Day 72: North to Breckenridge and meetup with Omaha friends

Mileage: 27.6 miles (1113.1-1140.7)

I woke up around 5am with the sunrise, with a little under 30 miles to get to Breckenridge where I'd meet one of my best friends from Omaha, Jim, and his girlfriend Clare's family where they were vacationing for the Fourth of July holiday. I like two or three days between towns - I'm definitely getting spoiled, but I've still been making good miles so I don't feel bad for enjoying town, especially around the holiday time.

I started my trek up Kokomo Pass after camping around 10,400 ft. There was a light drizzle to start the day, but it quickly passed with the hot morning sun beating out the clouds.

The views were beautiful on top of Kokomo Pass, and I even saw a Golden Eagle, it's huge black body soaring gracefully above the divide, looking for Pika, mice, or other small creatures. Typically, they hunt in pairs, with one bird chasing the creature to exhaustion, while the other swoops down at the final moment. Walking along the ridge, gorgeous, could see the Climax mine off in the distance - a real scar on the landscape, but the backbone of the local economy for decades.

I met a guy Hamid, an Iranian man, along the trail and he offered me snacks that 'were from Iran' The first thing he told me is that 'I walk like goat.' I wasn't sure how to take that until he explained that it was very beautiful the way I lightly walked through the mountains. He said he could tell from a mile away that I was a CDT hiker and not just doing the Colorado Trail. I took his words as one of the highest compliments on the trail - whoever thought being compared to a goat would be a complement? I told him he shouldn't tell a woman that, and he assured me he would tell a woman that, 'she walk like deer.' We laughed and exchanged stories and I was sad that I had to keep moving through the morning light. 

Alpine Forget-me-nots in their bright, mossy clumps

Walked past Copper Mountain, overwhelmed by all the activity - trampolines, golf carts, mountain bikers, horses coming up the trail - it was insane. I don't know why anyone would try to enjoy nature while surrounding themselves with all that crap.

Again, there were tremendous wildflowers carpeting the mountainside. I talked to my mom for about 45 minutes and it was nice to catch up. She was in Maine for the 4th holiday and I was bummed I couldn't be in two places at once at the lake, surrounded by all my family. But, it wasn't so bad where I was and soon I'd be surrounded by friends and good food.

Crossing the highway below Copper I came up to three folks sitting near an RV. They yelled over, asking me if I was a CDT hiker - when I responded 'Yes' they whooped with joy and invited me over to sit down in the remaining lawn chair. Next thing I knew I had a root beer float in one hand and a PBR in the other. They were trail angels from the area who'd been waiting all morning for a CDT hiker. They'd seen plenty of Colorado Trail hikers, who we all agreed were way too clean. In their words, I was their first 'smelly hiker' - like 'goat' this was only a compliment on the trail, and a high one at that.

I enjoyed hearing their stories - they'd each hiked at least one of the other major long-distance trails - and I told a few of my own. Coppertone, the older fella who owned the RV, apparently had been serving up root beer floats for years to PCT hikers - I was lucky enough to be the first CDT hiker who'd ever gotten one. Slaughterhouse, the lone female, told stories of hitchhiking, while the other guy, a bearded man a little older than me told us his story of contracting Lyme's disease on the AT (...moral of the story: if you can't feel your face, go to the doctor).

After getting refueled and maybe having one too many beers, I started ascending over the Ten Mile Range, which heads all the way south to Leadville. On the north side of the ridge was Breckenridge Ski Resort. When I topped over it, I saw the ski lifts and slopes below, enjoying my views of the Gore Range to the North and East. It was neat walking over all these ski mountains that I'd been to during the winter.

After a couple hours of downhill through some wonderful wildflowers and alpine meadows I made it down to the road. Jim and Clare picked me up about 20 minutes later and we headed towards their cabin. The town of Breckenridge was packed and I was overwhelmed by how many people were there.

When we got to their place I met Clare's parents, Jim and Val, and quickly dismissed myself for a shower. Big Jim (Clare's Dad) was fixing chicken for dinner and Val had made some awesome guacamole and salad. It was crazy once again being transported to another world, full of plush leather couches and all the food and beer I could consume. After dinner, we played 5-person hearts, which is surprisingly difficult and then called it a night around 10pm. I had my own room and a bed - I felt so lucky and thankful once again.