Day 15 - We arrived early at a Forest Service Campground at a small lake known as Hopewell Lake, 9800 ft. altitude. Tall pine trees, aspen trees, and a very friendly campground host. Once again we are living off the grid, using our generator when needed and our holding tanks, but the price was right.
While sitting around the campfire, these two individuals with beards and backpacks wandered into our campsite to ask directions to the lake. We gave them proper instructions and on their return to their campsite, they stopped again briefly to chat. We had just finished dinner and asked them if they would like to share it. They were very happy and went back to their campsite to put on jackets and bring a third party with them to dinner. This proved to be a very positive experience for all of us. They were "extreme long distance hikers" and opened up a whole new world for Joe and I. They were hiking the Continental Divide Trail from the Mexico border to the Canadian border and expected to finish their hike at Glacier National Park in Montana. After dinner they entertained us with tales of how they got ready for this hike including the food they ate, where they slept and, in short, how they survived. "Chief", the hiker from Israel lived on dry Raman noodles and Snicker bars; Jason (the big talker) spent all of last winter dehydrating his own food and making all his own camping gear (sleeping bag, packs, etc.) Jack spent the winter working hard to finance his hike.They had a tent but they seldom used it, preferring to sleep in the open. Below is a picture of the three young hikers. From the left - Jason, Chief and Jack.
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