Day 76: Walking the ridge to Winter Park

Mileage: 27.4 miles (1184.3-1211.7)

I woke up late around 6:30am and didn't break camp until past seven. I filled some water and walked the road and then the bike path under I-70, a road ice I'd driven tons of times to go skiing.

Now, I'd walked there from Mexico. Pretty cool. I dried out stuff at the Herman Gulch Trailhead with the first patch of sun in close to 24 hours.

There were spectacular wildflowers in the meadow heading towards Herman Lake. Huge patches of Blue Columbine, Paintbrush, Parry's Primrose, and Mountain Bluebells graced my path, with high peaks rising in the distance.

I split off from Herman Lake trail on the CDT and clouds started to gather, signaling the storms were coming earlier than usual.

I got to about 12,400' before it started to dump on me. The thunder rolled in and it didn't seem like it was going to stop any time soon. With ten more miles above treeline I decided to hunker down in my tent and wait out the storm - the first time I'd done so on the entire trail. There were no trees to hide under so it was basically my only choice other than to risk getting struck by lightning or freezing.

I fell asleep, cooked up chili a Colorado Trail hiker had given me and right as I was about to pack up saw guy coming up the ridge - it was Chimichanga who I'd met two nights ago coming out of Breckenridge. He kept moving as I packed up, anxious to get over the 13,100' peak before another storm came.

I packed up and caught up to him after a couple miles. We had a wonderful ridgewalk, with mountains peaking in and out behind the clouds. It was made all the more spectacular since you had no idea what you were surrounded by until it emerged out of the fog. Soaring peaks and endless ridges on all sides.

We started heading down when it started raining again. We hid under a tree starting around 6pm when it really started to pour. I hung out until 7pm before I decided I would head to Winter Park for the night. I was super soggy and ready for some real food and a dry bed after setting up my tent in the middle of the day - I didn't want to set it up twice! Chimi stayed because he had gone over Gray's that day and was understandably exhausted. I had another beautiful walk along the ridge, as it finally cleared up for sunset.

I got to Berthoud Pass by 8:30pm but it was a tough hitch as it was getting dark. Probably twenty cars passed me by and it was suddenly pitch black and 9:15. I contemplated setting up camp as the clouds were gathering and it looked like it might storm. I yelled a four-letter word in frustration - why wouldn't another human pick up someone obviously in need? I was literally waving my hiking poles over my head.

I decided to wait five more minutes. A red jeep headed my way up the pass - I waved my hiking poles in the air - and he stopped! A kid from Boulder. Dropped me off at a hotel on his way. At first the lady said $80 and I told her I walked from Mexico and she said she child do $60. I took it. And the restaurant was even still open, albeit a bit expensive, I had a giant spinach salad and a cheeseburger with a beer and fries.

I topped the night off with hot tub and hung up all my stuff to dry around the room and then collapsed in the king size bed. What a difference a few hours can make.

Day 75: Big day on the Divide over Gray's Peak

Mileage: 24 miles (1160.3-1184.3)

I woke up at 4:15 so I could get an early start. The next 25 miles were above tree line and I aimed to finish it all out today. On top of that, the last climb of the day was Gray's Peak at more than 14,200'. If I was gonna fit all that in before the afternoon storms rolled in I was gonna have to move.

It was a pretty foggy and soggy morning, with a definite nip in the air. The fog burned off a little after I climbed Whale Peak and I was treated to incredible 360 degree views. I had to hide behind a rock and put on every layer I had to stay warm before the sun finally peaked through. The clouds rolled in on and off throughout the day, but that made me appreciate every view all the more.

There were great flowers as usual, including Moss campion and Rocky Mountain phlox, which stood out in big pink clumps against the bright blue sky. There were a lot of ups and downs and I definitely felt the altitude.

By about noon I came to the intersection where I could either go down nearly 3,000 feet to about 10,000, or I could stay up high, cut a few miles off, but have to climb a few more high peaks. I couldn't bear to lose all that elevation I'd earned so I took the high "Argentine Peak" alternate, electing to stay on the divide. It was also a bit shorter than official route - funny the official route doesn't stay on the divide. This sounds like it would be easier but it involved a ton of up and down and definitely wasn't a cake walk  I had wonderful views of Gray's and Torrey peak to the north - and Gray's loomed over me about eight trail miles to the north. I skirted Argentine Peak on a talus slope to avoid going up to 13,700' just to lose it. As I got on the Knife's edge spine heading towards Gray's, the clouds started rolling in and I got worried, but I had nowhere to go but over the peak.

Ascending the nameless peak before Gray's I saw lone mountain goat through the fog that had enveloped me. When I got over the peak I saw he had a partner. They looked more like yetis than anything else - they have so much hair! They grazed while I took pics. I could have watched them all day but I had to keep moving unless I wanted to get stuck on the ridge or accidentally walk off the knife's edge.

I was completely exhausted going up Gray's one step at a time, but also wasn't trying to take my time as I heard thunder overhead. I was about as exposed as you could be so I wanted to get off there as soon as possible.

When I finally reached the summit I was completely fogged in on top of Gray's and couldn't see more than twenty feet in front of me. 

I'd had wonderful views all day long, so I was just happy to be going down. The steady drizzle turned into heavy rain and then hail which stung my shins and ankles as I struggled to find the correct path down the mountain. Lightning flashed in the distance. I was lucky to be headed down towards treeline, even though I was totally soaked.

I finally made it to trailhead below tree line and setup camp under a fir tree. I was so exhausted I didn't even cook even though I was famished. I just ate peanut butter and chocolate.

Exhausted, I was asleep by 7:30.

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. 

