The Post Office in South Pass City is only open during the summer months.

Ken or Marcia Powers

Will hold packages 30 days.

Subject: 7/15, day 80, 7155', 21 miles
We headed out of Rawlins with a new buzz haircut for Marcia and other chores done. The first 16 miles were on US 278 and then we turned onto Mineral X (exploration) Road. We saw pronghorn and an animal that Ken thought was a badger (he had one in captivity as a child).

At the intersection Boo, Ed and dog Scout stopped to give us water which was really good because a Sweetwater Uranium employee stopped to tell us that A&M Reservoir is dry. Things seem to work out.

This area has mines & oil wells.

... Gottawalk

Subject: 7/16 

Didn't we write a journal entry for this date?

Subject: 7/17, day 82, 24.8 mi.
Mother Nature is tricky. We planned our day with an early start, long lunch with a nap out of the sun and hiking late in the cool evening past sunset. It was a good plan through the nap and then thunder & lightning started. We were going to ignore the weather and hike on. Then suddenly a torrential rain started and everything was soaked as we threw up the tent. We figure that this area got half its annual rainfall right then.

The best part of the day was two herds of horses. They are large and well muscled and all colors. Their manes and tails look like carved carrousel horses'. The second good part of the day was that the jeep trail now has turns in it and some hills so hiking is more interesting.

The funny happening today was a traffic jam. I turned around to tell Ken that a truck was approaching and saw a pickup behind Ken! This was after not seeing anyone. We were all polite and took turns on the two track. I was surprised that the drivers didn't ask what we were doing or if we needed water like NM rural drivers did.

We even enjoyed the rain.

... Gottawalk

Subject: 7/18, day 83, 24.4 mi, 7400' 
Gear was surprisingly dry this morning, as were the ground and plants. The air has no humidity.

Today was another water search. We met horses at Bison Basin Reservoir as they were drinking and they warned us off with snorts and blowing. A golden eagle took wing as we arrived and the horses shared the water with a duck and her 5 ducklings. Cows, of course, were there too. The water was so bad we refused to pump it. Ken found a water seep that the cows hadn't trampled and pumped our water. It was acceptable, no better.

... Gottawalk

Subject: 7/19, day 84, 28.8 mi., ~7500'
At lunch Ken said let's go for hamburgers at Atlantic City. That's the reason for this many miles.

The sky was overcast this morning which made us oversleep. The night's rain left high humidity and everything damp for a few hours. The wind was cold enough that I wore my fleece until noon. What a nice change from the temp in the 100*'s. However, the wind was so strong that Ken's bandana blew away and the map and wrappers were blown out of his pocket. I saved the trash and map but we didn't notice the missing bandana until later. It needs to be replaced because it is a sun screen.

Two southbound Continental Divide bicyclists passed us and gave us a sandwich and orange. Their support vehicle was just up the road. They had seen all the hikers ahead of us so we got an update.

We talked to a modern rancher checking his cattle riding an ATV with his dog on the back. We talked to his partner at Sweetwater Bridge. A few hours later she gave us a ride into Atlantic City.

Navigation was easy, but we never knew exactly where we were because of the flat land with no landmarks. Today we got a good look at the south end of the Wind River Range. It looks like they get afternoon thunderstorms every day.

We crossed the Oregon Trail, California Trail, Mormon Trail, Seminoe Cutoff and the Pony Express route today. This is the low point for east-west travel over the divide

... Gottawalk