Day 50 – Day 66

Rawlins to Breckenridge, forest fires, snow storms, and trail angels

Day 50 – September 1

25 miles today. Whew.

We are officially back in the Basin walking all day long! Today we even got a late start, around 8:45am, yet still finished up our mileage within 12 hours at around 8:15pm.

We followed a big red dirt road for most of the day that snaked around gently rolling hills with wide vistas. It was prettier today than a lot of the other Basin days since it wasn’t just FLAT. There were even a few trees! Well, off our route of course, but seeing them was still nice.

The water sources today were few and far between, and the two we tried tasted very bad. Like dirt. Yuck! They were mud rimmed “lakes” that were difficult to get water from without sinking your shoes in mud or scooping up muck instead of the clear water since the edges were so shallow. We made do though and were thankful for the gallon we each carried in getting us most of the way to our destination… Muddy Creek. The name fits!

We utilized audio books, podcasts, and music today to help cut the monotony. The best though was ending our long walk talking about a fantasy world we have been imagining.

Since we are at the beginning of a 165 mile stretch, our bodies are beat from the heavy packs. Thankfully it’s only getting lighter from here! Nom nom nom. Time to sleep and recuperate. We are planning a 23 mile day tomorrow 🙌

Day 51 – September 2

We woke up to our alarm at 7am. Time to get up, get moving and get on the trail! It was pretty apparent when we started walking that yesterday had been a long one since our soreness hadn’t subsided much after sleeping. It took a few miles but eventually our muscles warmed up and we were on our way for another day.

We had pleasant conversation in the morning and enjoyed each other’s company. At our first water break about three miles in, I did some first aid on a little blister forming on my pinky toe. It’s amazing to me that I can still get blisters after this many days of hiking! They tend to be pretty manageable though and disappear within a few days of treatment or powering through the discomfort.

There are a fair amount of vehicles out here, we probably saw five or six today, and one stopped to talk to us. They were an older couple from South Carolina doing a tour along the continental divide in their nice truck with a pop up camper in the bed. Talking with them about our journey reminded me of how much further we have to go and struck some dread into my heart. It’s a long walk. Best not to think about the total distance and instead take it one step at a time!

We walked about 11 miles before hitting a piped spring that was giving lots of very nice water. Crystal clear, straight from the ground. Springs are amazing! We filled up for a 12 mile carry to camp and set back off.

I can’t say today was easy or very fun… but it also want bad and I’m proud of the distance we covered and thankful for the beautiful sunset we had to end the day. It’s great to be in the tent, time to eat, then SLEEEEEP.

Day 52 – September 3

We woke up in the Basin by a river at the bottom of a long climb. We would end the day at around 11,000 feet and we were starting at around 7,500. It’s been a while since we’ve had much elevation change since the Basin is so flat! The climb showed. We ended the day with 20 miles done at around 9:15pm. Much later than normal for a 20 mile day!

The morning brought a short walk on paved roads with a few semi trucks then we were soon into the Medicine Bow National Forest, back on dirt roads and then trails! It’s also been a while since trails.

Just after getting into the National Forest, we met Rafe, a bow hunter who gave us each two apples and oranges!! What a treat! Fruit on the trail is a heavy luxury we usually can’t justify. This was such a treat. It was also a lot of fun talking to him and getting to share what it was like through hiking the CDT. He said he could never see himself doing it, the boredom and time must be taxing! I agreed. It was definitely a pick me up to meet a friendly local, which we haven’t had the pleasure of in a while.

Ryan and I both finished our audio books today, he Oryx and Crake, me Talking to Strangers. We rolled into camp very late in the dark and quickly set up. It was a long evening and a lot of uphill so it felt great to make it to camp. Ahhh. Finally.

Day 53 – September 4

The full moon was very bright last night since we slept with our rain fly off to save time in the morning. It takes a few minutes to take down and every second counts! It was beautiful to see the moon and also a nuisance when we were trying to sleep. Spoiler alert, tonight we decided to go with rain fly on. Practice makes perfect! We are still learning how to set up camp even after over 100 nights of travel with our set up.

We slept well regardless of the bright moon and got up at around 7:20am. We dry camped (camped away from a seated source) so water chores were easy this morning. We set our goal at 24 miles and took off up the rest of the mountain we had been climbing. Ryan purchased The Chronicles of Narnia on his audible account and we both started The Magician’s Nephew which was a fun way to get the day rolling. Our 24 mile goal was a little lofty so I had a fire lit under me.

We walked about 7.5 miles to our water source and just before getting there we hit a hiker box! Woohoo!! Score! There were treats in there and we snacked on an expired can of ravioli and two 400 calorie protein bars. AMAZING! We are lighter on food again than we would like so this was such a treat and made the day a lot more enjoyable.

