Miles Traveled: 28.03 Originally Planned: 23.3
Elevation Gain: 4,482 feet Elevation Decline: 1,105 feet
Hours between camps: 11 hours 28 minutes
Weather: 80 F Much cooler and windy
Terrain: We started in a canyon and walked up the canyon into the forest. Lots of trail in the forest with a slight landslide. Some tall, flat grasslands with curves cut into them, strangely.
We started with a fantastic big breakfast at Ghost Ranch. We stayed with the crew and no one seemed too interested in leaving the conversation.
We met up with Pit Stop and Peach Pit in the canyon and hiked with them for a couple of hours. We continued with Pit Stop for most of the day and had wonderful conversations about global travel. We left Pit Stop at a watering hole and continued for about 14 more miles. Alpine and Joker passed us and were heading to a lake a few miles away. We chose to camp in a grassy meadow next to a babbling brook. It was very picturesque and the white noise of the creek was wonderful. Lots of meadows, aspens and wild lily flowers. We have definitely abandoned the desert floor. We camped at 10,000 feet and it was pretty cold when the sun set. Pit Stop arrived just after dark and camped a little further away.
I’ve had it with my REI running shorts. The seams have irritated me too many times. I’ll throw them in the next trash can I can find. I’m planning on switching to my thermal pants now that it’s colder and we’ll be staying at a higher elevation.
Overall, it was a great day on the trail.
Day 2
Miles Traveled: 25.84 Originally Planned: 23.3
Elevation Gain: 2,783 feet Elevation Drop: 2,938 feet Highest Point: 10,529 feet
Hours between camps: 11 hours
Weather: 80F Good day
Animals: birds, 2 elk, mule deer, red-winged blackbird
This morning it was very cold in our tent and there was a lot of condensation. It took us a couple of hours to dry the tent enough to pack up for the day. It was nice to wait in a beautiful meadow next to a babbling brook.
We walked with Pit Stop for much of the day. We had a great time chatting with him.
The terrain was mainly mountain and forest, staying between 8,000 and 10,000 feet all day. We met up with Joker, Alpine and Trash Lobster at a river and all had a nice snack and a fun chat. We all decided to push on to Hopewell Lake for a 25 mile hike today.
There were some rain clouds but no drizzle today. It was a good day overall.
We arrived in Hopewell around 6:30 and the camp host was the cashier at Doc Campbell’s. That was very strange. My spidey sense tingled and we decided to move another 2 miles into the woods to camp.
We set up near a meadow and saw some moose grazing, they snorted when they saw our tent and ran away.
We enjoyed chicken noodle casserole with olive oil in the evening and then settled into the tent for the night.
Weasel taped another water balloon vial to his little finger. Today I destroyed my REI shorts and wore my soccer shorts under the dress. They worked great, so I’ll stick with that for the foreseeable future.
Today was a good day on the road.
Day 3
Miles Traveled: 30.15 Originally Planned: 23.3
Elevation Gain: 3,657 feet Elevation Decline: 3,086 feet
Highest point: 11,116 feet
Hours between camps: 12 hours 39 minutes
Weather: 73 F Cool, windy
Last night two bands of coyotes sang. The opening band was less in tune and harmonic than the second band. The elk snorted from time to time in the meadows.
Nice rolling singletrack most of the day. We are out of the desert and in high meadows. Today we spent time with Pit Stop, Trash Lobster and Alpine. Mainly during breaks. I’m so hungry my stomach growls between breaks. The altitude is causing tremendous gas cramps. I don’t even care if someone walks with me anymore, the gas is leaking.
Animals: antelope, elk, larks, gray jays on a break that wanted our food.
Bad mood at night… Another 30 mile day. They are physically and mentally exhausting. To finish the last 2 miles it began to thunder and rain ice balls. They were the size of a pea, so they weren’t that painful. I told myself it was better than a cold, soggy rain.
I arrived covered in mud with my waterproof pants and £10 shoes again.
I have to cut and bandage the blister on my left heel in the morning. The blister started to become unbearable around mile 20 today. I feel broken tonight. I hurt and collapse in the tent every night. No day is easy and they are not getting easier. It seems like we’re just covering more miles. Not that we really want to. We had the option of camping 18 miles away, which is not far enough, or 30 miles away to get to the next water. I’m fine with 27 miles, it’s that last extra hour that’s all willpower and no fun. I don’t like arriving at camp at night. The only way to get there earlier is to wake up before dawn and start walking or double my speed and I just don’t think I can do that. I still have lightning toes for about an hour every night.
Weasel seems to be in a better mood and has always acclimated to the altitude 2 weeks faster than me. He’s taking all of this in stride. I can barely tell if he is tired at night. I know he has some blisters and Fred irritates him but he sure isn’t complaining.
We are 11.3 miles from hitchhiking to Chama tomorrow. Hopefully it will be an easy problem.
Day 4
Miles Traveled: 11.43 Originally Planned: 23.3
Elevation Gain: 1490 Elevation Drop: 1944 feet
Highest point: 11,209 feet
Hours between camps: 5 hours 17 minutes of walking. 29 minutes to catch a problem
Weather: 66 F, windy
Animals: elk, antelope, ground squirrels trying to steal food.
This morning it was very windy at the elevation and bitingly cold. We put on all the clothes we had plus our raincoat and started marching. It was much better when we crossed the high grasslands and entered the trees. An easy singletrack mixed with deadfall just to make it more interesting.
We crossed into Colorado today! We had a small celebration at the border. Janis Joplin left a magical trail of soft drinks and beers.
After a short wait, we arrived at Chama. We were picked up by a couple of lovely women. We had a great chat and the driver is a doctor who does palliative care work.
We arrived in Chama and the Chama Trails Motel, which is close to a taqueria and the supermarket. We’re doing a big replenishment here. Weasel bought two t-shirts, a pair of socks and I bought another thermal pants. We bought new micro spikes for our shoes on the advice of the equipment store. The north side of the trails is still very slippery. We have some older microspikes, but we’ve used them a lot and were worried the rubber might be weak.
We will probably stay three nights in Chama, since our replacement tent is not here yet. We hope to leave in two days, but we may have to wait for the tent to arrive.
We are changing our original travel plan. Our Silverton box is in San Francisco and will not arrive on time. We are planning to head over to Pagosa Springs and ship some of our food ahead of time.
The next post will probably be in a week or so.
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