I have truly enjoyed my return to Colorado and my quick visits to CNCC Craig and CNCC Rangely. There are many people I miss dearly! I have just gotten the photo galleries all up to date. Now that my gear is packed and the galleries all posted, I am ready to hit the Colorado Trail early tomorrow morning.
One thing I encountered when packing for the trip is that there are any number of ways to repack a bag. I think I am going to try and document what decisions I make when repacking each morning. Right now, my bag is packed assuming weight should be near my hips, but all the clothes are in zip-lock bags individually. I think I will move my night clothes, sans zip-locks, into my sleeping bag stuff-sack and try to clean up the clutter within my bag. I also think I should re-organize the way I am doing food. I think there is a better way than to separate by meal types. Not sure on that until I dig into the bag for daily needs.
All in all, I am proud of my 39 pound bag. I am excited to see what items I use over the next week before my first resupply run into town. Things I do not use this first week will get mailed back home (exempt items are first aid kits and backup lighting).
Wish me luck, I am ready to attempt sleep before starting another EPIC adventure!
Day 1 – Lighting and Thunder and Hails Oh My!
Day 1 started out great, the sun was shining, the road was clear and the ascent gradual. Many people were biking and jogging from trailhead to the dam and were happy.
A little further up the road, the trail finally leaves the groomed comfort of Denver Water’s road.
The switch backs start here and I go back and forth a lot. The deep blue sky kept my motivation up as the climb continued. After lunch however, dark clouds rolled in…
A little drip here and there and that first set of clouds floated by. I thought I was in luck. I head some rumbles and grumbles from thunder and figured it was the clouds on the other side of the valley.
But as I turned one of the corners of a switch back, rain came out of nowhere. I scrambled to get my rain gear on, but I was quickly soaked. I watched lightnight and counted as I did as a child to figure out if the storm was close, far, coming or going and hoped for the best… It wasn’t, I was seeing flashes of lightning from behind me, from my side, and ahead of me and all three were coming close.
While the rain was pinging off my rain shell, I saw that the woods was clearing and the storm only a mile from me.
I hunkered down near a medium sized tree thinking it would provide some cover. Turns out hail is immune to pine trees as the darn things pounded at me. Now the wrath of my first days hiking storm was on me. There was no longer a pause between flash and bang. All was instant and was so close my eardrums throbbed and my chest boomed with the thunder. I had found a renewed fear of the Lord and prayed to make it out. My prayers were heard and shortly later I was back on the trail.
I made it to camp and made a very nice dinner and quickly fell asleep.
Day 1 complete, segment 1 complete, 16.8 miles complete.
Day 2 – Sore sore sore
Perhaps 16.8 miles was too much, but I got a slow start eventually.
Segment 2 was easier than 1 but I didn’t move quite so fast.
Most of the trail was exposed to the elements… And a bit miserable… I ran out of water about a half mile from the fire station near the end of the segment. The county workers were friendly, but with the clouds coming in, it was time to move.
Segment 3 started, but with the thunder coming as a reminder to be humble, I made came 1.3 miles in… And slept, a lot.
Miles completed, 12.8.
Day 3 – Socializing
Day 3 was great, but the tent started off wet. None of the woodland creatures ran off with my Nutella so I knew things would be alright. There was sniffing at my tent around 5 am but luckily I scared it away when I moved to look. Crisis averted.
My neighbors all left early in the morning to the trail and I got on it around 7:20 with breakfast at 8:30. It was very very nice.
I was passed by Austin and his dog Chappie (I hope his name was Austin…)
Who stopped to talk awhile. His enthusiasm for the trail was great and his dog friendly, I knew things would be great.
Later, I caught up with my tent neighbors Paul and Nelson from Roswell, New Mexico. Paul’s son, Nelson is getting married in October and they decided to hike from Littleton to Breckenridge together. They had great stories and I enjoyed the optimism they provided me.
