Wildlife Alive & Dead

August 21, 2025

Mile 50.7 Collegiate West- 270.9 CT (15.2 miles)

Last night we had texted Andy and he offered to drive us back to the trailhead in the morning after grabbing some breakfast. As we were tossing our packs into the bed of his truck at 8:30 in the morning we spotted Cave Bear and his friend leaving their room and Andy told them to hop in as well! It was nice talking to other hikers and reminiscing on parts of the AZT with Andy. I scarfed down some chocolate chip pancakes and biscuits and gravy with a huge glass of chocolate milk. Gotta stock back up on all those calories I pooped out for a week.

Andy dropped us all back off at Monarch Pass, we gave him a hug goodbye and knew we'd bump into him again someday on another trail.

The trail was easy today compared to what it has been and I took that as a win. I zoned out for awhile with a caffeine pill and an audiobook. My legs still feel so tired even on the easy climbs and I know I'm being so impatient considering I've barely allowed my body to recuperate but I just want to feel strong again. At one point today I found a little dead rodent in the middle of the trail. It was already starting to decompose so I couldn't tell exactly what it was. I gently moved it to the side on a rock and placed some flowers on it in a little makeshift grave. It drizzled on us for the last few miles today. We saw a big hare with white feet and a few mule deer.

We reached this spring with a flat spot just big enough for one tent and I quickly set the tent up to get out of the drizzle. Henry stayed outside and dug a trench around the entire tent with his spork to try to prevent any flooding from water running down off the hill beside us. It's cold and I can't wait to cuddle. Let's hope we can get 20 in tomorrow.