Follow Strider's Rambles

Day 79

Before packing, I took advantage of the lodge luxuries, these included a hot shower and hot coffee along with my breakfast. The day was beautiful, sunny with blue skies. I walked to the post office and picked up my package. In addition to six days of food, it contained a black beanie and a new, yellow Enlightened Equipment Torrid jacket. My old puffy has lost a lot of down from years of use and with lows approaching freezing plus the high Colorado terrain, it’s time for a warmer one.

From the post office, I went south through town to the lakeside trail which I hiked yesterday with my friends. I passed the junction we took to the lookout tower and continued south to the Colorado River. I really enjoyed following the river’s shore for 3-4 miles. It was wide and blue with lots of sandy beaches and patches of yellow & orange aspens; very beautiful! I encountered a trail work crew and thanked them for their efforts.

Eventually the trail left the Colorado River behind and ascended a peninsula. The top offered fantastic views of Lake Granby and distant mountains. I descended to the lake’s edge and walked a dirt road that took me past several car accessible campgrounds. A lot of the spots were filled with vehicles and huge tents. One campground had two rows of canvas buildings – glamping indeed!

Next I hiked around the west and south sides of Monarch Lake and entered the Indian Peaks Wilderness. The trail turned away from the lake and ascended steeply to 10,000 ft. I stopped a short distance past a tiny stream to camp. It was getting chilly so I put on my beanie and the yellow puffy; I immediately felt warm and cozy!

Day 80

The morning was sunny with blue skies. For seven miles, the trail undulated gently across wooded terrain. I reached a cluster of creeks and gathered water. Then the trail dipped down to Cabin Creek before ascending steadily through a burn area. I was looking down and listening to an audiobook, when I heard a snort and looked over to see a female moose about 15 ft. away. I was elated! She busily ate green plants, unconcerned by my presence.

I ate lunch at a stream crossing. The sky clouded over and a brief, light rain fell so I put on rain gear. At the saddle above Devil’s Thumb Lake, the CDT turned and followed the ridgeline for several miles to Rollins Pass. It was exposed, around 11,700 ft., but though the sky rumbled there was only one more brief rain fall. When I reached Rollins Pass, instead of following the CDT along a 12,000 ft. ridgeline that ultimately led to James Peak, a 13er, I turned onto Moffat Road.

Since yesterday evening, I’d been reading FarOut comments and debating my route. The forecast called for snow and possible thunder both in the evening and over the next two days. I didn’t feel comfortable ascending James and being on a lot of exposed terrain in such weather. ChewToy, a fellow hiker, detailed a low route option. It will bring me back to the trail 4.9 miles south of Berthoud Pass.

I gently descended to Rogers Pass, then continued to follow Moffat Road until it turned into a series of forest road. To shortcut a long road switchback, I bushwhacked down a hillside and it worked well. I tried once more with poor results, there was an unexpected canal that I removed my shoes to ford. My pants got wet so to dry them, then pitched my tent out of sight of the road.

Not long after I’d settled in my tent, it started to rain. My spirits were low. Over the day’s course, my stomach hurt a couple times and I was very gassy. I was frustrated with the crappy weather combined with high terrain. My tent leaked and the low was predicted to be near freezing. I was cozy in layers and knew I’d stay dry atop my Thermarest, but my desire to complete the trail waned.

Day 81

I woke to find that the rain had frozen on my tent overnight. Eating breakfast seemed a chilly prospect, then I googled and found a McDonalds in Winter Park. I quickly packed and descended the forest road, noting all the fresh snow on the mountains I would have traversed if not for my low route. Two highway miles later, I enjoyed a hot coffee while I ate a cold-soaked breakfast, charged my phone, and began drying my tent on a rail of the restaurant’s outdoor patio. After breakfast, I used the parking lot asphalt to finish drying my tent and give my damp Thermarest & sleeping bag some sun.

In high spirits, I set off along Vasquez road. It was paved at first, but quickly turned into a well-maintained dirt road. I enjoyed the blue sky, sunshine, and fall colors. When my coffee hit my digestive tract and I thought about digging a hole, I came upon a trailhead and a handy port-a-pottie. Funny how my emotions did such an about face from last night.

By mid-day, clouds occasionally darkened the sky and the road had transitioned to two lanes with a grassy median. Ahead I saw a creature near the road’s edge, too big to be a squirrel. When I got closer, it was a marten with a dark brown coat! We gazed at one another, then it bounded down the hillside. Eventually I turned off the road onto a trail towards Vasquez Pass, its switchbacks were gentle. Even though the pass was at 11,700 ft., the snow from earlier had melted in all except a few spots. I then descended a short distance to the CDT.

As I regained the CDT, I saw a thru-hiker! It turned out to be Roadrunner. We chatted about the past couple days as we got water from a stream. She and the others spent last night in the warming hut near Berthoud Pass. It was only 3 pm and I wanted to hike further, yet I knew that the next several miles of the CDT traversed an exposed 12,000+ ft. ridgeline. Roadrunner planned to take the Stanley Spur trail down to Jones Pass Road,  hike the road towards the pass – where the Silverthorne alternate begins – and camp below tree line. I decided to do the same. I am embracing alternates with open arms!

