A Lesson from LoveBarge

Due to the remoteness of the Continental Divide Trail and the relatively few people that attempt it each year (20-30), we expected to be largely separate from the other CDT hikers. This proved to be the case for the first six weeks or so, until in central Montana when we hit a whole mob of south bound hikers. All of them had really bizarre names, like Princess of Darkness, Skittles, Lovebarge, Pi, and Disco…at that point we found out about “Trail Names.” We decided that we needed a trail name for all four of us, the donkeys, and the dog. After some creative thinking we came up with the Lew-Asses. It has been our name ever since.


Although we didn’t think we would, we began to bump in to some of those same south bound hikers again in New Mexico. Most memorable was one evening when it was getting on near dark, it was cold, we were in snow and up pretty high. We had set up our camp an hour earlier when we saw a woman hiking. We said to ourselves, that has got to be a CDT hiker. Who else would hike alone in the dark?. Her name was Lisa a.k.a. Lovebarge and she stopped to spend the night with us that night. We built up a fire, and enjoyed getting to know her a little. She was really interesting and had some great stories, but what fascinated me most was her being a single woman hiking the country alone. I asked her what kept her from being afraid of animals and people? She had a very good answer which has stuck with me. She said, “I think logically, like when I might imagine there is a predator near by I just tell my self, ‘There is no predator’, and even if there is it probably wont attack me.”

I thought of this quite a bit while I was on my first Solo (our solo was 24 hours alone last week), I had my journal, food, water and my shelter. We each found places on lightly treed ridge that we liked, with views out over a big grassy park, spaced privately about 100 yards apart. We had three journal assignments: 50 things that we would like to do in our lives, reflections on “I am”, and What I am thankful for today.

I have an unexplainable fear of mountain lions and being out at night by my self was a very big deal. While I was sitting by my fire with my mug of hot cider watching the full moon rise and the sunset, Lisa’s advice came back to me. Be logical. During that night, it was brilliantly helpful to me. I lasted through the night (yay!), and had a really meaningful experience. I was sad when it was time to pack up and go, but I had a great sense of accomplishment. The best part over all was just sitting, being still and looking out over the mountains and the grassy park. I felt so calm.

The Gila

THE GILA
I can’t even describe how ready I was for this...it’s 70 degrees, sunny, and beautiful down here in the Gila Wilderness. We just spent 3 days hiking down the Gila River. We left from the uplands by Snow Lake with the knowledge from other hikers that it was cold down in the canyon with lots of stream crossings and plenteous poison ivy. But we lucked into a balmy spell and the only thing that proved true was the amount of stream crossings which made for cold feet in the early morning.
On our first night in the canyon we decided to put the tarp up like a lean-to so that we could see the stars. Snuggled up together in our bags, watching shooting stars and trying to figure out what the heck it was dad was pointing at as he taught us constellations was good fun.




In the morning however our sleeping bags were very wet with dew and condensation and we had to hang them up to dry. In the process I stepped on a bees nest that was in the ground. Bummer! I ran as fast as I could but one got in my shirt and stung me, and for a first ever bee sting, getting stung on you stomach sure does hurt. We still had to get our sleeping bags which were hanging right above the bees nest, so dad said he would go get them after the bees calmed downed. Watching his ninja stealth bag rescue while Jess videoed was pretty funny.
On the same morning of the bee attack we saw all of the eagles that are in America; a fish eagle (osprey), a bald eagle, and a golden eagle (who was approximately the size of Deso). They were so amazing, and graceful. I also saw a Javelina – something akin to a wild pig. He looked like a fat sausage running through the woods and we gave chase because no one else had had a good look. Nothing like a good wild pig chase to get the blood pumping.

After exploring some remarkable Mogollon cliff dwellings yesterday we made our way to a little campground along the river for a day off. There are beautiful little bubbling natural hot springs pools just a few feet from the picnic table and we’ve already soaked twice today. We re-supplied at a little store up the road that has few groceries, and more importantly, homemade ice cream. Tomorrow we’ll head back out and try to accomplish the illusive “30 mile day.” Most days now we are making 20-29 miles but have not cracked the 30 barrier yet. Ten days of hiking left to the Mexican border!!