Steamboat Springs CO to Encampment WY – Halfway to Canada!

We couldn’t pick up Weasel’s shirt at the post office. The Steamboat Post Office shipped your shirt to Denver for the fifth time in two weeks! The computer reads the label and returns the package immediately. So much for automation saving time and expenses! This pack has had a wild ride: from Maryland to DC, to Denver, to Seattle, to Portland, to Denver, to Florida, to Georgia, to Denver, to Steamboat Springs, round trip three times, then to Billings, back to Denver, and then to Steamboat two more times. Your only recourse is to contact the carrier and declare the package lost.

Weasel got a nice new button-down shirt in town, since the black merino base layer he was wearing has a big hole in the front.

We watched the FIFA match between the United States and Belgium with Coffee Break and Danny. It was a fun experience, as Belgium handily beat the United States.

We headed towards Encampment WY in the next section. Weasel has discovered a route that doesn’t involve returning to Rabbit Ears Pass from Steamboat Springs.

Day 1

Miles Traveled: 21.34 Originally Planned: 22

Elevation Gain: 5,448 feet Elevation Decline: 1,083 feet

Highest point: 11,444 feet

Hours between camps: 9 hours 22 minutes

Weather: 86 F Mostly sunny, we had a small storm and it rained lightly for about 10 minutes. It rained enough for me to put on my rain suit, walk around for a few minutes, and then wonder why I bothered.

Weasel put on his Voormi River running hoodie in the morning and noticed that the left shoulder was completely full of holes due to the abrasion of the backpack. What a shame, he just bought that shirt in Pagosa Springs and it didn’t even last in Colorado. He was able to get a new sun hoodie at Mountain and Company early in the morning, just before heading out to the trail. We also made a trip to Ski Haus in the morning to replace a broken buckle on Weasel’s backpack.

After a few hours riding the free bus around town, we finally completed our tasks and headed straight out of the motel onto the trail.

We walked through some lovely neighborhoods and found the multi-use trail that leads to Bear Tree Ridge and Buffalo Pass and then to the CDT. There were lots of runners, walkers and a couple of kids with mountain bike lessons. The kids were very polite in giving us the right of way and many had excellent bike control skills. Maybe a couple of them will become professionals one day.

The gradient was pretty gradual all day and even though we climbed 5600 feet, it didn’t seem that difficult. The views were spectacular and the rock is changing. Colorado’s mountains have more jagged peaks and gray rocks. Wyoming rock is more rounded and full of huge boulders. The granite changes from gray to pink with lime green lichen. We are witnessing the changing landscape in this segment.

We walked occasionally with Danny and Coffee Break in the afternoon and found some lovely campsites in the early afternoon. Today was a fun and picturesque day. The tastiest food we ate today were Nabisco Ginger Snaps. Mmmm.

The only annoyance is that mosquitoes hatch and fly around our faces. I have resorted to wearing waterproof pants at night.

Day 2

Miles Traveled: 21.72 Originally Planned: 22

Elevation Gain: 2,403 feet Elevation Decline: 4,977 feet

Highest point: 12,111 feet

Weather: 77 F Mostly cloudy. Graupel and intermittent rain during the first hours. Late in the afternoon a storm occurred.

We woke up to wind and a little rain so we slept a little longer. The terrain was a beautiful mountaintop with a couple of short snow fields to maneuver around. The sky opened and a large graupel pelted us for a while. Some of them were large enough to be painful. There were some stream crossings today.

After the mountain tops, we spent most of the day in the wilderness of Mount Zirkel. It was beautiful, there were no access roads that we could see. There was quite a jolt to maneuver on the descent. We came across a couple with 6 goats. They used goats as pack animals. Using goats to transport equipment was new to me.

The difficult downhill section turned into a jeep road and was much easier for a while. After a long descent and another climb, we ended up camping along the North Fork of the Elk River.

Many CDT hikers camped there for the night: Coffee Break, Danny, 79, Chill 7, and Vacuum.

A mule doe joined us for dinner. I think she was interested in our mint tea.