We hiked through lots of trees today and did a good amount of up and down. It’s strange to be out of The Great Basin for only 1.5 days. It feels like much longer now! There was some fun high elevation terrain and plenty of water available today.

We also met a really cool hiker, Bad Ass Mary who is in her mid 60’s and finishing up her triple crown with the CDT! She is doing half this year, then half the next. You go girl. She gave us great tips on the Colorado portion of our trip before we set off on a dirt road that shaved a little under a mile off of our day to hit our goal. The evening and night slowly rolled in as we walked quickly down the road, occasionally getting off to the side let a dusty vehicle pass us, and made it to camp before 8:30. Our day was wrapped up in less than 12 hours from when we started walking, woohoo! Time to eat and sleep.

Day 54 – September 5

WE ARE IN COLORADO!!!

What a day! 25 miles. Whew. We did a lot of up then a LOT of down and are now only 40 miles out from our hitch into Steamboat Springs. Best of all, we crossed the border from Wyoming to a Colorado and have now officially completed TWO states of our four WOOOHOOOOO!!!

Also great news, moral is back. Being in the woods today felt fantastic. I felt back to myself after the long dreary Basin. Thank goodness. It was beginning to look impossible to finish the trail but now I see some hope again!

We met two other through hikers near the end of our day also which was awesome. They were taking a trail zero, sadly due to an unhappy stomach. Nostrovia and Larry Mashed Potato are also headed south and started at Maria’s pass like us. Very cool! It was fun for me to see a girl about my age as well. Most of the through hikers we meet are men. Two awesome girls in a row after Nostrovia today and Bad Ass Mary yesterday.

Ryan and I had a great time closing out the day in conversation and we also put a good chunk into The Chronicles of Narnia. Our food situation is looking up as well after realizing we are a day ahead of schedule and after finding three granola bars on the trail. Bonus prizes!

We are camped on the Middle Fork of the Elk river tonight after hiking in in the dark under the stars. Time to eat, rinse our very, very dirty legs (the trails was SUPER dusty today), and then sleep after an episode of Community. Whoop!

Tomorrow we have a very big, 4,000 or so foot climb over the first ten miles. Thankfully we put in our distance today and now only have two reasonable 20 mile days left to town where goodie bags, hot springs, and a Walmart await us. Feels good.

Day 55 – September 6

Today we had a big ol’ climb. About 4,000ft over ten miles into the Mount Zirkel Wilderness of Colorado. We also had a very late start and left camp at 9:30am! It was nice to have a lazy morning, but it meant a very late day of hiking since we were determined to meet our goal of 20 miles.

The climb was easy to begin with and ended with a steep 1,000ft gain over about 1.5 miles. It was gorgeous though, getting up into the high altitude where we went over Lost Ranger Peak at just shy of 12,000ft! This was our second highest point yet on the trail. It sounds like we have a lot more where that came from going through Colorado. We will even hit a 14,200ft summit in this state!

The trails out here are noticeably busier than our last stretch in the Basin and it’s been fun running into other hikers. We met a cool couple, Evan and Elian, today on our way up the mountain. Elian hiked the AT last year so we hit it off no problem and I enjoyed venting a little bit about the discomfort that comes with hiking a through trail. We are about half way done with our journey and some things are getting easier like my legs not hating me as much after a 4,000ft climb, but others are harder like the cold coming and us having half of the trail still left to hike. That’s a long way to go and a hard thing to think about too much.

At least it is gorgeous and easier on my boredom to be back in the woods. It’s nice to not be able to see where you are going for the next 7 miles. Each turn is refreshing and new and keeps things much more interesting. Speaking of interesting, we ran into a new forest fire today! The smoke was lightly rising over a mountain top as we climbed, and soon there was a big tower coming from a patch of woods a little ways off. You could see a helicopter carrying water to the smoke from a nearby lake. We couldn’t see any flames, but they were definitely there, and the air was getting smokier and smokier. We called 911 to let them know what we saw and got back on our way, the night approaching.

In twilight we ran across two womenwith their dog and two llamas (turns out llamas are awesome and can carry around 80lbs and have no problem eating the grass they find along the way)! They told us they were getting out in the dark because of the fire and had about 6 more miles to hike to their car. This made me more concerned about the fire, and as we slept about 3 miles from where we spotted them, I couldn’t help but fear a little and wake up in the night smelling smoke and hearing the wind and wondering if we were safe. We were! No fire by us in the morning.

Day 56 – September 7

Our alarm went off at 5:30am…. then we hit snooze two times to get up at 6am! Our goal for the day was only 20 miles to highway 40 where we would hitch a ride into Steamboat Springs and then enjoy some delicious Taco Bell 🔔

The hiking went well and we passed lots of mountain bikers heading in and up as we were headed out and downhill. Our morning was literally freezing plus very very windy, but the day slowly warmed up to the usual make-you-sweat-when-you-are-going-up-a-small-hill temperature. We noticed a lot more smoke in the air and even woke up a few times in the night and could smell it strongly. The wildfire seems to still be burning away, thankfully not too close to us though!

