Follow Strider's Rambles

Day 85

When I woke in the morning, my right eye was swollen and red. Will agreed that I should get it checked out at a clinic, but first… breakfast! We went by Starbucks and got coffee, then to Walmart for Coleman stove fuel. Behind the chain store, there was a park with a pagoda. Will fried us a couple eggs each and we put them atop GF everything bagels with a layer of mashed avocado. Delicious!

CommonSpirit Emergency, in Frisco, was the closest open clinic. Will drove us there and I got to see a doctor straightaway. I was correct in my stye diagnosis. For treatment, I was given an erythromycin ophthalmic ointment and antibiotics. The clinic sent the prescription to Walmart.

Will and I looked through coffee shop photos until we found one, Rocky Mountain Coffee Roasters, that had large tables. We played Duel of Ages with the Pantheon expansion and he won after we tallied victory points. Then we went to Walmart to get my meds and returned to the park pagoda for a late lunch of chik’n, sweet potato, & onion tacos (except we put them on chips). Afterwards, it was time for him to return to Boulder and me to hit the trail. Will drove us to Copper Mountain and we hugged goodbye. I felt thoroughly nourished by our time together.

It had been a rainy day, however the afternoon and evening forecast was clear. Also, I was fueled by coffee, a chai, and chocolate covered espresso beans. The result being that I decided to knock out Searle & Kokymo Passes, both 12ers, and the high altitude terrain in between. I made better time than I hoped and didn’t have to turn on my headlamp until slightly before Kokymo Pass. From the pass, I descended for about 40 minutes until I found a great campsite along Cataract Creek. Despite my late afternoon start, I’d done 12.3 miles.

Day 86

During the night, my eye hurt and I woke fairly often. Upon rising, I found it swollen once again. It was challenging to apply ointment using my phone camera & headlamp and when I set out, my vision was a little blurry and narrowed in that eye. On the bright side, it was a clear, crisp morning. I stopped several times to take pictures of the fall colors.

Since Copper Mountain, I’d been walking the Colorado Trail (CT) and CDT. Finally I was in a section that felt familiar and I thought of my 2019 CT thru-hike. Eventually I crossed Hwy 24, hiked along a creek drainage, followed a contour line around a hill, and arrived at Tennessee Pass. There the highway offered easy access to Leadville.

I’d hiked a little over 11 miles and it was 11 am. It wasn’t like I’d done a bunch of hard days and needed rest. Yet the forecast called for rain in the evening and overnight, then snow the next day. I didn’t want to be on trail in that weather, especially with a bum eye and my menstrual cycle. So I hitched into Leadville and got dropped off at Safeway. I sat on a bench, ate lunch, dried my tent on the pavement, and booked a hostel room. The hostel was full the following night.

As I packed up my tent, Toolman walked over and said hello. I thought he’d gotten off trail, and he had in Steamboat Springs, but he’d rented a car and was supporting his trail family. He offered me space in their airBnB the next night; my zero was suddenly a certain thing! I went into Safeway to purchase yogurt and sauerkraut. I figured it was wise to fortify my gut since I was taking antibiotics. Then I walked to Inn the Clouds hostel.

The hostel had a couple comfy hangout areas and was lightly populated. I took a long hot shower, put on loaner clothes, and did laundry. Then I drank several mugs of hot tea and put a hot compress on my right eye. Strix, the gal I met three days ago in Silverthorne, was at the hostel. I was happy to see her again. I also met her tramily members Lark and Dusty. My four-bed dorm room had one other occupant and I went to bed early.

Day 87

In the morning, there was a skiff of snow on the deck and rooftops. The distant mountains were coated in snow. I drank coffee, ate a light breakfast, and chatted with my parents. After I packed, I discovered that Strix and her tramily members had also decided to zero. The four of us walked to City on a Hill Coffee Shop. I got a yummy piece of GF carrot cake and chatted with Lark and Dusty. Lark attempted a NoBo CDT hike in 2023 and was foiled by snow. Dusty works as an HVAC salesman.

All four of us had time to kill until our new accommodations allowed check-in. I went to a thrift store to look for a small mirror; no luck. Then I walked to High Mountain Pies and got a GF mushroom & olive pizza. When I left the restaurant, it was snowing lightly, though without accumulation. I sat in a corner of the courthouse building lobby and chatted with my sister for two hours.

