CDT Joy: High elevation in Colorado

Day 88: 17.0 miles.

The highlight: Monarch Pass and mountain cyclists.

I had put an alarm for 6:40 am and after checking my phone to see that midnight I wanted to leave later in the morning, since they did not bed until almost 3 in the morning, I turned around and went back to sleep.

About an hour later, I took another hot shower and cross the street for breakfast. I enjoyed a cheese cake and coffee pancake and then returned to the room to make a final package.

In the last section from the twin lakes to the exit I had almost 2 full days of extra food with me. I took the time to be very aware of the calories in each of the items that I put in my food bag, and things that I have taken but I have not been eating as protein bars, I have accepted that I will need to obtain proteins in other ways in this stretch.

I will change my breakfast mud to heat it on the stove and add some dust flavor protein to obtain additional calories. I also chose a more compact dinner of couscú and refused beans, which is lighter than other dinners that I have made and occupy much less space in my backpack.

Around 10 am, Ghost Pepper and I conducted from Hampton Inn to the simple shelter in the city center to collect midnight and then leave the city and return to the monarch pass.

In the pass, we all went to the gift store and the food building and I could find a rack fleece sweater for an extra hot layer and an fan with mesh to breathe from the nose and mouth easier. In these high mountain steps, the wind really turns and I have been receiving a wind burning, so I hope this team motivates me to cover my face in the wind while walking over the tree line.

I also collected a CDT t -shirt from the store and Ghost Pepper will cling to her while I walked. Around 11:30 am we finally arrived on the road and many mountain cyclists passed a loop route from the step. Seeing all the cyclists excites me to make a mountain cycling after this path and I want to investigate more about the GDMB path (Great divides Mountain Bike) that runs throughout the continental division.

Around 1 PM, I had lunch with Ghost Pepper before saying goodbye and he returned to his car to go to Denver.

The rest of the afternoon I had a few drops of rain, but fortunately it was only for a very short period of time. I wore my new fleece and I was very happy to get a large size (the only size available) because I could wrap my hands in the sleeves to heat them and the length covered me almost like a dress and added warmth to my legs while walking.

I arrived at the camp around 6:45 pm and prepared before dinner with midnight. Tonight I enjoyed an instant rice, instant refritos beans and chipotle taco condiment. The combination was so good and a bit spicy that I didn’t need to add spicy sauce. I also added a chicken and olive oil package and then I had a cup of pumpkin peanut butter for the desert.

While ate, the sun got and cooled quickly. After brushing my teeth and washing my face, I went to the store to get in my sleeping sleeping bag. I took time to get caught in writing and then headed to bed to spend the night.

Day 89: 26.9 miles

The highlight: Equinox. Lujan Creek.

Last night he told us another hiker that we would have a dry section of 22 miles today and confirmed this in the morning.

I was 5 miles to our first water source where we filtered water in the cold. I drank hot extra water this morning in the form of tea and a mint protein oatmeal, so I packed 2L during the 22 miles.

Today’s weather was cloudy and cold and walked most of the day in my new fleece of the grid. We did in Treeline all day today and reminded me of the wet rainy days in the AT. I sprinkled and lit and every time I stopped and left my rain jacket, the weather decreased.

The AT Trail Vibes also added today was the innumerable ascent (Pud) we did. There were many tests of mountain bike tracks and the path had recently changed to changes, which was good for uphill, but in my opinion additional miles were added meaningless when you could navigate the old path.

I had lunch in a camp and I saw some land bicycles pass. They had both team and realized how specialized it is the team for each of the sports that are on this path.

After lunch, I put an audiobook and sailed through the miles. I finished the day at the water source after almost 28 miles. I found a camp near this stream and prepared the camp just before dusk.

Today was the equinox with equal amounts of day and night. From now on, the night hours will be greater than the hours of light of the day that limit the amount of hiking that I will probably do daily.

I had dinner at midnight and put cheese, it is in my couscous with chicken, chicken bone broth package and pinions. It was one of my favorite meals so far. After dinner, I enjoyed some tequila and orange before it started spraying again. I packed and headed to the store at night.

90: 29.1 miles

The highlight: I crossed 2,000 miles!

During the night it rained from time to time and it was naive to think that rain would mean that the weather would not freeze.

I woke up with my bright headlights on bright ice flakes that are aligned both outside and inside my tent. My water bottles had pieces of ice and as soon as I got up and moved, I could see my breathing while moving.

I did hot breakfast and then packed for the day. He has been taking twice as long as preparing me in the morning that before the frozen temperatures were established. I have to take into account extra time to prepare a hot breakfast, go to the bathroom and pack a frozen tent. The latter generally means taking breaks to heat my numb fingers inside my gloves.

We rose around 6:45 am just when the sun came out. I was cloudy again, but I could see lighter blue skies to the south of us where we headed today.

The walk had us on many types of roads, from roads of the maintenance forest service used by ATV, to 4 × 4 truck trucks, to soft land roads where a car could be taken and even a paved road for a short section.

At 10 am, we had made 9.7 miles and we found an open sunny field. We decided to take a break to dry our tents and sleeping bags and I had time to make coffee with milk. Once the team was mostly dry, approximately 40 minutes later, midnight and we packed and went to a water source before navigating these dirt roads.

At 12:45 he began to greet and put on a sad rain jacket because today it would be a lunch late. Some 15 minutes later we found a camp where someone made a typi and decided that this is where we would escape from hail and lunch. The Tipi was not very protective after all, but fortunately the hail left next and the sun even came out a bit.

Teepee hiding place

After lunch, I walked through open fields next to birch showing their autumn colors. There was a Creek car where we leaked water, we saw prey from Castor and my cows friends.

Beaver dam on the road

At the end of the afternoon we crossed the stream, where the water was on the ankle and we had to wet our feet. Normally, I would take away the socks and templates and wear my shoes to cross to have a better balance while crossing. But due to the next night of freezing and knowing that the shoes would not dry and, therefore, they would be frozen. I could not put my feet in the shoes and the laces would freeze in the open form that I unleashed. Ask me how I know … this is something you just need to learn once.

My mantra for this season is that It’s okay to be cold. I have additional layers, hand heating and a warm sleeping bag if I need to warm up. It’s okay to be wet. I have a rain and pants jacket, a tent to keep me out of the precipitation, and extra sleep clothes where I can change to dry. It is not good to be cold and wet. Whenever possible, I will avoid the combination or rescue if I will have consecutive days of cold and rain. I am prepared, but I do not need to put myself at risk of this combination, especially as we approach San Juan.

Camp for tonight

We were looking for the camp and we arrived 12 hours after we started the day at 6:45 pm with the sun behind the mountain, I was quickly cooled and prepared my store and began to cook the dinner. The sun finally got when the food was cooking, so I ate with lighthouse. In the distance during dinner I could listen to moor calls. After dinner, my cold and cold fingers, I went to the store for some additional layers and hands heater.

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