[Cdt-l] Sweetwater Alternate, I didn't like the taste of this "desert dessert" so I spit it out...

[sage Clegg]

Hi- Just thought I would share my opinion on the Sweetwater Alternate in the 
northern part of the GBD. I could not find many of the once plentiful cow paths 
in J. Ley's description. Instead I got chowed on by Mozzies, blew snot out my 
nose for hours because of the extra green green grass along the river banks, 
pulled a billion ticks off my legs, and crossed a swollen sweetwater river about 
5 times before I bailed back to the official route. The one redeeming factor was 
that I got to swim in a beautiful eddy at 330pm on a sweltering afternoon. If I 
had to do it again I would have stuck with the official road walk and avoided 
the 6 extra miles. 7 of the sweetwater miles took me 5 hours to travel. Perhaps 
it was because I was too used to my roadwalk pace, have hay-fever, and wear a 
hiking skirt (pants might make this way less miserable), and am far too much of 
a panty waist to like crawling at 1.5mph up a canyon. I didn't enjoy this 
alternate. Go for the extra burly points & hike it if you want- the canyon was 
pretty- but be ready to spend a whole day down there. Good luck to those of you 
who haven't crossed the GBD yet! 

  I am here in Lander Resupplying. NOLS Rocky Mountain Center is here and they 
have a place called the Gulch- bulk bins of every kind of backpacking food you 
can imagine, reasonably priced, open on weekdays to the public. They also have 
an outdoor store, and there are two more in town. The Nobel Hotel run by NOLS 
has treated me well, I have an entire bunk room to myself for $15/ night. There 
is laundry in the building, a huge flat screen TV, and plenty of people excited 
about hiking and mountains. I am loving this zero day!
  Has anyone mailed packages to the Brooks Lodge? Is it still possible?
Paz- Sage



      
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