The airBnB was a bright blue building near the downtown area. Upon my arrival, I met Ice Cream and Didgeridoo. They both knew Toolman from the AT in 2022. I vibed with Didgeridoo and we decided to share the one bunk room. He reminded me of my friend Bansi as he had a similar energy. Soon the others arrived with Toolman looking weary. He’d picked Frito and Stripes up from the trail and fetched medicine for Zen, Ice Cream’s partner.

After all of us had a chance to eat, I accompanied Toolman and Dijeridoo to Safeway. Dijeridoo got frittata ingredients and I needed another trail snack as I’d finished off my chips at dinner. Back at the hostel, we chatted and shared favorite songs on Spotify. Around 11 pm, Dijeridoo and I headed to bed with most of the others still hanging out.

Day 88

I woke from a night of crazy dreams. My eye was slightly less swollen; it appeared to be on the path to recovery! After taking care of it, I headed to the kitchen to drink coffee and assist Dijeridoo with the frittata. First he had to find appropriate pans for cooking the ingredients and the final product. No easy feat as the house had an odd assortment of dishes and some were in sad shape. I helped wash pans and chop veggies, which included sweet potato, kale, red pepper, onion, & mushrooms.

Dijeridoo made two circular frittatas, using thirty eggs total along with chunks of sharp cheddar, veggies, and sausage. He made one portion veg only for me. We chatted while we prepped the food. Didge has a hostel in Bland, VA and does carpentry in the off season. He’s actually hiking the Colorado Trail as he completed the CDT in 2018. Near the end, we accidentally set off the smoke alarm and soon the others got up.

The frittata was delicious and filling. After I ate, I packed my gear and said goodbye. Toolman agreed to give myself, Strix, Lark, and Dusty a ride back to Tennessee Pass. We picked them up from their accommodation a few blocks away and soon we were back at the trail. I started hiking at 10:40 am and the weather was perfect: blue skies and sunshine.

Within the first couple miles, I came across a swing I remembered sitting on with Bradon. When I stopped for lunch, the others passed me. Eventually I passed them all again. In the Holy Cross Wilderness, a steep climb took me to 11,700 feet and I got a great view of snow capped mountains rising above forest. I exited that wilderness and entered the Mt. Massive Wilderness shortly before I set up my tent. It was an 18.4 mile day, not bad considering our late start.

Day 89

It started out chilly, there was a little frost on my tent and I ate breakfast with gloves on. However, it was one of those sunny, blue sky Colorado days that I love! My right eye was almost normal and I could see clearly other than blurriness from the ointment. Apparently Strix & her tramily camped a couple miles north of my spot. I chatted with Lark twice: near the top of the first climb and as he turned onto the Mt. Elbert trail. He and Strix planned to summit Mt. Elbert, Colorado’s tallest peak.

Mt. Elbert was beautiful, with a coat of fresh snow. As I hiked past it, the forest became almost entirely yellow leafed aspens. I had just finished lunch in a super sunny spot when a day hiker stopped to chat. She was getting in her 200th mile of the summer. A couple miles later, I ran into her again and she pointed out trees that had been gnawed on by beavers. Their efforts were impressive! There was a large pond nearby and we admired the huge beaver lodge in its middle.

In the early afternoon, I left the CDT and took a trail plus dirt road route into the tiny town of Twin Lakes. At the General Store, I picked up my resupply box. Outside, I found that my family had added a bunch of extra snacks: a bag of shortbread confetti cookies, two rice Krispy treats, two snack size cookie pouches. I appreciated it very much as I felt hiker hungry! I think the antibiotics helped my gut in addition to my eye.

Another thru-hiker showed up at the General Store. I’d met him once before, on my way out of Copper Mountain. We’d both forgotten one another’s name so we reintroduced ourselves. He was Flo, from Germany. He said he did the Te Araroa – the New Zealand long trail – prior to the CDT so he’s feeling a bit worn out at this point.

Instead of taking the “official” route around the eastern Twin Lake (which I’d done on the Colorado Trail), I took a shortcut. I walked Hwy 82 west 2ish miles to the Willis Gulch trailhead and took that trail back to the CDT. Once I’d regained it, I climbed steeply for 1.1 miles until the terrain leveled out and I found a large campsite. Before bed, when I hung my Ursack, there were so many stars!