Silverthorn and Leadville CO

Leaving Grand Lake we had a couple options, either take the official CDT and climb through a ton of blow downs or walk the road.  We decided on the road walk after finding out about a breakfast joint 5 miles down the street.  Full and unmotivated we walked against traffic so I wouldn't be tempted to hitch.  Another 5 miles down the road we came across a convenience store and I went in to use the restroom (I take advantage of every bathroom I come across as toilets are a luxury during a thru-hike).  The owner of the store offered to save us the last bit of the road walk and take us to the trail head and since he offered I didn't want to be rude so I accepted the ride (happily).  The trail provides.  After a 15 minute car ride that saved us an afternoon of walking we arrived at the trail head.  There must have been some kind of school field trip because there was about 100 kids at different stations.  I was happy to see they are getting the kids out to learn about nature but there really should be some kind of leash laws for children.  We put some pep in our step and were releaved once we got far enough into the woods to escape the screaming of the kids.  We hiked until dark which is now hours earlier than it was in June.  The next morning we woke up to a frozen camp.  Water bottles were frozen, tent was frozen, stream was frozen, everything was frozen.  I take a little longer to get up and get going when it's cold or freezing out.  By the time everything was broken down I was finishing my oat meal when I looked out into the meadow and saw 3 moose.  We watched them graze for awhile when all of a sudden one of the moose charged another.  We then realized they were two bull moose and we were in the beginning of the rut.  The two exchanged looks and the larger chased off the other another time before the smaller bull retreated into the forest.  I had never seen anything like that in person that display definitely made my day. The trail was frozen and the water sources remained partially frozen for the rest of the day.  The day time temperatures were great for hiking but the nights got into the low 30s-20s which is way too cold for me.  We had to camp high one night as we didn't have enough time to make it over James Peak.  We set up camp quickly and put the dogs to bed to stay out of the wind.  The sun had just set and we were eating dinner when something caught my attention.  I turned and about 3 feet away was a fox!  He had his nose in the snack bag when I yelled "hey, no!" He lifted his head from the bag but didn't back up more than a couple feet.  I was in such shock that this little guy had the courage to just walk up to us.  I threw a rock in his direction and he then backed away another 10 feet en stopped and just stared before circling the camp and wandering off.  Since there  were no trees to hang the food we slept with it to keep it from being eaten by the fox.  The temperatures remained low at night and if layered comfortable during the day.  We were almost to the highway when I checked my phone and noticed we had service.  After being rained on the night before I decided to check the weather report.  Shouldn't have done that.  The forecast said a storm was passing through and to expect more snow.  After hiking another pass and getting rained on I found a trail that went to a road to get an early hitch into town.  The idea was to go to Silverthorn, wait for the storm to pass, then back track and hike Grey's (14,000 footer).  After watching the mountains turn white we decided to take the alternate route around to Copper Mt. and skip Grey's Peak since we would be hiking in 2 feet of snow.  Not my cup of tea.  Although we stayed below 14,000ft. there was still snow.  At 10,000ft. there was an average of 4" of snow with some random knee deep spots.  We got into Copper Mt. and picked up some dog food we had mailed to ourselves.  We ran into Baboon and Spins again in the empty ski town before hitting the trail.  We took a wrong turn up the trail and took a 3 mile side trip up a ski trail.  We got back on trail, the right one, and made it to a hunter's camp before calling it a day.  The next morning we found out we could make it into Leadville if we jammed up some passes and peaks so we did.  We got to the road around 5 and got a ride within 10 minutes.  We got into town and found a cheap motel to post up in.  We then again looked at the weather report which said the night low would be 19 degrees and the next day would be 50% chance of snow off and on all day.  We took the zero and ran around running town errands in the snow.  The weather is supposed to clear up and warm up tomorrow and the next few days so although it is currently snowing it's back to the trail in the morning.   Continuing to embrace the brutality...

Leaving Grand Lake...

Frozen steams

Frozen trails

Frozen shoes and socks!

Devil's Thumb

Sunset, just before the fox paid his visit

Freezing! At the top of James Peak.

Oops blurry

Walking the dogs and enjoying a break from the weather. Still cold and windy!

