Russell's Ramblings

Colorado Trail - Day 15

August 26, 2017
Camped 279.6 (23.4) 10,774'

I got up, showered, had breakfast and got ready to go by eight, my target time to start hitching to Monarch Pass. I was going to hitch but there was a group of Mt Bikers getting ready to leave the hotel so I asked if they were heading towards Monarch Pass. They were and I got a ride with one of them, Brett. Brett's been an Oakley rep and promotes races. They're all pretty involved.

With the quick ride, I was on the trail by nine; I was really happy about that as it beat all my expectations. The ride I tried to set up wasn't going to be until around ten, so I'm glad it fell through.

It being Saturday, there were a lot of Mt. Bikers enjoying the trail to Marshall Pass. There were also a bunch of dirt bikers out.

The terrain was pretty easy and I made really good time. I thought at best I'd make 20 miles but I made over 23. After about five miles, the Collegiate West alternate rejoined with the Collegiate East.

I caught up to a couple of CT hikers just before I had dinner at around 22 miles. They camped near the creek but I continued a bit more. I think they'll be wet with dew in the morning. I also saw four nobo CT hikers today, two lone men and a British couple.

The Trail Follows the Ridge

It's Sad, the Forests are Dying

Break Time

Colorado Trail - Day 14

August 25, 2017
Zero day in Salida.

I had a pretty relaxing day today. I sort of slept in then went and ate the motel's breakfast. I had a waffle and yogurt. Next I did laundry. I wore my wind pants and fleece hoody and washed my socks, shorts, shirt, and wind jacket. That's all I did in the morning along with hanging out in my room. Oh, I did call a trail angel up and scheduled a ride back to Monarch Pass.

For lunch I started to walk to some restaurant I was told about but it was farther away than I wanted to go so I turned back and had lunch where I had dinner last night, at The Bounty. I ended up having dinner there again too. So much for checking out Salida.

The motel has cruiser bikes available for visitor's use. They give you a lock and a helmet. I wasn't about to where the helmet, so I put it in the basket and rode to Walmart to resupply. I bought the food I would need to get to Lake City, then went across the street to Sonic where I had a chocolate milkshake. Yum!

After that I went back to the motel and dropped things off, then rode the bike to find a nearby geocache. I figured I should at least find one cache on this trip.

Next I went back to the motel and hung out the rest of the day and evening. I did get a text message from the man giving me a ride tomorrow letting me know he wouldn't be able to give me a ride after all. I guess I'll have to hitch back. I didn't do anything else except go to dinner. I didn't even take a picture. I felt like I should be on the trail and felt a little guilty for taking a zero. I was tired though and it was good to get the rest. Maybe that's why I just hung out and didn't do anything; I needed the rest.

Colorado Trail - Day 13

August 24, 2017
Finished at CW78.3 (19.2) 11,300'

Like I figured, there was a heavy dew where I camped and the tarp was soaking wet this morning. I put the tarp in a couple of gallon zip lock bags to keep everything else dry. I packed up and was on the trail at 6:45.

The whole area was damp for the first few miles and it took awhile for my hands to warm up.

There was some climbing in the morning followed by a lot of descending. Then there was a good climb up onto the divide. There was some hail on the climb but it stopped. Then, once on the divide it started hailing again. There was hail and rain for the next several miles. I used my umbrella and walked as quickly as possible. I was cold at first from sweating on the climb, but after awhile the sweat dried and I warmed up. It actually wasn't bad and I enjoyed it. The umbrella kept the wind off my face.

I passed a few northbounders on the divide. I talked briefly to a couple of them and one just shrugged hello and passed by. It wasn't the most pleasant conditions so that's probably why.

Once I got into the ski area it was a bit confusing figuring out where to go. For some reason, the CT app on my phone wasn't updating my position either so that made things more difficult. I was able to figure things out and avoided any wrong turns.

At the top of one ski lift, I stopped at a picnic table and had some food. It is nice to be able to sit at a table instead of on the ground.

There's a store at Monarch Pass, so I stopped and got some ice cream. I wanted plain vanilla but they didn't have that so I got vanilla chocolate chip instead. I only got one scoop but it was a big scoop, two would have been too much.

I started hitching for a ride into Salida but wasn't having any luck. There were four people looking around in the store for quite awhile so when they got in their vehicle, I asked if I could get a ride. They obliged and made room for me. They had been travelling around the past week and were on their way back to Denver. They weren't actually going into Salida, but one of the woman told the driver to go the extra five miles so I wouldn't have to find another ride the rest of the way. That was very nice of them. Thank you! They dropped me off in front of the Super 8 motel.

I was planning on staying at the hostel, but I had no data service so couldn't get the number to it nor figure out where in Salida it is. I called Barbara and she looked the number up for me. I called the number and just got a recording. I decided I'd rather just have my own room so I ended up staying at the Super 8. My room is actually really nice and so is the motel.

Good Morning Mr. Marmot

Looking Back at Hancock Lake from Chalk Creek Pass

Looking Ahead from Chalk Creek Pass

Boss Lake

Gray Skies on the Divide

Follow the Trail Along the Divide

Colorado Trail - Day 12

August 23, 2017
Camped CW59.1 (26.1) 11,102'

Today went well. I packed up and was on the trail about seven. I started with the climb up to Cottonwood Pass. Looking out I could see a layer of clouds way below and away from the pass.

Cottonwood pass is the start of segment 3 of the Collegiate West. It stayed high on the divide and the views were spectacular. The trail was too. Miles of it were across large fields of talus with the tread made of crushed rock. The amount of labor needed to construct it must have been astronomical.

Not far past Cottonwood Pass, I met a man heading north on a long section of the CDT. I also met another man sectioning part of the CT. He was finishing up today at Cottonwood Pass. He told me to keep an eye out for Ptarmigan not too far away. I did spot one near where he said they would be.

I stopped at a creek before the final climb before descending to the Tin Cup Pass trailhead. I wanted to drink some water and have a snack before the climb. I met another man there, Tyler.

It started hailing on that climb then stopped. Then it started hailing again on the descent. It hailed hard for awhile and then cleared up. Somewhere in there, Tyler passed me. He was planning on camping at the bottom but I never saw him.

I wanted to set myself up to finish at Monarch Pass tomorrow, so I continued later than I have been. The trail was following an old rail bed on the side of a hill so there was no place to camp and I ended up hiking until eight where I found a place to camp. It wasn't a great place but it would do.