La Coulotte
I looked into Katie's eyes and all I saw was fear. I've seen her cry before, but this was different. I knew we were in way over our heads this time and all that mattered was that we get down of that mountain in one piece. "La Coulotte" is a bitch. That's the only way to describe it. Steep on all sides and covered in shale that disappears from under your feet like quick sand, making the climb to the top painfully slow. There wasn't an easy way out of the situation. Either go back and climb over the pass we had just descended and back over Avion Ridge, which was waiting with 180km/h winds, or push ahead towards civilisation over two more peaks. We decided to do the latter and worked our way up. It took all of my strength to keep it together, mostly because I was angry. Angry with who ever thought leading the "trail" - by that I refer to a line on the GPS system, not an actual trail - over this kind of terrain was a great idea. We lucked out and had perfect weather conditions that day. Would it have been any other day we wouldn't have made it in one piece or we would have at least waited it out. The GDT showed us who's boss. It's by far the wildest and most beautiful trail I've ever been on. Bob Ross would go nuts out here! Endless forests stretch out in front of you and the thought of how remote and alone you are becomes a freeing, yet crushing thought.
30 people attempt to thru-hike the GDT every year. 30 people don't do enough damage to form a trail, so too often we were bushwhacking our way through the woods. That's not how I like to hike. Or at least not yet. If the PCT was the Kindergarten, we jumped straight to Uni on the GDT. We should go to Highschool first so we decided to change our plans and instead of heading north, we'll be heading west towards the coast on the Pacific North West Trail. Short; The PNT.
I do see myself coming back one day to try a second attempt at thru-hiking the Great Divide. The most important thing is to stay safe though, and to do that I need a different skillset and more experience in navigation and mountaineering than I have at this point.
I threw every rock that I could find on the ropes of my tent to save it from flying away in the first night. It worked out pretty well and I'm super impressed how our ultralight tents held up to the storm. There was no way I would ever sleep though, with the tent walls flapping loudly in the wind, so at one point during the night I yelled over to Tape's tent proposing that we should just cowboy camp so we wouldn't have to hear the noise. She denied and I am glad she did. At 5 a.m. it started raining hard while I - still awake - was at least dry and curled up in my sleeping bag, which I highly recommend now after actually having slept in it. It's pure gold.
Day two started off with a 300 meter climb up Avion Ridge. The winds had become stronger over night and we were facing 180km/h winds on our way to the top. At one point Tape had to lie flat on her belly to get a chance to breathe.
I couldn't help but smile when the view of the Rockies opened up for the first time. It was breathtaking seeing endless mountain chains and huge forests right in front of me. Then a gust of wind hit me in the face and I was reminded that I was about to be blown away from a mountain top.
La Coulotte.
La Coulotte.
Tape's taped feet.
