Day 57 – Winter Park
Day miles: 16.3
Trip miles: 1092.5
It was a good decision not to push up the ridge last night. It rained quite a bit once I got inside my tent, and continued into the night. After finishing the hiking to Berthoud Pass (the highway into Winter Park), I was really glad that I didn’t stubbornly continue above the tree line.
On the contrary, I awoke to a beautiful, albeit cloudy at first, morning. I didn’t have to worry about hiding my camera from the rain. I was free to hike and take pictures of all the beauty before me. And that’s what I did.
The morning started with a big climb up to a little over 13,200 feet. There was no name on the map for this peak, just a waypoint that said “summit.” From there the trail was an undulating ridge walk through the Vasquez Peak wilderness area. It was a little breezy and cold for the first few hours, but eventually I shed my layers.
After the ridge walk, the trail descended into a valley. I could see a big mining operation in the distance. There was a constant “mrehhhhhhhh” humming of machinery in the background, which became a little mind numbing after a while.
The CDT didn’t ever really dive to the bottom of the valley. It dipped down along the edge of the mountain just enough to touch a few creeks and get into the trees for a bit. It then began the gradual ascent up Stanley Mountain.
Ok, “gradual” may describe the part before exiting tree line. After that, however, the angle of the ascent became pretty steep. It felt like it took forever to get to the summit. Stanley Mountain isn’t super tall at 12,499 feet, but it was high enough to make me tired!
The best part was as I was hiking along down from the summit. I still had over 3 miles to get to Berthoud Pass. A female jogger in a crop top and with a running vest dashed both daintily and expertly around me towards the summit. Just another seemingly effortlessly fit Coloradan!
I saw more and more day hikers as I got close to the pass. I was already excited about food, so I hiked quickly down. The road crossing at Berthoud Pass was dicey. It was a blind curve on a very fast highway. I ran into a group of three people and we all dashed across together on a real-life high stakes Frogger moment.
When I got to the parking lot, there were quite a few people there. I organized my gear in my bag, then as cars pulled out I stuck out my thumb. A vehicle pulled up and it was the family I had crossed the road with! They offered me a ride, and the rest, as they say, was history.
It was a husband, wife, and their 84 year old mother. They were really nice and we talked about this and that on the way into town. They recommended the burgers at a place called The Ditch, so I mentally noted that as a place for lunch.
They dropped me at The Viking Lodge, right off the main drag at the beginning of town. I managed to secure a room there for the night, which I was very excited about. Not only was the weather supposed to be wet that evening, but I would have my own room, own bathroom, no hostel bunk situation, for only $50! I was so excited. I couldn’t remember the last time I had that luxury. The price also included free onsite laundry.
The Viking had an ice cream store attached to it. I earmarked this for later, but I needed real food. I walked across the street to The Ditch and had their classic burger with green chili, as well as some onion rings. It was pretty good, but maybe not the most amazing burger I’ve ever had, despite the hype.
I finished just in time to catch the free bus (gotta love ski towns!) to the Safeway grocery, where I resupplied largely with processed sugar. My mind wasn’t doing a good job of thinking about food planning, and the store was a bit picked over for some reason.
I decided to pick up a fruit cup to balance out the Hostess snow balls I had gotten to eat right away. At the checkout line, the cashier was very sweet and clearly on the autism spectrum. When she scanned my fruit cup, it tipped over and the lid came off, spilling the contents on the scanner. She kindly said, “Oh no! Do you want to go get another one?”
I could see the line was backing up, so I said “No thanks, don’t worry about it. The universe must be telling me not to eat it.” She then replied, “But it’s so much healthier than this other stuff you’re buying!” All I could say was “That’s true.” She had me – everything I was buying, other than the rice sides, was utter crap! I loved her brutal honesty. I grabbed my bags of KitKat, M&Ms, Honeybuns, and granola bars and left to info catch the bus.
I sat on the ground at the bus station, drinking a Monster energy drink and eating Hostess snow balls. They looked like they were going to be much better than they were. I should have stuck with Hostess cupcakes.
Once back at the lodge, I did my laundry and took care of hiker chores. I had already hung my tent to dry from a nail that was in the room wall and laid out my other wet gear. I took the time to wash my cook pot and spork, and to back flush my filter.
