Mileage: 9.4 miles (849.4-858.8)
We got an early start from Ricky's cabin in Durango around 7am and headed over to the Budget Inn to grab Karma after saying goodbye to the five poodles. McStuffins was my favorite lady - his roommates keep them for breeding and sell the puppies for $500 a pop. I'm in the wrong business apparentally.
Karma wasn't quite ready when we arrived so me and Ricky got some coffee. I got the best cappuccino I've had on trail. They even asked if I wanted it wet or dry. Karma came over to grab some coffee and asked Ricky if the car was unlocked. I was surprised he remembered which car was Ricky's, but let it pass. When me and Ricky walked outside Karma had his stuff inside a brand new, light-grey Subaru Forester. Ricky has a fifteen year-old dark blue Volvo. We laughed and Karma quickly got his stuff out of the car. He told us later there was a dog in the front seat - talk about worst guard dog ever! Almost 100% of the time it's bad news if a dirty guy with a Santa Claus beard enters your vehicle. Maybe the dog had good manners.
After Karma grabbed his coffee, we all hopped back in the car and started the ascent towards Molas Pass and Silverton. The Aspens were a vibrant green down below 11,000 ft. It seemed to be full summer if you ignored the peaks capped with snow. Apparently the road we were on was named the most dangerous in the country earlier this year. Luckily, it was clear of ice and snow. Otherwise, the precipitous drops on each side would have scared me much more.
Once we got to Silverton we headed over to the Avalanche Cafe at the suggestion of one of Karma's friends. I got a breakfast pizza and a breakfast burrito. The guy next to us also gave me the leftovers of more than half his burrito to take on the road, which was delicious later in the day, despite having the green chile having spilled on my backpack.
I sadly said goodbye to Ricky and hoped to see him up in Leadville or somewhere down the road. We got two quick hitches out of Silverton, the second of which with the County Commisioner who confided he 'might do some shrooms later.' We took nap at intersection where the road goes to Stony Pass, sure someone would take us the rest of the way.
About fifteen damn ATVers passed - some even with empty seats - and none of them would pick us up. It was the same routine over and over: Karma would hear a motor droning in the distance, wake me up with a start, and then we'd stick our thumbs out only for the ATVers to speed up as soon as they got near us. We decided they were all from Texas and we hated them.
We decided to hoof it up the 2,500' and after about a mile and a half of climbing, we saw a Jeep and a Forerunner creeping up the hill. The guys in the Jeep said they didn't have room, but their brother behind might. The brother in the Forerunner said the same thing. He had two big Pitbulls in the back, as well as another dog. I blurted out that 'I loved dogs' and would be happy to sit with them. As I went to pet one of the pitbulls, she bared her teeth and growled at me. Just as he was about to pull away we made one final plea, including something about walking from Mexico, until they finally let us get in. The passenger, a slim blonde girl in her 20's, got in the back and me and Karma piled in front. We learned they were from Texas and were driving 4WD roads for the next month. The driver, a younger guy with long brown dreadlocks, was impressed that we had been walking in so much snow and we were jealous they could drive up all these hills. At the top, they filled our water bottles and said goodbye, not before I gave them my blog address. Not everyone from Texas is so bad after all ... sorry Texans, I'm still scarred from all them years of the Longhorns spanking us Cornhuskers in football.
The hiking was great, with the snow having receded quite a bit. We could even walk on top without snowshoes until about 3pm. We were still mostly walking on snow, but just with more bare patches than before, especially on the southern slopes. The black heads of mountains peaked out from the blanket of snow and the rock cairns were much more visible, making it easier to navigate. Another set of lone footprints and eventually snowshoes also blazed the way. We wondered if some intrepid CDT hiker had caught up to us with all the zero days we'd taken over the last few weeks (I just calculated and I've taken almost two weeks of zero days, woah!)
The hiker was our mystery to solve for tomorrow. We camped at 12,600' on a flat spot on top of a hill. We hit the highest point on the Colorado trail at over 13,000' within ten miles the next morning. We have an early wakeup tomorrow at one-thirty so we can walk on top.
No comments:
Post a Comment