CDT JOY: Goodbye Colorado – The Trek

Day 103: 16.9 miles

Highlights: Slack package. Welcome to New Mexico. One more state to go!

In the morning, I loaded my backpack with only the essentials for a day hike: 1.5 liters of water, water filter, poop kit, food bag, rain gear and inflatable, and food for the day. We walked to the gas station next door and I bought some pumpkin donuts, a pizza with sauce for lunch, and a sweet tea.

We left Chama passing Cumbress Pass and along a forest service road. We drove about 10 miles down this road, going ~20 miles per hour, before reaching a gate on private property. Fortunately, the trail connected very close here, so we got out of the car here to head north for the day and return to the pass. We left a magical trail of soda and beer at the junction where they dropped us off and began our hike.

Today, I brought with me my mom’s homemade treats, brownies, monster cookies, and seven-ply bars, to hand out to other hikers as we hiked. I delivered all 8 before the day was over and received the most wonderful compliments from other hikers for the tasty and unexpected gift.

Towards the end of our day of hiking we crossed the border between Colorado and New Mexico. One more state to go!

We met up with our friends from Wyoming, Toddler Snacks and The Show, and caught up on our adventures through southern Colorado.

Meeting my parents at the CDT

About 1 mile from the pass we ran into my parents again who were out on a shorter day hike to meet us and say they hiked part of the CDT and returned to the vehicle. From the car we headed back to town and to the local store. I inquired about getting a custom pack for the future through hikes like the PCT, and purchased a fleece made by the local guys here in Chama.

Falling on suppliers

After the outfitter, we washed clothes and showered, then headed to Santy’s taqueria. I had a taco salad and taco wraps and was very satisfied and happy. After dinner, we headed across the street to the grocery store to resupply for the next town, as well as our resupply boxes. It took us almost 3 hours to unpack and repack the food and boxes for the trip. I was exhausted afterwards, but happy that these are the last boxes to worry about on the trail.

In the evening we watched a crazy but amazing movie called Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, which was about space and military monsters. While the movie was playing, I took one last look at my food and started writing.

Day 104: 21.1 miles

Highlights: Goodbye to parents and Chama. First red poplars.

I had set my alarm for 6 a.m. so I would have an hour to pack before meeting my parents for breakfast. It took me a full hour to organize and go through the contents of my backpack since I changed a lot of equipment.

At 7am we walked past a local breakfast where I had a ham and cheese omelet and coffee, then loaded our backpacks into the van and headed back to the place where they dropped us off yesterday. This time we would be heading in the proper direction towards the south and at this point we have no other plans to pack any more bags.

I brought a scale and I weighed 27 pounds with 3.5 days of food, 2 liters of water, and all my base weight gear items.

Today’s trail, which hikes at 10,000 feet compared to the 12,000+ feet on San Juan, really made a difference. I had the zoomies walk at over 3 miles per hour for most of the day. It was a nice sunny day with highs in the 50s and a breeze.

After leaving it, the trail intermittently crossed a forest service road. Midnight and I walked down the road for a while and the further we went, the worse the road got. We initially planned to drive this road with my parents for a longer trip, but I was now grateful for where they dropped us as the road conditions were not good, especially towards the panoramic view icon on the map.

After taking pictures from the lookout of the autumn aspen trees changing color, we walked through pine forests and small lakes. We passed a lakeside campground and headed up a short ridge with more stunning fall views.

panoramic viewpoint

In the forest I met a mother bear and her cub. The bear ran up a nearby tree and the mother ran ahead of me into the forest. I stopped for a few minutes and when the mom didn’t return and the bear cub remained in the tree, I walked with Midnight down the trail talking and singing out loud for a while.

Bear in the trees

At 5pm we reached the last water source before we planned to dry out the camp. I saw Woody and his dog, who my parents yanked yesterday when they were picking us up in the afternoon. Midnight and I decided to have dinner here so we wouldn’t have to carry the extra weight of water for cooking and so we could, for the first time in a long time, have dinner while it was still daylight.

I had Instant Pot Refried Beans with Knorr Taco Rice, Seasoned Ground Taco Beef, Nacho Cheese, and Hot Sauce all in a tortilla.

After dinner we walked a few more kilometers until 7 pm and found a campsite just as the sun was setting. After setting up camp, I changed into my new wool sleepwear and a balaclava before enjoying one of the seven-ply bars baked at my mother’s house.

I didn’t realize how tough southern Colorado was until I felt how much energy I have in New Mexico today. I am excited for what is to come in the final state of our journey.

Day 105: 28.8 miles

Featured: Hiking with snacks for toddlers and The Show.

The plan in the morning was to leave between 6:45am and 7am so we could have a bigger day of hiking today. After following the trail, I realized that I had intended to go to the gas station to buy another pizza roll for one of my lunches, but I forgot to go there. Due to less food, I will run out of food before lunch time on the last day.

The weather last night was incredible and one of the calmest and warmest nights here in weeks. The overnight low was in the 30s, and I ended up taking off my puffer jacket, extra sleeping pants, and socks because I was overheating.

Once on the trail, we walked through aspen and pine trees and then the trail opened up into grasslands where we saw and heard cows in the pasture. We could also see two hikers in the distance and thought they might be our friends The Show and Toddler Snacks. Sure enough, about an hour later we caught up with them and walked together.

We filtered water in a lake and were able to dump trash in a pavilion. In the pavilion I made hot tea and had a snack, and watched a large set of dark storm clouds approach. We thought we could enjoy the shelter of this space if it started to rain, but after a while, a blue sky was visible and we continued on our way.

Hiking with Toddler Snacks and The Show

After this lake the single track trail weaved in and out of dirt roads and as we walked as a group we decided to take the path for ease of conversation. We came up with a bunch of fun new possible trail names for The Show and caught up on what our trail experiences have been like since we last hiked together.

Shortly after 1:00 pm, we sat down to lunch and saw more storm clouds everywhere. It thundered a bit and had a few raindrops, but overall the storm system looked worse than it ended up being.

After lunch we walked near a meditation retreat center and headed to the next water source on the Vellecitos River. The river water tasted much better than the previous lake and I drank half a liter and filtered 2 liters for dry camping and another 12 kilometers to carry water.

From the river the trail climbed and we finally came across another trail junction where we were able to walk the road instead of the red line trail to save about a mile of hiking overall. Along the way I had my first cell service of the day and texted friends and family.

We set up camp near an aspen grove and ate dinner, once again, as the sun set. Then, as a route, I headed to the store, changed into sleep clothes, journaled, and fell asleep around 8:30 p.m.