Around 2 or 3 all three of us were at the start of segment 4. I wished them luck and pushed forward. My goal was 3.3 miles more to a camping spot. It was rough, uphill, and boring. I entered a wilderness area and I didn’t see any animals or hear anything… It was odd.
I, quite miserably, made it to camp to find young Henry sitting by a little fire eating rice. I pitched my tent in the slight rain and came over and swapped stories. The rain was coming down pretty hard, but didn’t deter us from talking. A while later three others joined our camp and it was great to listen and tell stories together.
The fire was great, but another storm rolled in so we all called it a night. At least no one has to stay up to put out the fire.
Day 4 – A day of inclines and the longest meadow ever!
I kept day 4 shorter for a couple reasons, one, I’m tired and sore, and two, I was being chased by a storm the whole time. I got into camp around 330p and setup my tent in the rain, again. Luckily my trio of newfound friends were already camped and had a fire going. I had dinner and yet another storm interrupted out social time. It rained from 530 to probably midnight.
Makes for a short blog entry…
Day 5 – Slow morning
It was a slow moving morning, everything needs to dry! My tent neighbors, Ryan, Ben, and Rich have been great but our hiking pace had set us apart.
From my phone I cannot tell if this is a good picture… I’ll check later.
I thought day 5 was the day that my body had finally given in and stopped being sore while hiking… I was wrong, I got halfway done with today’s hike and my body just started hurting, especially my left hip and right knee. To make things worse, it started to rain. I got my gear covered and my rain jacket on, but I was already soaked by the time my rain pants were on. I could feel the wet pants under the shell and it wasn’t comfortable. Then it hailed… And hailed… I was stuck on top of a mountain, in a meadow, with no coverage.. so I kept going and I prayed and prayed.
Every time I went from small shrub or short tree to the next, I prayed.
I don’t think I’ve ever prayed that many Hail Mary prayers before, but based on the hail and my experience on day 1, I was very worried. My hip was stiff and uncooperative, my knee in sharp pain each step, but I knew I was in a spot prone to getting hit with lightning. I pushed on and tested my endurance.
The hail was so thick it looked like snow, even after I finally got up to the forest again.
I continued to pray. I was cold, wet, disenchanted with the clouds and being so wet and wanting to quit. I haven’t even been on the trail for a week and mother nature is convincing me to throw in the towel. I prayed to Mother Mary to help me out. Eventually, my limping walk got me to the campground at the end of the hiking segment.
Now, people can believe what they want, but I know my prayers have been answered. When I got to the bathrooms at the campground, I sat down with my back to the pit toilets. I must have looked bad, or someone was looking out for me, but a wonderful lady named Laurie invited me over to dry my clothes at their fire. I could have cried I was so happy to know my prayers were heard and that I could be warm again. Laurie and her husband Billy took extremely good care of me and their daughter, Aubrey, kept great company. Billy cooked the most amazing Dutch oven red chili I have had in my life. My appetite while hiking has been small, but it came back in full force to eat the chilli. I wish I knew how to thank God and them for helping me out. I’ll just have to follow their example as I find those in need and me in a place to help.
I am one happy camper once again. Thank you Billy, Laurie, and Audry.
Day 6 – Renewed Vigor
I have such a renewed vigor going into the hardest and longest segment of the trail so far. I probably should have been on the trail sooner, but Billy had a 28 cup pot of coffee that needed to be heated up and most of my stuff was still damp. I was up around 430am so I took my time, had coffee and enjoyed the morning. I didn’t get on the trail until just before 9am
While registering at the segment trailhead, Ben walked up! I had a short conversation with him before jumping on the trail.
I had a dilemma with this segment of the CT. The ending trailhead was 32.7 miles away and scaled 5,196 feet up and dropped 5,968 feet. I had to choose between splitting it into two days or three days. Thankfully, Billy’s red chili gave me the strength to hike all day, but the real deciding factor was that I couldn’t find a flat spot after mile 15.4. I saw three good camping spots not mentioned in the CT Databook (between miles 12.5 and 15.4) but I wasn’t ready to camp yet.
