We hadn't walked 3 miles out of Rawlins when an enormous lightning storm blew up right on top of us. It was the closest call and most intense and terrifying storm we've had on the trip so far, there were many lightning strikes less than 100 yards away! It was so intense we chucked our poles and got off the road and to slightly lower ground. Just then a big truck pulling a fifth wheel crested the hill. We new we had to get this vehicle to stop. As the truck was approaching the wind picked up and the rain slammed into us as the lightning continued to rage all around. We literally stood in the middle of the road and the truck of course stopped. The driver clearly understood the dire situation we were in and let us into his truck to seek shelter from the storm. There is about 25 miles of flat, dry, exposed CDT south of Rawlins before we gain some elevation and head back into some trees. This was very welcome; shade, cover from these daily storms and improved water quality and frequency. We had a quick hitch in to Encampment, WY to pick up our resupply drop boxes. There is nothing going on in this town so we ate at the two restaurants (one for breakfast and the other for lunch) and hitched back to the pass after about an hour of thumbing. The next day was September 9th, and we hiked out of Wyoming and into Colorado in an all-day rain. This was like an East Coast Appalachian Trail kind of all-day rain, but colder. It was a pretty miserable day. This day had me longing for exactly one year ago when I finished the PCT on September, 9th...dry, happy and comfortable. The next day was even wetter, colder and worse. So bad that I slept in an outhouse at Buffalo Pass, I'm true Hiker Trash now! We hadn't had any cell service since Rawlins so we had no idea what the forecast was calling for. The 3 day stretch from Encampment, WY to Steamboat Springs, CO was a cold soaker with more storms, lightning and hail. When we finally arrived in Steamboat we got a forecast and it was bad. Bad where we were but much worse just to our east on the Front Range where over 12" of rain fell in the same time period. That's a devastating amount of rain, compared to the 4-5" we got. We ended up taking a zero the next day in Steamboat because the forecast was calling for more rain...and rain for the next 5 days! Our first month on the CDT we were dry, not a drop of rain. We were in WY for 20.5 days and it rained on us 10 of those. Since arriving in CO its rained on us everyday, that's 7 straight days and counting. It wasn't all doom & gloom for us on this stretch. We ran into a bubble of SOBO's while in Steamboat who were all escaping the weather too. I got to see Man Party & Lush who I know from the AT and PCT. Later that night we went out for drinks with more SOBO's: Bab Oon, Frankenfeet & Panama to talk trail and commiserate about the weather. Always fun to be around other thru's, the conversation always flows easily. The day after our zero we had to get back on trail, towns start to get expensive after too much time in them. We began to hitch out of Steamboat when a guy at the outfitter across the street came over and gave us a ride up to Muddy Pass. The next 9 miles is a road walk on Highway 14, no shoulder, fast moving traffic...very dangerous. We tried to hitch for several hours before we started to walk it. We broke for lunch at a turnout and just as we were finishing up a couple in a pickup pulled over. They invited us back to their cabin to spend the night. We couldn't say no to that! Greg and Amy let us stay in their detached bunkhouse. We enjoyed beer and bloody marys throughout the day and had great conversation. A couple hours after being at the cabin Greg mentions that he went to Paul Smith's College! Are you kidding me! That's where I went to college. Another Smitty way out in the Rockies happened to stop and pick us up, that's unbelievable! Later in the evening they made us a phenomenal dinner of grilled Elk kabobs, fresh organic vegetables from their garden, mashed potatoes and peach cobbler for dessert. We all enjoyed each others company. This was the best trail magic I have ever experienced on any of the three trails! Thank you Greg and Amy, it was so much fun and you're great people...let's keep in touch!! We also saw some great wildlife in this section, more Antelope & Elk but the highlight was seeing three Moose in one day...two Bulls (one massive in Rocky Mountain NP) and one Cow. Rocky Mountain National Park is closed so that the focus of the park staff can be on the flooded areas on the east side of the park. We briefly were in RMNP before a nice Ranger approached us and told us about the situation. He gave us a ride into Grand Lake because no one is allowed into the park at this time. The official CDT only skirts RMNP so this closure doesn't affect us moving forward. Here we are in Grand Lake taking another zero, our sixth of the trip and second in 4 days. It's raining again, and even snowing on the highest peaks. We are at the hostel tonight with Sky, Little Bug, Aaron, Blue Feet & Tim. Nice to be meeting other SOBOs while in town. This was a very challenging section for us because of the weather, no doubt, but it had some special moments too. You always have to look for the silver lining at times like these. Thru hiking isn't always about just the trail and that end destination. It's the journey to that destination and all the experiences along the way that you remember most.
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