View of mts. from Silverthorn

Hiking in the snow

Grizby sniping

The Colorado Trail

Encampment WY to Grand Lake CO

Weather! We had rain, lots of rain.  We got back into the mountains and started to gain elevation going into Steamboat Springs and the mountains definitely pull in the clouds.  I am from Southern California and have never really experienced anything but mild weather so I was impressed.  This section was a big change going from hot, dry, flat, with no water to mountains, flooding, and blow downs.  I stayed warm in my sleeping bag and mostly dry during the day so that was a huge plus.  The trails flooded and stream crossings turned into almost guaranteed wet feet which I would have loved to have about a week earlier.  We got a hitch into town with spins and baboon with a couple guys from out of town.  The two gentlemen who offered the ride also offered to take us all into town.  The car was a Honda accord or a similar sized sedan... We fit all four packs in the trunk then jammed the four of us and two dogs into the back seat.  We got into town and settled into the motel before running town errands including picking up a care package from Mr. Ortiz.  Steamboat Springs was a good sized town with everything we needed: grocery store, outfitter, donut shop, and brewery.   We also ran into some other sobos in town and learned about 8 hikers left town earlier that day and there was a hiker behind us.  The hike is definitely not a race but its comforting to know your not too far from the pack.  We left Steamboat  Springs with a hitch from a man named Eric.  We listened to some soothing reggae perfect for pre trail prepping.  Eric was another person who reminds you that there are still positive, nice people out there.  Once we got back to the trail we walked dirt road moving to the shoulder every so often for a hunter.  It's very eerie hiking in areas with people hunting nearby and hearing single gun shots.  The next morning we ran into a few more sobos (south bounders) on trail that we hasn't seen in over a month.  We hit a 12,000 ft. pass and a couple 11,000 ft. passes that are kicking my butt back into shape.  Welcome to Colorado!  Because of the weather the Rocky Mountain national forest was closed and we got a ride down the road to Grand Lake from the forest service. We resupplied and picked up some packages from the post office including some MVP weight gainer from Tim (thank you!).  We decided to take a zero to rest my sore muscles before hitting some more peaks and passes and getting back on trail.  We are a little over half way to Mexico! 

I hoped over the border singing Bon Jovi's half way there song

Back on the trail

More road walks... But at least there are trees

Hey it's Toad from Mario Brothers...

12,000 footer. we were in a cloud on the ridge line

Clouds broke up for a quick view from the top

Even the dogs enjoy the views

Grizby the maligoat

Never Summer was very cold who would have thought?!

Rocky Mountain National Park

Getting back on trail dark and early tomorrow morning.  And since I'm sure everyone has been on the edge of their seats I did loose my big toe nail while in Rawlins.  Although the count is now -4 toe nails I am able to say my feet are now happy and healthy without blisters : ).

The Great Divide Basin

We got a hitch from Lander back to the trail in South Pass in the back of an old open bed pick up truck.  The ride was a bit questionable at times but everyone held on and made it in one piece.  When we got to South Pass City we wandered around the old ghost town which never succeeded apparently.  We picked up our packages from the general store which included a great care package from AM., umbrellas, and our resupply.  We filled up on water and our packs definitely got heavier.  Our plan for surviving the basin was to wake up early, (be hiking by 6:30am at the latest) hike until noon then break during the hottest part of the day (usually noon to 3), then hike until dark (usually around 8).  The first day we left South Pass City I was able to fulfill a childhood dream and hike on the Oregon Trail.  The next day we took a Ley's alternative which had water and shade... so what's the catch? A major bush wack that took all day!  The rest of the basin was pretty much all the same.  Flat, no shade, no water, and lots of antelope.  The sunrises and sunsets were gorgeous but the rest of the day was brutal.  Nothing but sand and sage.  We did see elk, antelope, wild horses, and jack rabbits.  We heard packs of coyotes yipping and almost tripped over several badger holes but I'm happy we avoided both.  We got a quick hitch into Rawlins and the gentlemen told us a lot about the area and showed us some really neat pieces of petrified wood he had before dropping us off in town.  Our first stop was lunch, an all you can eat buffet at Pizza Hut.  We then ran around and finished our town errands before winding down.  The basin definitely wiped me out. The next section was supposed to be another road walk without shade and included a 30 mile stretch without water. The road walks are tough on the dogs especially when there's no shade.  I wanted to find a way to let the dogs have a couple days off without putting us farther behind schedule so I started looking for kennels.  I ended up finding Christi Chapman who was willing to help us out.  She works with rescue and had a foster who was willing to watch the dogs for a couple days.  Christi was super helpful and even transported our dogs to Encampment for us.  We pushed through the section quick checking our phones regularly to make sure our dogs and the foster person were all alive.  We had some weather coming into Encampment and felt the temperature drop drastically.  We made it in and out of Encampment with rested dogs and a break in the weather.  Next stop Colorado!

A bit breezy in the back of the truck...

Yup flat and no shade...

A bit blurry but still had to post the Oregon Trail picture

Wild horses

Spins found a little lizard : )

At our water source... Yes we used lots of drink mixes to hide chunks and flavor. The umbrellas provided relief from the sun.  Happy dogs playing : ) Hinanu goes straight for the jugular.

Another water source... Down the pipe not out of the puddle

Watch out for the badger hole!

Sunset and thunderstorm 

Sunrise : ) makes waking up early a little better

Seeing CDT signs makes walking in the middle of nowhere feel a little less crazy