We plan to cross from Colorado to Wyoming sometime tomorrow.

Day 3

Miles Traveled: 23.61 Originally Planned: 22

Elevation Gain: 4,052 feet Elevation Decline: 3,233 feet

Highest point: 10,515 feet

Hours between camps: 10 hours 41 minutes

Weather: 80s F Sunny, intermittent drizzle, rain and thunderstorms

We left camp later than we wanted to today. The morning was damp and wet. Our tent was soaked and we only had time to dry it halfway before packing it up.

The trail was mostly poor roads, some now only passable on foot or with pack animals. We didn’t really have any obstacles to cross, which was wonderful. My socks and shoes were still soaked this morning and I had to stop and change into my dry socks mid-morning because the skin on my feet was macerated and tender. Yes, we were changing clothes in a ditch on a dirt road. Okay, now we live in ditches. That’s where the good water is.

We came across some magical trails. Thanks Jorge! There were two coolers filled with chocolate candies, cookies, Dr. Pepper, and Starbucks Frappucino. Wow! We enjoyed the magic of the trail immensely and put on weight over the next 15 miles.

We entered the Routt National Forest and started climbing in earnest. We were 2 miles from the Colorado/Wyoming border when we saw large swaths of white smoke rising from the valley. There were also several helicopter flyovers over the smoke. Oh oh forest fire. It looked small and was about a mile away, so we decided to continue on down the trail. The Colorado-Wyoming border was less of a celebration than I wanted. We took a quick photo and moved on. We heard a loud noise in the woods next to the border decoration and got a little scared. It was a doe that was sneezing because of the smoke. After crossing the border, the trail made a C shape for the next four miles and continued to bring us closer to fire and smoke. Smoke was present, but not so thick as to burn his eyes or suffocate him. We were very nervous about being so close to the fire when the trail curved and we came within a half mile of it. We practically ran the last four miles in the woods until we reached the Hog Park swamp and knew we were safe in the swamp. We missed a snack while running from the fire and we both got a little cranky.

We crossed the swamp and I was not happy because my feet were wet again. Today I changed my socks for the second time. The socks that were wet this morning had dried to a nice crispy shell as they hung from my backpack. They softened enough to apply after a few minutes of massaging, unfortunately the massaging didn’t help with the smell.

After crossing the swamp, we sat on the side of a gravel logging road and collected water, ate some snacks, and watched a line of helicopters with buckets of water fly toward the fire. Yes, more lying in a ditch.

Once the helicopters stopped, we walked four more miles down the gravel road and found a good campsite. The site was flat and all the trees around were alive. There was a nice clear stream about a tenth of a mile from the camp. That’s perfect. There are fewer insects when camping away from water.

People found: Chill 7, Cowboy, Danny and Coffee Break

Day 4

Miles driven: 15.77 Originally planned: 22

Elevation Gain: 2,893 feet Elevation Decline: 2,287 feet

Highest point: 1090 feet

Hours between camps: 6 hours 48 minutes

Weather: 80 F Sunny and hot all day

We woke up in a forest paradise. It was so peaceful and beautiful. A doe stared at us for about five minutes as we walked alongside her.

The trail started out as a lovely easy dirt road, the morning temperature was cool and windless. We climbed some short hills with Wyoming’s typical pink granite boulders.

The afternoon was spent walking through wet swamps, some of the deeper water crossings had wooden bridges.

We ran into Puff Puff hitchhiking in Battle Pass and just as we were making introductions, a pickup truck pulled up up the hill. The three of us stuck out our thumbs and a kind gentleman picked us up. We got into the bed of the truck and took a nice ride to Campamento. The driver had to maneuver around the cows on the road, which made for a slow and enjoyable scenic drive. How lucky we got a ride in one minute on one of the most difficult stretches of the CDT.

We arrived in town and checked into the Pine Lodge, enjoyed a great shower and were able to do laundry. Then we went to Divide Restaurant and had a celebratory steak dinner.

The next leg to Rawlins will be a dry and difficult crossing through the desert. We will receive some extra water bottles for the 24 mile water transport.