CDT Days 62-64 – Skipping Towns

Here the trail weaved past Leadville,  Breckenridge, and a few other populated towns. We didn’t have to hitch into any of them. Tim’s family hooked us up and we found an on trail option instead, which means more time hiking and less time in town. Yay. (Downside is no showers/laundry.) The trail was full of hikers, bikers, and other Coloradans out enjoying Nature.

Day 62 – Mile 1169.9 – Back on the trail

After our double mountain zero, it was time to get back on the trail today. We planned to take it easy in the morning and not hit the trail until around 8, but it was so fun hanging out with family that we really took our time and didn’t get back to the trail until 10! That’s a few miles of missed hiking, but it was worth it. Plus, the extra time gave us a chance to eat a second and third breakfast, which should help to power us for the next few days and maybe cancel out some of the time we should have spent hiking. Once back on the trail we had a bit of trouble adjusting at first… We were both tired! But, after about 10 miles we seemed to be back in our usual groove. The trail was very crowded today. There were hikers and runners and dog walkers and backpackers all over the place. They were all friendly though. The trail does have one new set of occupants who isn’t so friendly: mosquitos! Today it was crawling with them! It must be that the snow melted long enough ago in the area we are now in that they have hatched! We are pretty good at ignoring them though, and we have bug nets and bug wipes for when they get really bad. We are camped near a creek and marshy area, so we might get a lot of condensation over night. For dinner we had creamy spaghetti. Yum! -T

Day 63 – Mile 1196.1 – Beaver dams

This morning we had a bit of trouble getting going. We always seem to be tired after days in town or days off (probably because we didn’t sleep enough). The hiking in the morning was pretty easy. After lunch we had a long climb that was challenging at times, especially with the heat. We went over Kokomo and Searle Passes. They were quite beautiful with red rocks and wildflowers. We followed a stream this evening that had terraces of beaver dams. Tim even spotted a beaver, and we had fun watching it swim back and forth in it’s terraced pool for awhile. We also saw three elk with big antlers today. And of course there were marmots at the passes laying on the rocks in the sun. They always remind me of our cats. -R

Day 64 – Mile 1219.4 – Crowded Colorado

Starbucks was the highlight of today. We learned recently that the trail would go right by a ski resort with a Starbucks, so we woke up early and got there just after it opened for some strong brew. We were also able to buy some snacks and go to a restaurant at the ski resort, so although the stop slowed us down a bit, we’ll be able to skip the next town we thought we’d have to hitch into. After Starbucks, the trail was crowded today. There were mountain bikers, day hikers, and TONS of Colorado Trail hikers. The Colorado Trail is a 500 mile trail that overlaps with the CDT for a few hundred miles. It is impressive how many people are setting out to hike that far! If the trails keep growing in popularity, they’ll have to build more 😁. We saw two people we know while hiking today — Chadahoochie, a fellow hiking-Tiktoker, and then Mio — a hiker we met on the PCT in 2018. This afternoon we got a lot of rain. As we were going over the top of a pass at 12,500 feet, the rain was just starting and I felt static electricity between my hand and my hiking pole. That was terrifying because it seemed like a sign that lightning might strike. We rushed to a lower spot and waited for the storm to clear a bit before continuing. The rain was pretty heavy for a few hours but it cleared up at around 6, which was perfect for setting up a dry campsite when we finished hiking at about 8:30.  Just before arriving at camp, we spotted a fox on the side of the hill ahead. For dinner we had lentils and rice. Yum! -T