Day 71: Late start North from Tennessee Pass

Mileage: 10.1 miles (1103-1113.1)

I didn't get started until about 4:15 after a long day of computer work, doing taxes for my business and updating my iPhone (which was actually way more painful than taxes...) Literally I think I'm way worse off after upgrading - I no longer have my jailbreak, which allowed me turn my phone into a hotspot, the new operating system takes 4gb of space, which is 1/4 of my phone and double what my previous iOS took, and I no longer have any music on my phone because there wasn't room after having to manually add back all my photos and apps. Plus, I lost nearly a weeks worth of blog notes! Agh.

Anyways, the one positive is now I have a timer on my camera and hopefully certain apps will work better - but who knows! Alex and Margi brought me back up to Tennessee Pass after I got all my stuff packed and boxes mailed. They rode their mountain bikes with me and the dogs for the first few miles, until we lost Ziggy chasing an Elk. It was fun having Margi along to help identify flowers, as I'd wondered about many which I didn't have the wherewithal to look them all up.

It was nice to walk along their bikes, as Margi otherwise wouldn't have been able to join since she had pretty serious knee surgery not long ago. It was a gentle downhill grade the whole way and it was a very pleasant way to begin the next section. We bid farewell before the trail dipped into the next valley - I was sad to say goodbye, but me and Alex planned to do a section together in about a week so it wasn't bye for too long.

I still got that sinking feeling I always get when I leave friends or a good town for the trail - even now when I'm prepared for it there's nothing I can do except acknowledge the feeling and know that with a good night sleep I'll feel better in the morning. Sometimes I wonder if I could just shield myself from having to say goodbye, but the only way I can think of besides moving where my friends are is by avoiding seeing them in the first place - I realize that would be a horrible way to live, but the highs are so high and lows are so low when you are alone that it's a thought that has crossed my mind. 

I ran into a couple Colorado Trail hikers headed south and they all pegged me as 'headed for Canada.' - probably the beard or the smell that doesn't go away no matter how many showers I take.

I descended gently for about seven miles until I came to a valley where I began my ascent up to Searle Pass. The wildflowers were gorgeous dotting the hillside - the most prominent was the purple Rocky Mountain Beardtongue, whose shoots stood completely erect and displayed it's five tongued flowers beautifully. After three miles of gradual uphill I decided to make camp in a flat spot around 10,400 ft. I tried catching up on my blogging, but have a lot to do after I lost my notes. It feels good to write, but I'm going to bed early tonight so I can get an early start tomorrow for Breckenridge.

Day 70: Zero in Leadville

Mileage: zero

Me and Alex started our day with our favorite Leadville ritual - heading to the local coffee shop for some chemicals and a breakfast burrito (the chemical I'm referring to is caffeine). We hung out and chatted, wolfing down our burritos covered in hot green salsa. We didn't have too many plans for the day but figured we'd go fishing and maybe for a short hike with Margi, who wanted to test out her gimpy knee.

We drove up on a dirt road out of Leadville up towards Mt Sheridan, picnic supplies in the car, with the aim to walk until Margi's knee didn't feel good anymore. As we drove up the road I realized that we had skiied in that same valley this past winter and marveled how much it had changed - the slopes still had some remnants of snow, but were dark green and dotted with wildflowers of all varieties. We got out at the pullout and hiked up an old trail. We stopped often to admire the flowers and look up various ones we were unsure about - Alpine Primrose, Sulfur Cinquefoil, Alpine Sunflower - in addition to all the flowers Margi and Alex already knew by heart.

The dogs, Ziggy and Sadie, ran rampant up and down the alpine meadow, causing the Pika to hide int heir rocks and chirp at them angrily. We laid down in the grass and picked flowers - I was accused of picking the only Alpine Sunflower, which I still contend is false - which Margi was going to take home and press to preserve their fragile beauty.

Alex and their new dog, Sadie May, near Mt Sherman

We headed back down to the car after about an hour and wolfed down some honey-smoked salmon they'd brought home from Alaska and shared a couple ciders, while admiring the beautiful day.

Back in Leadville we looked at some fishing stuff while Margi helped assemble a colorful mural near the Post Office. I got some Chinese food from Szechuan Taste II and immediately regretted the decision not because it tasted bad (I mean, it wasn't good, but what do you expect?) but because the lady completely ripped me off, charging me $2 extra for tofu and billing me a total of close to $15 for lo mein and two egg rolls. I didn't get sick though, as Alex insisted I would.

After eating we headed down to go fishing near the Arkansas River and towards Twin Lakes so I could pick-up my box I'd had sent there. I really regret sending these boxes as I don't even want most of the food and am not really even using the maps. Maybe I'll have my mom stop sending them, but then what will I do with all that food later?

We didn't have much luck fishing and it began to rain. Alex fished for awhile longer and tried close to ten flies before he also gave up. I had tangled up the line pretty bad and realized the new spinning rod he'd just bought was also broken - not a good fishing day, so I just slept in the car.

After fishing we headed back towards Leadville for a BBQ at one of their friend's houses. I've pretty much stopped worrying about eating meat as it tastes really good right now and is probably good for me to gain back some weight. I had two sausages and a cheeseburger before I realized I should probably take it easy. We all had some beers and a good time just chatting and joking around.

Margi brought some lamb that Alex insisted was 'from the Reagan era' (Margi replied it might be 'Bush I' which didn't inspire confidence in any of us). I avoided the lamb and also the conversation because sometimes Alex doesn't know when to leave well enough alone. Whenever a new person arrived he'd tell them about the lamb while Margi would insist it was fine. She ate three pieces and took the rest home.

Fairy Primrose, a little blurry

We headed out by around 9pm as we were all tired from the long day. Back at home I laid out my mat for one last night in Leadville. I'd been there three separate times in the last three weeks, but it was time to say goodbye, for now.