Do you feel good about the walk? Here is a new pain.
Do you think that is the upper part of your climb? No, false summit.
Did you get lucky with the weather? Here is a rolling storm.
The mountain humiliates you. Today I felt honest with a race to overcome the passes.
After a couple of nights in a hotel and the best nights that I slept in more than a week, I got on a bus to Copper Mountain to start segment 8. Trying to navigate the city was interesting, but I arrived at the path. Today I had 2 passes to overcome, Searle and Kokomo, with Elk Ridge in the middle.
I was having a good time, so I stopped early for breakfast and even had coffee. I have to see a dollar eat in the meadow down while resting. From afar, my favorite morning. Very soon, an older gentleman reached where he was sitting. It turns out that the CT 17 years before had walked, and now volunteered at the Colorado Trail Foundation. I want to be when it’s great.
Directed by Searle Pass
Going up the mountain side to Searle Pass, I swear that it was still more and more picturesque. Beautiful wild flowers, streams that flow and even a mountain cabin. I could not have asked for a better morning, even if it was a climb. Those are the days that compensate for difficult. The upper part of Searle Pass was no exception!
However, I could see the dark clouds and the rain scattered on the horizon. If some time has passed in the mountains, you know that there are often storms in the afternoon that appear, and you do not want to be above the tree line in a ray storm. I had to monitor the sky to make sure I didn’t need to bombard her on the mountain if she began to hail or lightning.
Searle Pass still had 2.5 miles and 200 feet below Elk Ridge. I needed to cover that gap quite fast if I wanted to avoid any climate. (Un) Fortunately, the marmotas and Pika offered a lot of distraction while running around me and shouted their alerts. Don’t tell the marmotes that Pika are my favorites.
I closed Elk Ridge’s gap quickly, with just a little rain. The weather was close, but often just behind me on the mountain. The same happened on the way to Kokomo Pass. There were dark clouds behind the crest, but the sun forward. Finally, I arrived at Kokomo Pass and I could start going to the tree line.
Heading and a little magic of trails
The road down was quite without incident, but I crossed a water drop and I could see the rain fall in the valley below. The road led to the historic Camp Hale. This used to be a military base for great altitude training. It’s good to drive, but I didn’t want to camp exactly there. Fortunately, it was still early in the day.
Leaving the forest towards the gravel road, I noticed a blue canopy. It was more magic of trails! Two older women decided to establish some trail magic at the end of segment 8 because her friend was walking her with her son. Sweets, french fries, fruits, vegetables and cold sandwiches, in addition to a bit of gatorade and beer. They were very friendly, and it was nice to stop for a while.
I finished the night with another 3 miles, stopping just a couple of miles north of Tennessee Pass. The next day, I would walk through segment 9 and meet my friends at Timberline Lake Trailhead.
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