Here is where my story changed a bit from previous days.  While hiking through towards where I planned on camping, I came across two high-altitude ponds (one pictured above), but at the ponds I met P2P.

P2P is a 57 year old hiking fanatic!  She’s hiked most of the Colorado highest 100, hiked in Nepal, Arctic, Alaska, and ALL over the place!  Well, I walked up to her camping site and she was laying on her side.  I approached camp expecting some friendly chatter before heading another 3 or so miles further down the trail to camp closer to Eldorado Lake or Kite Lake.  This encounter was different as she wasn’t able to get up. She stayed laying on her side even as I started talking to her.  I don’t have a timeline or flight to catch, so when she invited me to camp with her, the answer was yes.  Don’t get me wrong.  I love the isolation of the trail, but when camping, it is nice to change the pace and have someone to tell stories with.  We got to talking and we’re both so social we were chatting away until dark.

Turns out that through all her travels, hikes, climbs, sailing, canoeing, and mountain biking, she had the worst of luck about two years ago.  Two years ago, while in her front yard, she was struck by lightning!  In her front yard! She had a bad concussion and this segment, 24, Stony Pass to Molas Pass was her first solo hike since that event. Her plan was to hike about 11.6 miles from Stony pass over 2 days to meet up with a climbing guide at a beaver pond.  From the beaver pond they would go hit some backcountry trails and approach/climb Arrow and Vestal Peaks, but do it with someone familiar with the area.

Well, P2P was still on her side and moving pretty slowly.  She had tweaked her knee in the first 5 miles of this segment and needed to make camp early.  I agreed to stick around in the morning to make sure she was alright.  She downed a muscle relaxant and we went to our separate tents.

The start of day 35 started as any other.  I started doing cold breakfasts and lunches, so I pack up quickly in the mornings.  MacGyver and LiteBrite, two Continental Divide Trail hikers I met in Lake City, came by while P2P was still packing up.  We discussed the trail and they had been through the area P2P and I were about to hike, so we discussed what to expect.

I helped P2P get her pack on around 10:00 am and we hit the trail.  P2P and I were talking before heading out, and I agreed to hike with her for the day to make sure things would be alright.

 

We didn’t move fast as her knee was pretty bad.

 

 

 

 

 

The pace allowed me to take pictures so it didn’t bother me at all.  Like I said, I am on no timeline.

We approached a section of the trail known for its switchbacks.  I heard from someone that there is over 100 switchbacks within one mile, as the bird flies.

As we started the switchbacks, we traded cameras for “action shots”

So now people are wondering why I pointed this out.  Well, P2P was moving slowly as I had mentioned.  Her knee didn’t get better overnight and on one of the switchbacks, she slid on the gravel and went down.  I dropped my backpack and went back up to her to help her get up.  She sucked up her pride and asked me to carry her backpack for a bit.  I was just about to suggest the same.  I carried her bag down a number of switchbacks and went back up for my bag.  We met at the bags and we decided to do it again.

I hiked her bag a few times like this.  Went down a dozen switchbacks, then got mine, got the bags to a mining shed, then to treeline.

I got her bag into treeline and took a moment to rest.  It was about 3:30 pm.

I could tell what she was about to say was going to be tough.  She started out with “Well, I hate to ask this” type of statement. Before she could even say anything, I offered to carry her bag all the way to the beaver pond another 4 miles and about 2,000 feet of elevation drop.  With my speed, I figured I could get her and her bag to the pond around 5:30 pm and get back to my bag around dark.

When I said I would take her bag to her camping spot, she hugged me and cried on my shoulder.  This had to be the toughest thing in the world for her.  To go from where she was, to lightning strike, to asking a random hiker for help, well, I knew I would have a tough time if I was in her position.
We rested and talked for a little time there and she re-composed herself before getting a head start down the trail.

 

Even though I hiked a very tough portion of the Colorado Trail three times, it was still one of the best segments of the entire trail!

I honestly got a little lost looking for the pond and added about a half mile backtracking/searching, but I made sure P2P got to camp, had water, and was set.  I had my treking poles, borrowed her headlamp, and filled my 16oz water bottle and started uphill to my bag.

I wasn’t too far off with my estimate, I knew I would get to my backpack at dark, but what I didn’t let anyone know is that I was out of water (well, I did re-fill my 16oz bottle when I met up with a group of 4 hikers).  Without water, I didn’t have anything to make my dinner with, but I kept going.  I was able to hike the ~1 mile to the nearest camping spot in the trees.  I decided not to attempt to get water, or attempt to get farthur into the trees; it was just too dark and not worth the risk.

For dinner, I ate trailmix, mini-snickers bars, and two tablespoons of Nutella.  Drank the last ounce of water and fell asleep like a baby.