Day 74: North from Breckenridge

Mileage: 19.6 miles (1140.7-1160.3)

After our late night "Better Call Saul" binge I slept in until close to 9am - a much more restful sleep Han the night before. I got up, took a shower, and then packed all my stuff. We all piled in the car and headed out around 10am to get breakfast down in Breckenridge. We had some enormous breakfast burritos with coffee, which totally hit the spot for me.

After breakfast, they dropped me off at the trailhead and I said my thank you's and goodbyes. I was so happy the timing worked out to see Jim and Clare - her family was so hospitable, I need to make sure to send them a card when I get off trail.

I got started hiking around 11:15 and the clouds were already looking ominous. I started ascending out of Breck almost immediately and it felt good to be back on trail. Throughout the day I probably passed about 25 mountain bikers heading down the trail and then a handful of Colorado Trail and day hikers.

It drizzled on and off pretty much the whole day, until it really started to rain when I made camp for the night. The day was full of wildflowers once again - Lupine, Blue Flax, yellow Asters, Larkspur, and many others I didn't know.

The trail was well-marked and easy to follow - I figured I only needed to do about 20 miles before camping, as after that it was above treeline for almost 20 more miles and I didn't want to camp up there with the storms that had been coming through.

Around 5:30pm I ran into a couple and their dog from Boulder who were doing the Colorado Trail. I sat with them and talked and it turned out they knew a number of northbound CDT hikers, none of whom I had met though. The guy had done the PCT, so we chatted for a bit about long-distance hiking and also about hiking with a dog. We agreed it wasn't safe to bring a dog on the entire CDT because of the harsh trail conditions and also the grizz up north.

They told me there were some camp spots right below treeline so that's where I headed, trying to make as many miles as I could before setting up camp. The trees  became stunted and I started looking around for a place to setup camp. I found a nice flat spot right near where the CT and CDT split. It started raining right after I setup my tent, so I was blessed with good timing for once.

While I was cooking my dinner a Japanese guy about my age came up to my tent. His English was very bad, but I understood that he was also hiking the CDT and had flipped up north from Pagosa Springs and was now headed south. After I ate and was writing, another guy came up, this one headed Northbound like me. He said his name was Chimichanga - I'd actually heard about him from Slaughterhouse, one of the folks who'd given me the Root Beer float near Copper. It was raining pretty hard when he came up, but he did tell me he had read my blog, I assume from the San Juan's. He headed out looking for a flat spot and we wished each other a good night. Perhaps we'd run into each other again tomorrow - it might be nice to tackle the next section with someone else as it is pretty high and exposed and there have been a lot of storms lately. I'm going to wake up early though tomorrow to try and avoid the afternoon storms. I guess we'll just have to see what he does and perhaps our paths will cross again...

Day 73: Fourth of July Zero in Breckenridge

Mileage: Zero

Well, I've taken a lot of zeros lately, but who wants to spend the 4th alone? And what a good Fourth of July! It didn't start out great as I was up around 5am, unable to sleep for whatever reason. After messing around with my phone for 45 minutes I finally was able fall back asleep, this time until about 8am. I laid in bed for awhile and then headed downstairs to see who else was up. I found Clare on the couch reading her book and she told me there was toast and bagels in the fridge. I made myself some toast with peanut butter and banana and sat on the couch with Clare.

Jim and her folks weren't up yet, so we chatted some and I grabbed Jim's computer so I could put some new music on my phone. The rest of the gang got up over the next hour or so and they were poised to take a hike up to a lake nearby. I wanted to hang out with everyone, but definitely did not want to hike on my day off so I stayed behind.

I figured it'd be nice to give them some family time as well without the smelly thru-hiker. While they were gone I just lounged on the couch with my cup of coffee, updating my blog and reading the New York Times. In fact, when they returned a few hours later I basically hadn't moved except to make myself a sandwich around noon. I had sat out on the deck some, but the sun was so strong I decided I'd rather just be inside.

They had a great time hiking, maybe getting a little bit more than they bargained for. They came back with smiles and lots of good pictures so I think they had a good time despite being exhausted. After they got back, Jim and I sat around watching hilarious music videos from the 90's (e.g. Smashmouth, Alien Ant Farm, etc). I didn't even remember that they were making music videos back then until Join reminded me of TRL on MTV. 

After having my second lunch, me and Jim started watching "Better Call Saul", the spinoff from "Breaking Bad", which Jim had downloaded on his computer. It's funny because the series starts with Saul working at a Cinnabon in Omaha, NE. By the time the night was over we had watched the first five or six episodes - Jim kept saying, "well, we can't stop there!" In between episodes we squeezed in a wonderful steak dinner cooked by Clare's dad, also Jim, and watched some fireworks. All we had to do was walk down the road about 2 mins to a clearing and we had a wonderful view of the show. We could even see the flash of other nearby town's shows, which almost looked like lightning in the sky.

After a great show, maybe the first I'd seen where I was looking down on the fireworks, we headed back to the cabin and had some loaded banana splits. Jim and I watched "Saul" until nearly 2am - I think the only way I was able to stay up so late was we had some coffee before the fireworks. Somehow exhausted from a day of doing nothing, I fell asleep almost the instant I closed my eyes.

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.