I did make it to camp right before dark , but I can feel my body wearing down. My shoulders are bruised my back filled with knots and my left hip still bad on the uphills and my right knee worse on the downhills. I’ll keep pushing, but I want you to know that the rain, the hail, the rain and rain and the pain pain pain is all quite real to me and you’re missing out.
Day 7 – The second half of segment 6…
This section was a mountain biker’s dream run, or so it seems since I had to continually check behind me and jump out of the way of oncoming bikes. There were a few good folks on bikes though. Albert and Tracy from California and a pair of ladies from Breckenridge (whose names I either forgot or never learned) were quite kind and reinforced my faith in humanity.
Day 7 was an expected 15.6 miles with a long series of downhill sections that really beat up my knee. I lived and made it to what is claimed to be a hostel, but really it is a log cabin hotel with triple bunk beds instead of just one bed. This hostel is pretty and with the expected storm for day 8, I think I’ll hang out in the hostel for awhile.
And on John’s 8th day, he rested.
A rest day, or zero day, is a day where the backpack stays off and this bumbler becomes a tourist of Breckenridge.
Since I don’t have much to write about today, I’ll take the time to mention and say thank you to the optemistic and motivating folks I’ve met so far.
Paul and Nelson – you’re the first pair to open up and encourage me to keep going, Nelson, congrats on the wedding!
Austin and his Dog, Chappie, impromptu planning works, no worries
Connor, the hockey player, good luck with your future decisions
Henry, the speed hiker, enjoy the trail and the rest of your gap year
Ben and Rich along with their friend Ryan “chops” – who amazingly found me in Breckenridge!
Laurie, Billy, and their daughter, Aubry, your hospitality, friendly words and world class chili was an answer to my prayers and provided the encouragement I desperately needed
Albert and Tracy from California, the first friendly bikers I’ve came across.
Robin, good luck with your hiking buddy, I know I pointed out a camping spot 9 miles away from where we camped at 17.1 miles, but that 9 is the toughest of the segment.
And the two Breckenridgers whose names I cannot remember (sorry!) you two were the first locals to strike up a conversation on segment 6.
Little Connor and his grandpa, thank you for the ride to the hostel!
Chuck and Deb from Fairplay, I found the laundromat!
I reaffirmed the fact that I derive a lot of my optimism and energy from people and the trail has held only the best. Thank you all for a great first 100.
Day 9 – Hiking on a Hangover
Gold Hill on a hangover… Actually, I was feeling great, woke up before the alarm, got to the first bus of the morning and hit the trail earlier than any other day. I was still passed by 50+ year old Janet “Rock Kicker” but the ascent was great!
I could tell there was a fire in the area as smoke has started to fill my beautiful backdrops.
Luckily the deep blue sky’s came back and the smoke only left me with the morning sniffles.
This side of Breckenridge lacked the crazy amounts of bikers, but I still got to experience some crazy. I met Squirrel, Andrew, and Phil. This was Phil’s first big hike and it was rough on him, so these two huff it up a side mountain just for fun.
I kept decent pace, but only because I was too lazy to put on warmer clothes and the wind was cold and cut straight to the bone.
The wind was worth bearing, the views only get better and better!
So remember to bundle up!
Day 10 – SHEEP!!!
Sheeeep!
The trail takes the hikers through Copper Mountain Ski Resort, which was neat, but riddled with unnecessary switchbacks. This was to be a lower mileage day anyways. The segments between Breckenridge and Leadville had an awkward altitude gain and loss as well as mileages between. I made it work and got some great reading in.
Overnight was very very cold, but the treeline views were great. I’m loving this trip!
Eventually I made it to the pass and what do I see just past this sign?
Sheep!
Oh well, better make camp a few more miles down the trail.
It was a great day to have a great day.