- NNML 2026 Day 11, June 28, Sunday
- Start S3 mile 42 Rio Vallecitos
- End S3 mile 74 past Lagunitas Campground
- Miles walked: 32
I try walking a bit faster today, to improve options for the following 2 days. You may learn more later.
The route climbs up high on single-track to get off of a road, through fir and aspen and meadow. The air is cool, strong gusting winds.
Hopewell Lake is surrounded by fisherfolk. I do not see anyone catch anything
I see a couple of mountain bikers come down to the CDT trailhead above the lake, in a hurry. Could this be Race the Divide, an annual race on the Great Divide Trail, the mountain bike version of the CDT?
The route now has large grassy areas, alternating with forest, which sets a pattern for the day.
The CDT goes along the Tony Marquez Trail for a spell. My Trail Group will do some work on Tony Marquez later this year.
The trail is 2-track turning to 1-track on old roadbed closed to vehicles. I notice an unusual amount of young spruce and fir, among the dying old fir trees. Did all this start naturally, or is it part of some forest remediation?
I meet a couple of section hikers with a small dog with the trail name Speed Bump.
In wide open space, near a ranch called the Yonderosa, I catch a tail-wind and make good time.
Daniel is the fifth mountain bike racer I meet.
I get water at the Rio San Antonio, though there are many cows in the watershed. Then I start up a ridge overlooking the San Antonio, which continues for miles of controlled grade, with magnificent views.
I meet my ninth and tenth racers just below Lagunitas Campground. Most of the racers seem a little dazed, too exhausted to chat for long.
Lagunitas Campground is so peaceful, with several small lakes.
Another narrow ridge awaits, this time with loose sand and narrow tread.
Walking started at 5:30 AM, and finally ends at 8:30 PM, a long and full day.
Finished audiobook Dispatches From the Ruhr, by Ernest Hemingway. He is a journalist for the Toronto Star, reporting from French-occupied Ruhr Valley in 1923.