want to hike with my head looking up the whole time. Only toward the end did that become a problem when the trail became rocky and was full of tripping hazards. I was shocked that I did not see wildlife. There were fairly open hillsides in sun and shade with cliffs and trees to hide near. I saw nothing bigger then a meadow lark. The birds were great companions. Their songs kept me walking along at a fairly good clip broken up with slight interuptions when I would catch glimpses of the creek running swiftly.

I ran out of water in my camelpak about a mile before the trail ended. The only other water I was two Nalgene bottles full. I rationed on the way back. I was fine until I turned a corner and saw a black body that belonged to an angus cow. For some reason my body and mind were fine with the shady character until I saw the eyeball. It was like a slow motion video as my eyes scanned across teh body and saw the eye, I jumped and yelled. He was close enough to touch. As I jumped and yelled, the bull did nothing. I walked away briskly but really should not have worried about it. He was just eating his cud.

As I exited, there was a Dad with two girls going in with backpacks. I'll bet they had a nice and peaceful journey. I did the 14 miles in 4 hours. There was little elevation gain, and my body felt good the whole time.



I only stopped to eat one sandwich. I ran out of water before I got to my car too, so as soon as I reached my vehicle I went to find water. There was an archeological site near by and I decided tto check it out. It turns out there is a campground there with a beautiful snow fed creek and good drinking water. I drank two Nalgene's full of cool water and then dipped my tired feet in the creek. It was heavenly.



When I returned to Thermopolis, I went to the city park , made some phone calls and enjoyed the shade. I then went to the intern house and watched a video with co-workers.



Today I assisted on a dig for a day. I did like the family of four and enjoyed working with Kelsey. We gave the fastest complete tour of the museum I have seen. Go teamwork. I am now sitting in my campground soaking up the sun after I bathed in the warm waters to revitalize my weary legs and feet. I am going back to the intern house tonight to do my laundry and watch yet another movie. I have to decide what to eat. I am out of soups in a can and have just a cup of plain pasta left. Maybe I will go find a salad.

I only have 4 days left. I am going to try and get certified in the field and lab, but I may run out of time. We shall see. I am thouroughly enjoying the experience and may have to try and go back to school in the next 5 years for Paleo. It is a dream job.