For hundreds of miles the Red Desert stretched before us like an ocean of sagebrush whose waves did not move. We had a few days of fair weather ahead. Deep in the distance behind us, the Wind River Range began to gather clouds around its summits, but miles of sun and wind now lay between us and the mountains. We all were working on the whole loaf of PBJs we each packed out and we were making good time.
Close to the end of our second day and 60 miles into the desert, Rattle started to feel ill. All three of us gathered water beneath the nearly full moon and made camp. We were out of grizzly country and could finally hike well into the night, but tonight we had to stop earlier than planned. Sometime late into the night it began to rain.
The next morning, Blueberry asked if we should plan a pace together or just meet in Rawlins. Rattle was still feeling off, and we parted ways with Blueberry. She left camp and hiked away into the gray horizon. We slowly packed camp and eventually started walking as the rain began again.
With no trees to protect us, the rain and wind whipped at our exposed faces and stung our skin. Our hands were numb. We found a spring flooding the road and surrounding the rotting corpse of a cow. We gathered water uphill from the stinking, decaying animal and pushed on into the bleak, cold day.
At around 3:00 we reached a road junction near a man-made reservoir and our maps showed a couple of campsites along its shore. Taking inventory of the situation, we knew this was the warmest weather the day would bring. We backtracked to the small lake, scouted for camp, and pitched the tent, guying it against the wind as best we could. The relief of our quilts was as great as the day was cold, and we settled in to play cards and eat whatever rations we wanted. The trail fortunately met a highway where we could hitchhike the last 20 miles of this section and considering the low mileage of the day, this seemed like the best idea. We napped for hours, ate dinner, and slept through the windy night.
The clouds broke at dawn and we casually broke camp to start hiking at 9:00. Around midday, we realized we could reach the highway before dark. After a single break for lunch, we pushed hard to finish the 27 miles before sunset. Rattle was feeling quite a bit better and was up for the challenge.
By 6:00 pm we were standing by the highway with our thumbs out. By 7:00pm, a hunter with a camper in tow dropped us off at the Rawlins Walmart and waved goodbye. We were relieved. A cheap motel waited around ¼ mile away and we were in need of a zero or three.