Limping on Lake City, a zero day and a heartbreaking decision

If I told you that I had sleeping on the floor of a vault bath on my bingo card for this trip, I would have been lying. If you ask the others who were trapped in that storm the night before, they would tell you that we were lucky. And we were. Listening to the stories of others later when we arrived at Lake City, they all had a awful Night, and yet, we were safe under a roof, and the driest it had been in days. I will tell my blessings and laugh at the experience.

The next morning, Peyton and I woke up, we laugh at our situation and prepare for the day. It was a beautiful morning. We had a long climb from the valley through the Garita desert, and through several high points per day. He sprinkled a little as we walked through the high brush, but the clouds cleared enough to dry our tents on our water break. There is something so peaceful to take a break and eat a snack while watching the clouds change, create shadows on the mountains and listen to the water below. Soon we packed our bags to return to the path. My leg hurt from the day before, but I could pass and continue walking to that first point.

If you don’t like the weather, wait 5 minutes and change

When we arrived at the first chair, I looked at San Luis Peak in the clouds. My initial «plan» was hope to walk at 14er on this trip, but my leg and the weather said otherwise this time. However, I will return for that, because the views must be beautiful at the top. I rounded the corner to continue walking to the next chair, all above the tree line, when I looked to my right and saw a storm entering. Once again, he caught us in the high country. All we could do was expect it to be a «typical» colored storm, and it would move forward quickly.

I stopped to put on the rain pants, anticipating that it would be a cold rain. We had already put the covers of our packages, anticipating that our good climate of our rest would be short -lived. I looked back to see Peyton crossing the connection path between ridges something behind me. There were no trees, or rocks to hide next, so we continue walking. The storm blew quickly, except that it was not rain, it was More hail. Hurrah. Every time I tried to look up, they threw me on my face with hail. All I could do was keep my head down, keep walking and not wait a ray. Luckily for us, the «typical» storm of Colorado managed to pass, and ended as fast as it began. When we reached the next chair, the sun shone again.

So. Many. Increases.

It is good that I love Colorado. After the events of the previous day, walking through so many miles (29 is a lot, it’s fine), and my now persistent leg pain was tired. But the views. I live for the views, and each chair leads to more beautiful views. UP and on the second highest point for the day he led to the San Luis pass. You can walk to a parking lot from here for a jump point to Creye. I have only driven, but I have heard that it is a fun stop in the CT. However, we headed to Lake City, and we still had two higher points to overcome to the camp. Our goal was Middle Mineral Creek, leaving only 10 miles to the city for the next day.

We invented it and on the last two high points, although slowly. I felt that I was crawling, and every descent hurt my leg more. I had already decided a improvised zero day in one of my favorite cities to rest. After arriving at the stream, we chose our camps. The recent storms had grouped a handful of hikers, and many decided to camp there also at night, which made him a full house. We could all enjoy dinner next to the stream, with a quiet sunset to spend the night.

Loking towards Lake City

The next morning, we got up before dawn and got on the path early. The floor was glazed, and it was the coldest morning I had so far on the way. The ferry to Lake City collected hikers around 11 am, and we wanted to make sure to arrive on time. I didn’t think I could walk very fast; At this point, even putting my shoes hurt my leg. To compensate for pain, the path showed that morning with an absolutely incredible dawn while we walk to the last most important point between us and the city. Every morning is a good day with a view like that.

The next was Snow Mesa. It was the line before our descent. Beautiful, flat and windy, which allows us to have a good time. All I could think was a shower (they had spent 9 days and felt it), FOODAnd resting my leg. We were so close! We crossed the table quickly, and soon we were descending the 2 miles to the Spring Creek path, to our trip to the city. As I said, downstairs hurt. He took much longer to descend from what he should, but we went down in one piece, meeting with the rest of the hikers waiting to catch the ferry. It was nice to chat with others in the events of the last two days while we waited.

One last day zero

We did not have to wait too long before a ferry arrived to take as many as they would fit in the hiker center in Lake City. The hiker center is led by Literal Ángeles. They offer their time to help hikers in any way they can, giving walks, donating food and supplies, and, if you are lucky, you can even see a famous domain hiker dinner. I missed the last dinner for the year, but it was still very nice to come to the city to fresh coffee, friendly faces and a place to hang out before we all recorded in our places.

I walked towards my motel to leave my things and rest. I can’t tell you how good a shower feels after the days of being vertigo. After that, dinner and ice cream were the top of the list of pending tasks. If you ever have the opportunity, I recommend the ice cream shop in Lake City, San Juan Soda Co. after it was kind and full, it was time to rest. I had a zero day in the middle to try to rest my leg, and get all my refueling to be on the road again.

During my free time, I met a physiotherapist that helps hikers with injuries. She gave me some recommendations and exercises, and I left the meeting feeling hopeful for next week along the way. I had limited options to extend my zero days, even if I wanted to. One more rest and my plan was to return there.

A painful realization

The next morning, I walked for breakfast and have a coffee right at the end of my motel, and returned to gather my backpack. I felt that I had a large organization configuration in my backpack. It only took me three weeks to mark it. I spent the rest of the morning resting and hoping to catch the transfutor return to the Spring Creek path. We all returned to the hiker center around 10 am we chatted, we weigh our packages, we went through our team once again and even met the famous Jason. Shortly after, we return to the road.

We were just making 9 easy miles that day. The last 7 segments have a lot of gain and loss (mainly loss), but since we started around noon, our goal was to reach the first crosswater crossing at night. The uphill was fine. It was the descent that sent me back to pain. I still had around 130 miles on the path, and 54 miles to the next refueling.

I cannot express the conflict in my emotions when I approached slowly where we were planning camping. We were entering the San Juan mountain range. I have spent so much time in these mountains, and they are one of my favorite places to be. I wanted me to spend so much next week and photographing a new perspective in these mountains. In the background, I also knew that if I continued, I would spend more time focusing on the ground and my feet, and not in my experience.

A heartbreaking decision

I met Peyton and broke a little. One of his first hiking companions had reached us, so at least he knew he would not be alone if he did not continue. I gave him a hug when I finally accepted the decision I needed to get out of the way. I would continue to find her friend, and I turned around to leave. It was a luck that had come to this decision when I did, I had enough service to call a friend who made the most to come to the path. I had a long walk, and they had a long trip to catch me, so it worked.

This decision was difficult, but I knew it was correct. Even if I continue, I would like to rebuild these segments so that I could really enjoy them and be present. That didn’t make it easier. I cried when I returned to the beginning of the path. From the beginning, I knew that I would take something big to get the way, but maybe that was a pride to speak then. When it is limited in recovery time and cannot afford to take it well to the city, it is sometimes necessary to reassess the plan. The path will be there next year, and I already have plans to end again. I would not miss the opportunity to spend one or two weeks in my favorite mountain range.

For now, this adventure is in pause, and I am always grateful for the experiences of the last three weeks on the Colorado path.