I ran into some other hikers in the laundry room and chatted for a few minutes as I grabbed my dry clothes. In the evening I walked over to a place called Durbar and had some delicious Nepalese and Indian food. It was really tasty, and I hadn’t had any good Asian food the entire trip. I definitely don’t count the Asian Super Buffet in Grants!
I spent the evening relaxing and enjoying having a room to myself. It was nice to be full, out of the rain, and to have my gear dry again. I was grateful to have such a convenient town stop and was already looking forward to breakfast in the morning.
Day 58 – The Short Burst
Day miles: 9.4
Trip miles: 1101.9
I slept in until 7, enjoying the comfort of my bed. I took another shower, because I could, and then headed to breakfast at a place called Wake and Bacon. I had the Pot Pie on their menu. It was hash browns, bacon, sausage, cheese, a biscuit on top of all that, and then two eggs over easy topping the whole stack. It was divine! They usually make it with puff pastry, but didn’t have pastry ready so they used a biscuit. It definitely worked!
I downed some coffee with breakfast. I liked the layout of the restaurant. It had a bar area where I sat, which I enjoy. I like that kind of diner vibe. They had pictures painted by a local artist of famous musicians wearing ski goggles. I had fun determining who was who, and they entertained me by confirming or correcting a few of my guesses.
After breakfast, it was time to get going. I kind of wanted to stay another day because the lodge was so cheap, but I knew I should keep rolling. I packed my bag and dropped my key in the lobby.
I ran into a German couple, also CDT hikers, who were also just leaving. When we went outside to hitch, they decided to walk up the street from me. I glanced up and saw them pulling out the big guns – a sign! I just stuck out my thumb and waited.
Turns out that, unlike my sign in Salida, theirs was quite effective. After about 15 minutes I saw them pile into a small sedan and drive off. I felt a little defeated – my foreign friends had scored a ride first when I had the home field advantage!
45 minutes later, my arm was getting tired. I walked down the street over to where the German couple had gotten a lift. In about 5 minutes, I had a ride….
A nice young couple have me a lift up to the pass, even though they were only headed up to the ski resort. I thanked them profusely, but withheld the story of getting skunked by the Germans.
Once there, I downed a jumbo honey bun. I could hear the Safeway cashier in my head telling me all the truths about my nutritional choices. But here’s the thing – honey buns, in particular, are a little like rocket fuel. They are also possibly like meth, but I do not have the experience to say this with assuredness. All I know is, when I eat one I get a burst of energy. It’s a short burst, but it’s a burst. The large ones have something like 700 calories in them. That’s enough to make you feel like a god for about thirteen minutes. Then, well, you might have to push through the crash….
I downed the honey bun and headed up the hill. Right out of Berthoud Pass is Mt. Flora, a 13,123 foot tall peak. The summit was a little over 3 miles from the path, but as soon as that honey bun kicked in, I was like a wind up toy wound, pointed, and released.
I made short work of the climb up. I even met a few new CDTers on the way- Piper and Duskman from PA, and Peaches and Hot Rod from Kansas. On the way down, however, the burst was over. The terrain was really rocky, so I couldn’t move that quickly and had to be careful not to trip and fall or twist an ankle. It started sprinkling off and on as storm clouds began to build up. Suddenly it was slow-going again, and I felt it.
As I made it down the back side of Flora, I watched a thunderstorm begin in the distance. I saw occasional flashes of lightning and could see where the clouds were releasing their bounty. Fortunately it was not raining on me.
I made it down to tree line. I had to cross a short snow bank. It felt like it had been a while since I did that, though I quickly remembered I had crossed another just yesterday. More thunderstorms erupted in the distance as I made my way down.
I stopped at a river to gather water. This was the low point before climbing James Peak, which is 13,309 feet. Including the climb up and down, there was about 15 miles of exposed terrain coming up. I knew I had a choice to make.
In the end, it was a honey bun kind of day. I started fast out of the gate and fizzled, walking only 9.6 miles. I knew I couldn’t clear another 15 miles. The terrain was not allowing my normal pace. I had been slowed to at least 2 miles per hour, maybe less depending how rough the trail was. Thunderstorms were brewing and I didn’t fancy getting stuck on that exposed section. I also knew it might get really windy up there.
I made the decision to camp just before losing the trees. I stopped at 3:30! It felt so strange, but I also felt justified as a thunderstorm rolled through and it proceeded to rain and thunder for a while. States all have their various mottos, like “Virginia is for lovers.” I think Colorado’s should be “Colorado is for mornings.” The afternoons were just killing my mileage.
