CDT Day 53: San Luis Pass & Cochetopa Creek

Daily Miles: 24.9, Total Miles: 879.3

I quickly reached San Luis Pass, where the Creede cutoff joins the CDT, and saw one Big Agnes tent and one hiker far ahead of me up on the mountain.

The next four miles was a steady climb to another 12,600 ft saddle, crossing several small snow fields.

Picked up the headwaters of Cochetopa Creek then down the other side of the saddle, following the stream all the way down to 9,000 ft. Beaver ponds galore – great looking trout and moose country.

I had been warned by a trail worker that the Cochetopa River crossing was “gnarly”. Crossed a bit upstream of the usual crossing and only got a bit wet. I left the creek a few miles later and started up FR597, full of aspen groves and meadows. Eventually I got tired, cleared away a few cow patties and set up camp.

Lots of mozzies in the tent tonight so decided to use my hat to kill and maim but the hat happens to have a metal clip on the end of a cord. I snapped my hat at a big skeeter and the metal clip ripped a big hole in the top of my tent. Now easy access for anything that flies or crawls until I can get it patched up.

I met a CDT hiker, Tank, late in the day near the Cochetopa River crossing.