Mileage: 26.9 miles (552.4 - 579.3)
I woke up this morning at 10,304 ft. I know because I checked my GPS. I didn't sleep all that well because wind was whipping my tent all night and I don't sleep well at altitude in the first place. But, I'll have to get used to it as 10,000+ ft will be the norm in Colorado, just over one hundred miles away.
As I went to put my shoes on I realized my left one was frozen almost solid. I had the shoes under my feet, but obviously this wasn't enough. I'll have to sleep with the shoes inside the sleeping bag next time. After slightly thawing the left one with my breath I forced it on my foot. Though the right wasn't frozen solid, it was very cold. I had to run in place as I took down my tent to keep my toes from getting frostbite. It had gotten pretty cold last night - probably around 20 degrees, which is the limit for my sleeping bag - and it hadn't warmed up much since then.
I got moving as quickly as I could, almost running through the snow at first to warm up my extremities. It was a clear day, so once the sun peaked over the horizon it would help warm me up. The drifts of snow got to be three and four foot tall, but luckily most were still frozen solid, besides the few inches of fresh snow, so I was able to stay on top of them. I saw evidence of one or two other hikers ahead of me and noticed they had not been staying on top of the snow and were post-holing (their feet breaking through the snow) over a foot deep. I guess that's one reason I was thankful for the frigid weather.
The day warmed up quickly though, as the sun rose, it's rays reflected brightly off the snow pack. I only had a few miles of trudging through the snow before I started descending. As I went down the snow slowly started diminishing until finally it disappeared completely around 8,000 feet. The way down wasn't easy though as there were blowdowns everywhere, so the only options were to make a long detour around the tree or climb over sometimes three or four trees stacked on top of one another. With all the snowmelt in many places the path looked more like a slip-n-slide than something to be walked on and, in fact, it was much easier to do the former.
Eventually, the trail dried out as it made it's way down to another highway crossing. The high altitude spruce-fir forest gave way to quaking aspen and then ponderosa pine.
I enjoyed hiking alone with my thoughts and at my own pace, but I definitely missed Maniac, Karma, and Restless. They were a good group and it's nice to share the good times and the bad with others along the trail. I suspect I'll see them at Ghost Ranch, where we all sent ourselves packages as I planned to take a zero day there.
After I crossed the highway I made a long ascent along beautiful sandstone cliffs, all shades of pink, red, and orange. On a break, I discovered a great new snack combination: flaming hot cheetos, cheddar cheese, and tortilla. The Cheetos give it some crunch, the cheese gives it substance, and the tortilla ties it all together. I had three before I stopped myself, already having gotten into my ration for the next day.
I did some quick math, and realized if I did 25+ miles today I'd only have fifteen left to Ghost Ranch. They serve dinner there so I figured I'd push today so I could have a leisurely day tomorrow and make it in time for dinner and to grab my package. I also hope they have snacks for sale. And lunch. And that pizza is for dinner tomorrow night.
Anyways, after I made the ascent it was all downhill from there until I hit a creek that flows into Rio Chama. I pitched my a mile or two from the river, well below 7,000 ft. I'm hoping the elevation change will help me sleep way better than last night. The sunset was brilliant on the west side of the canyon walls.
I tried to call my mom for Mother's Day but she didn't pick up. I called her Friday anticipating I wouldn't have service. Tomorrow I'll send her a digital bouquet of all the wildflowers I've seen over the last few days. She loves lupine like I do and there's been plenty along the trail. But my favorite lupine display was yesterday, seeing it coming out of the snow so defiantly, the purple flower so stark against the white of the ice cold snow.
I got to talk to Laura for a few minutes and hear her sing before the service cut out. It was nice. I'll go to sleep with her notes still ringing in my ears, melding with the chirp of the crickets and the wing beats of the occasional passing bird.
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