Tomorrow I will wake up early and get through what I think is the remaining high elevation areas before I reach Grand Lake in two days. It was the right call to stop early today. I got a late start on the morning, but it was totally worth it.
I enjoyed meeting other hikers today. I found out that Hot Rod is actually reading this blog! That’s the first CDT hiker I have heard of who is reading it. Piper and Duskman showed up and camped just down from me. I had a good time chatting with them for a bit. This is their first long trail, which is very cool. The Germans are camped somewhere nearby. We are all staged and ready to go in the morning. Colorado is for mornings….
Day 59 – The Wildflowers
Day miles: 24.8
Trip miles: 1126.7
For the first time in a long time, it did not rain last night. The afternoon showers stopped around 7PM, and that was it. Hallelujah! I woke up to a mostly dry tent, and a dry sleeping bag because I had no condensation.
I got up at 4:15am and was hiking by 5:25. I knew I had about 15 miles of exposed high elevation hiking, and I also wanted to hike about 25 miles to set myself up for a stop in Grand Lake tomorrow.
Grand Lake is right on trail, which is really convenient. It is also in an area where permits for camping are a thing. If I hiked 25 miles, I could camp right before the stretch of trail where permits are required. I would then walk about 19 miles to get into town. That felt doable.
The other thing about Grand Lake is that the CDT leaves Grand Lake and immediately does a 21 mile loop through Rocky Mountain National Park. Permits and bear canisters are required if you camp in the park. I plan to get up early and hike the 21 miles in and out of the park in one day. So, I want to get to Grand Lake with enough time to resupply, eat some restaurant food, and then find a place to tent somewhere before RMNP. That’s the plan.
In light of my mileage goal, I tried to keep up a decent pace, but it was hard for the first 15 miles of the day. First, I summited James Peak, which is over 13,000 feet and a long climb. After that, the rest of the above tree line hiking was a series of climbs and ridge walks. Some of the ascents were quite steep. The trail was very rocky, which slowed me down as well.
That all said, the day was beautiful and the hiking was fantastic. The ridge walks were very cool and right along the rim. I saw many snow-fed ponds in various stages of melt. The water was crystal blue. Juxtaposed with the white snow, it was stunning. I wondered if the snow ever fully melted.
I saw some backcountry skiers and a snowboarder hiking their gear to go ski down the back of the ridge I was walking on. I feel like one would definitely need to have an advanced level of skill to do something like that.
I hiked into an area of the Indian Peaks Wilderness and immediately climbed steeply up. Once I was on that ridge, I saw the greatest concentration of wildflowers so far. They were everywhere! Lavender, gold, azure, champagne…. Ok, we can use real color names – yellow, red, blue, purple, pink and many shades on between. The flowers with the backdrop of the mountains and the beautiful sunny day made me so grateful to be on this crazy journey.
The wildflowers were particularly plentiful in the saddle where the trail finally headed down to tree line. I walked a little dirt her and arrived at a massive section of blowdowns. Fortunately, they had all been cleared off the trail, but all around me it looked like a tornado had come through and ripped all of the trees out of the ground. FarOut had a note about it, but all it said was that there had been a severe wind event in September if 2020. I’m now so curious that I will have to do some googling when I have a signal at some point.
I spent the rest of the day in the 10,000 foot elevation range inside a pine forest. I passed wetlands and creeks, and as a result of all that moisture, the mosquitoes were fairly abundant. I also saw a moose! It was far off across one of the marshy areas, but it was definitely a huge moose. I didn’t take a picture because I knew it would just look like a small brown blob. I wished I had binoculars to look at it more closely. Regardless, I was excited to finally see one out here! I forgot how big they are….
I ended up camping at my goal mileage. I found a spot beside an old dilapidated cabin foundation. I felt so lucky to have such a beautiful day today. It sprinkled a little after I got my tent set up. Some dark clouds passed overhead, but moved on quickly.
Tomorrow will be day 60 on the trail! Some days it still feels weird, like none of this is actually happening. Maybe I am really in a coma or something. Other days, I know it’s real and I just try to savor it all, because I also know that the end always comes fast.
I plan to get up early and crank out the miles to Grand Lake. I will walk by a few lakes tomorrow, including Lake Granby. I expect it will be a pretty walk into town. Time for bed!
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