Day 82

Yay, it didn’t snow overnight and all was dry inside my tent! It was near freezing so I was reluctant to leave my warm nest, however I knew I had a long day ahead. The walk up Jones Pass road was well-graded and I didn’t need my poles so I tucked my gloved hands under my armpits until I hit sunshine. My remaining water got slushy. At 12,400 ft. I reached the fully sunny pass, then dropped down the other side into a frost covered landscape and had to up layer, putting my Torrid jacket back on.

The road from the pass descended into a beautiful valley where I hiked a trail along Bobtail Creek. The trail wove in and out of sunny warmth and still frosty patches in the shade of trees or the adjacent hillside. At the last water crossing, I stopped for a snack and water refill. Roadrunner appeared and we compared campsites. Then came a steep ascent to a pass that topped out at 12,200 ft. and remained high for 2.5 miles. The views were stunning and made the climb worthwhile. Mostly I followed Roadrunner, though at one we got too high and as we chose different routes to reconnect with the trail, I got ahead.

Prior to descending, I stopped for lunch with a view plus tent drying. Roadrunner waved as she went by. After lunch, I descended to the South Fork Williams Fork Creek. There was sporadic downfall to keep it interesting. Once again down to 10,400 ft. and then another climb, this time to Ptarmigan Pass. The ascent was gradual via a couple dozen switchbacks. When it crossed a saddle, I could see the sprawl of Dillon Reservoir in the distance. I was up high for two miles, reached 12,000 ft., and then began a long descent towards Silverthorne.

My legs got tired of descending, though it was pretty with bursts of aspen color. I’d feel the occasional jab of a rock into the ball of my left foot; the shoe rubber in that area has gotten thin. A mountain biker passed me going uphill, then back down. About two miles from town, I found a soft, grassy spot amidst aspens and set up my tent. I was weary and, after eating a big dinner and sending a couple texts, I went straight to sleep.

Day 83

It was a clear night and I woke to a completely dry tent! I hurried into town and went to House of Vibes Coffee and Curio. I got hot coffee and a delicious sandwich: egg, cheese, avocado & vegan chorizo on a GF english muffin. After I’d been there a couple hours, a thru hiker named Strix showed up. We hadn’t met before, but we chatted for a while then walked to REI together. She studies Spotted Owls in the wild, so cool! At REI, I really lucked out and found a pair of Salomon shoes in my size that were worn one day and returned; they were 50% off!

Shortly after Strix and I exited REI, my friend Forest pulled up! She and her friend Kristy were in town with their daughters for a gal’s weekend. They took me to a lakeside condo a short distance away and fed me lunch. I delighted in the salad and sugar snap peas. After lunch, we sat outside and chatted, interrupted occasionally by the girls. Wren and Avery are only two days apart in age and became close friends in pre-school. The entire experience was a nice interlude from trail life.

By mid-afternoon, it was time to go. Forest and Kristy were getting the girls ready to paddleboard on the lake so I walked the short distance to the free town bus. It dropped me off near the coffee shop I’d been at that morning and soon I was back on trail. For 1.5 miles, I was in town and suburbs. Then I entered the Eagles’s Nest Wilderness, exciting because I used to backpack & fly fish there, but hadn’t been in a long time.

It was a lovely evening: pleasant temperature, a well-worn trail, fall colors popping all around. I saw two pairs of deer and a dozen day hikers. Shortly before I stopped, I did a class four scramble up a rocky area and my new shoes came in handy. I camped on a flat spot whose rocky edge overlooked a waterfall in South Willow Creek. I’d made it roughly six miles from town, goal achieved!

Day 84

Eager to see Will in the afternoon, I got an early start. After a couple miles, I turned from the Mesa Cortina trail onto the Gore Range trail. It took me through a lovely alpine valley lit by early morning sun. Shortly before a 11,900 ft. saddle, I surprised a flock of six ptarmigans.  Two allowed me close enough for pictures.

The trail dropped 1900 ft. to Tenmile Creek before climbing to a second 11,900 ft. saddle. I got caught in a light rain storm for the last mile of the climb. It blew over and I ate lunch on a rock outcropping amidst intermittent sunshine. During the descent toward Copper Mountain, I spied a turkey wandering amongst pine trees.

When I arrived at the ski area, I belatedly realized that it was the off season. Will texted that he wouldn’t arrive until 6:30 pm because he was doing delightful tasks like picking up board games and Trader Joe items for my resupply. Luckily, Nowhere Pizza was open so I hung out there. I ate a parmesan tater tot appetizer to tide myself over to dinner. For a couple days, my right eyelid had felt irritated, yet I hadn’t observed anything unusual. I used the bathroom mirror and saw a red lump with a white pimple. Online I read that it was a stye, a bacterial infection.

Will greeted me with a gigantic smile and hug. It was really good to see him! I read about dispersed camping off Mayflower Gulch and he found a level spot to park his van. He’d brought the ingredients for sweet potato and black bean tacos, but it turned out that he was out of camp stove fuel. So we mixed the black beans into salsa and scooped it up with tortilla chips. While we ate, we caught up on life. Will is in flight school and recently completed his first night flight along with multiple landings. He’s on his way to becoming a stellar pilot!

Since it had already drizzled and the sky was overcast, we slept in the back of the van. Will brought his mattress and blankets from home so it was warm and cozy.