Daily Miles: 19.7, Total Miles: 899.0 A pleasant, mostly straightforward day through the Gunnison National Forest at about 10,000 ft elevation. This is definitely cattle country so all water treated. Light thundershowers today cooled things down. I got almost 20 miles in by mid-afternoon, and, with a long waterless spell ahead of me, I decided to give the feet and body a rest at Lujan Creek. Trying hard to pace myself but think my level of aches/pains/stamina do a pretty…

Daily Miles: 24.9, Total Miles: 879.3 I quickly reached San Luis Pass, where the Creede cutoff joins the CDT, and saw one Big Agnes tent and one hiker far ahead of me up on the mountain. The next four miles was a steady climb to another 12,600 ft saddle, crossing several small snow fields. Picked up the headwaters of Cochetopa Creek then down the other side of the saddle, following the stream all the way down to 9,000 ft. Beaver…

Daily Miles: 12.2, Total Miles: 854.4 We arrived in Lake City on Sunday, got acclimated and stayed in an old cabin at San Cristobal Lake. We went into town and watched the 7th game of the NBA finals. Wasn’t even upset that I lost a bet (6-pack of his favorite beer) to my brother-in-law. Mrs. Haze and I took a warm-up hike up towards Cataract Lake on Monday. We then lounged around and barbequed a few steaks. Mrs. Haze and…

Feels like spring! Warming up, flowers are blooming, birds are chirping, allergies are kicking in, and the first grizzly bear sighting in Yellowstone. Another sign of spring is baseball spring training so managed to catch a few games in Scottsdale. Had a nice training hike a few weeks ago with Will and Roadrunner, a couple I hiked with on the PCT. They started their AT hike the first of the month just as a cold front and snow hit Georgia….

Our 12-year-old chocolate lab, Kerbie, passed away in early October from lung cancer. Never smoked a day in her life, go figure. She was our hiking, training and camping partner for many years and will be sorely missed. What a full life this good old dog had in her 12 years! And the critters she had the opportunity to chase or be chased by – deer, rabbits, squirrels. chipmunks, coyotes, porcupines, cows, horses, lizards, other dogs, bobcats, kitty cats, quail,…

We just finished our six-day float down Idaho’s Middle Fork Salmon River – what a great trip down a wild, beautiful, scenic river! Scouted out a piece of the Idaho Centennial Trail and took hikes, mostly to hot springs on or near the river. Saw plenty of bighorns and even managed to catch a few cutthroat trout. I got more solitude on the CDT but floated down with a great bunch – and ate well and often. Been asked about…

As planned, the first leg and roughly 1/3 of my CDT hike is done. I have just run out of time. Mrs. Haze picks me up tomorrow. By this time next week, we will be underway on our Middle Fork Salmon River float trip in Idaho. I was able to pick up my favorite dry flies here in Lake City, except for my personal favorite, the Purple Haze. Brutal as some of it was, I have really enjoyed the journey…

Daily Miles: 4.4, Total Miles: 842.2 Cold and a rare, mostly clear night with very heavy condensation. Even had to shake ice off my tent, then step back and enjoy the colorful sunrise on the mesa highlighting the 14k footers in the background. Mostly downhill to Spring Creek Pass. I surprised another herd of elk on the way down. A cow elk tried to lead her calves through a fence to get away. The cow easily jumped over but the…