Daily Miles: 22.5, Total Miles: 1,374.9 Walked from Riverside back to Encampment and had a cup of coffee while hitching from near the post office. A few local people drove by and stopped to apologize for going the wrong way or just a short distance. A few minutes later a lady pops out of the backdoor of the PO and asked where I was going. I said Battle Pass and she said hop in, pointing to her truck. She mentioned…
Daily Miles: 9.9, Total Miles: 1,352.4 A thundering herd of elk ran by my tent this morning. Something must have spooked them – it wasn’t me. I was still hiking from post to post this morning but not too hard to follow. Most posts had a nice chunk of quartz on top from the many large quartz veins in the granite here. Being kind of O-C, I put quartz chunks back on the posts that were missing them. I crossed…
Daily Miles: 23.4, Total Miles: 1,342.5 I followed a trail/ATV road along the Divide and Sierra Madre Mountains all the way to the Wyoming border. Colorado is in the bag! I got water at a nice spring less than a mile into Wyoming and continued swinging west and then north high above the Hog Park Reservoir. I entered Huston Park Wilderness and really had to slow down. Lots of fallen logs across the trail and the trail became very undefined…
Daily Miles: 25.3, Total Miles: 1,319.1 I headed up to Lost Ranger Peak at just under 12,000 ft and crossing perhaps my last shrinking snowfields in Colorado. The ground is still soggy from the melt. Then an almost 4,000 ft descent, leaving the Mt Zirkel Wilderness and crossing the Middle Fork Elk River. I picked up the North Fork Elk River and followed it for several miles upstream before swinging west and climbing to the meadowy Trail Creek drainage. A…
Daily Miles: 25.4, Total Miles: 1,293.8 It took me three different hitches to get near Rabbit Ears Pass but was still on the trail by 8:30am. Lots of lakes, forests and meadows but not a lot of elevation gain until reaching Mount Zirkel Wilderness in the afternoon. The landscape changed rather dramatically as I started climbing with rocky crags, huge granite slabs and boulders, hummocky meadows, yellow flowers and great views to the valley below. High cloudiness turned to sprinkles…
Daily Miles: 0, Total Miles: 1,268.4 Had my second breakfast at Winona’s – highly recommended. I took one of their giant cinnamon rolls to go and will devour it before hitting the trail tomorrow. Had a most relaxing day loitering around town, getting a few supplies and doing a riverwalk on the Yampa.
Daily Miles: 7.6, Total Miles: 1,268.4 Coyotes were howling and owls were hooting early this morning. I continued my roadwalk on CO Highway 14, the Rabbit Ears in full view. Turned onto US Highway 40 and headed up towards Rabbit Ears Pass. Roadwork slowed down traffic which helped me get a ride with Carlos, returning to Steamboat from “clubbing” in Denver. Continuing my good luck, I was able to get an early check-in at the hotel. I started my town…
Daily Miles: 27.7, Total Miles: 1,260.8 I saw some elk right below the Divide shortly after setting off this morning. I stocked up on water at Arapahoe Creek – going to be pretty dry until Rabbit Ears Pass. The trail hit a forest service road and followed that down 17 miles all the way to CO Highway 14. I walked along the highway for four miles with private property on both sides before seeing a gate to Rabbit Ears Wildlife…
Daily Miles: 21.2, Total Miles: 1,233.1 I just left the Never Summer Wilderness a few miles back and it lives up to it’s name. My water bottle had ice cubes this morning. By the time I got to Willow Creek Pass and CO Hwy 125, the sun was up and I was able to shed my jacket, gloves and skullcap. Next order of business was a five-mile climb to 12,300 ft Parkview Mountain complete with an old fire lookout. Obvious…
Daily Miles: 22.9, Total Miles: 1,211.9 I waked out of Grand Lake pretty much straight into Rocky Mountain National Park. After looking at my Guthook app map, I was almost immediately faced with a decision . Stay on the official CDT route for the next 25 miles or take an alternative 4-mile trail up Tonahutu Creek and arrive at the same destination. No brainer – the shortcut was beautiful, and, I would guess, more travelled. I followed a nice stretch…
