Monzónic rains, lightning, hail, aguanieve, graupel, sun and drought … drain crunchy plants and dust everywhere.
The monsoon rains ended up, for me, in early August. I only experienced a rain storm after that, something curious, I was already out of the way and took a local rodeo in Steamboat Springs. Of course I had to rain. Yee Haw!
After so many days of being hindered by storms, stopping before I wanted to stop, it was incredible to have two full weeks without rain storms. I could walk up to five or six! Well, to some extent. Then the fires worsened. Having heavens full of smoke many nights was not pleasant.
And then the ash began to fall on my store. That was simply scary. Where would it come from? How close? I knew from experience in California that ashes can travel quite far, but that did not prevent me from scared me a little. I used my Zoleo satellite device to send a text message to my sister and my daughter to ask them to look for how close the fires were.
It is so disconcerting to see the sun and the moon that shines mysteriously orange and the tent to be covered with ashes. The fires were close to Meeker, not for me, so I was safe for now.
I walked to Walden and Steamboat Springs, I met Jim The Trail Angel and I loved the respite of at least ten miles of road walk when my new angel and friend, Bruce came to look for me. I really don’t like walking by road. But it is better than the last days of «hiking» on trails accompanied by motorcycles and ATV. They really break the paths, discovering the rocks and causing all kinds of hiking problems.
I will have to say that motorcycle riders were among the most educated people on the road. Always slowing down and watching dust and rocks so they wouldn’t throw them away.
The dust was ridiculous. Puff Puff, flew with each step easily covering my boots, socks and pants. Dust everywhere. Yes, including my lungs.
Happy to have had my handkerchief to cover my face. And I could wash my face when I found a current, which was becoming much less frequent. I often had to carry extra water, which, of course, means a lot of extra weight. That is why George’s Trail Magic with Frappuccinos and folding chairs near the Wyoming border provided an exquisitely pleasant breath of the path. I enjoyed absolutely relaxing in a chair and drinking the frappuccino for a while. I still had a lot of water, but who can miss a delicious sugary gift with caffeine?
After I passed the Wyoming border and headed towards the Hog Park reservoir, my other path of paths, Michael, sent a text message that would bring his side to side to pick me up. Viva!
Michael had never heard of Graupel before. Has? I think I heard that term in the Wyoming Absaroka mountains for the first time. Graupel are those small snowballs that are formed in a high -lifting ray storm … that is to say, nor waterfall, but small snowballs. He is quite wild to see. Cover the ground so fast.
I think I was in three or four of these storms for six weeks … along with rain, aguanieve and hail too! It is a bit Decay hanging out in the continental division on the tree line when these storms are close. I have great respect for the rays and I will definitely go down the hill or go back if necessary to reach a safer location.
Oh, but the sun … and the heaven impossible blue of Colorado makes everything more beautiful, even the forests devastated by the fire. The flowers are brighter, the pastures are dazzling, the blue mountain birds are shown when they are themselves and simply fly.
Flowers, questions? Yes, it seems that the Gentios are completely in flower! I have seen at least four different species! They are beautiful.
And the butterflies are working hard to get enough nectar before autumn!
I was so happy not to have to find the snow -covered path. Or to publish hole through the snow and get incredibly so fast. I still surprise the hikers who suffered that. That does not mean that I do not enjoy the snowfields that I walked or in which I played …
We don’t have much snow in Tennessee, so I definitely enjoyed playing in it!
Despite the crazy weather, so far I have not had any real problems. The worst was a strong storm that threatened to flood my store. My sister helped me dig a diversion trench from our tents. That is something great to be in nature. You become very self -sufficient and very resistant, assuming difficulties as they arise and deal with them. And then continuing to enjoy what is around the next curve. Like another beautiful mountain lake …
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