We made good time and got to the highway around 5pm. It was a lot of fun watching cars pass us by while we had our thumbs stuck out. Usually we walk towards our destination with our thumbs out but have changed our tactic to staying in one spot and saving our legs a little bit of work. It made it easy to see the faces gawking as people drove by when we were just standing in place so we were laughing and joking the whole time.

Within about ten minutes of this, a car swung around and pulled into a side road we were waiting by, waving us is over. Doug picked us up on his way to the town he works in and kept us in good conversation for the 30 or so minute ride into Steamboat Springs. Thank you so much Doug! It was inspiring talking to you and hearing about your ironmans, long career of engineering for surface coal mining which we found very impressive, and time spent traveling and hitchhiking in the 70s. We are sure glad you picked us up! Sorry for the smell I’m sure we were filling your car with after over a week in the woods.

After getting in town, we had a nice conversation with Ryan’s parents, Jon and Sue, then attempted to get some fast food at the combination Taco Bell and KFC. No luck! Their indoor area was closed so we tried the number to call in an order at their door. No answer. Plan B was the go to Fiesta Jaliscos as recommended by Guthook, or hiking app, and Evan and Elian who we had met the day before our hiking. We walked a half mile over, both very hungry and tired, and as we approached the front door noticed an envelope taped to the window. It said “CDT HIKERS” in big letters so I drew in closer, very curious. Right below that we’re our trail names!! Retro & Speedracer!! I was blown away and so surprised. We snatched it off the window telling the hostess very excitedly that it was for us! Inside was a note from Evan and Elian saying congratulations on being halfway done with our hike and giving us a generous gift card for dinner. AMAZING!!!! Talk about trail magic.

The food was so filling and delicious and we made plans with Evan and Elian (they gave us their number when we were in the woods) to meet up after dinner at a local Irish pub to chat. We had a great time with them hearing about their lives and sharing ours. Evan was a competitive cross country skier and has lived in Steamboat his whole life. He said he couldn’t live without winter. He met Elian at college in the North East which was home for her. She lived in Connecticut before coming out west with Evan and used to work as an outdoor educator but is now studying to apply for law school. She hiked the AT last year and it was awesome to be able to glean wisdom from someone who competed a through hike. We are halfway done… but that is still a long, long way to go.

They dropped us off after at the rodeo grounds where we quickly set up camp and fell asleep after an obligatory episode of community. It’s great to be in town.

Zero in Steamboat Springs, Colorado

What a lovely place! Ryan and I had a great, refreshing time in Steamboat Springs. That’s even with the extreme weather that rolled in and gave us very cold rain, then snow, and LOTS of wind. Lots.

We woke up at the rodeo grounds… well, I woke up with nature calling and Ryan was still blissfully tucked into his sleeping bag listening to the cold rain on our tent. I left and went to the grocery store a quarter mile away and brought him back a cup of coffee to help with the wake up. It felt SO GOOD to know we didn’t have to wake up and quickly break camp, then walk 20+ miles. What a relief to be at our own whims all day.

Walking to the store was fun and very cozy. I wore double layers and all my cold weather gear plus rain jacket and it lightly sprinkled in the early morning. When we both left it had started to snow!

Steamboat Springs was awesome because they had multiple nice grocery stores, a kick butt outdoors store, and lots of cute restaurants and bars. Best though was their FREE bus system that went all over town. We used it first thing to shuttle to Safeway where we ate roasted chicken, a pumpkin roll, cottage cheese, and a salad from the deli. The kicker was that we ate it outside the store, under the awning while it snowed madly. SO COLD. So cold. So so cold to try and eat out there. We had a couple super nice locals ask if we were okay an offer us showers and a bed. We had already booked a hotel and just had to wait for check in at 3pm.

We killed a couple hours of that time at the Ski Haus right across the street from Safeway. This was by far the best outdoors store I’ve ever been in after REI. It was time to retire my Keen boots which were literally falling apart, so I coughed up the dough for another pair. If I had been asked a month ago what I’d do when my boots ran out of juice, I would have definitely opted for lightweight trail runners. After more thought though, I decided to stick with the sturdy boots. The snow helped sway me even more because they are water proof and will keep my feet nice and dry. They should also last me much longer than lighter shoes and right now my bank account is MUCH lower than I’d like. This hike is really expensive guys. I mean… way cheaper than living a normal life, but DEFINITELY not free. Especially with the amount of food we need to consume.

Ryan and I both also decided to finally invest in the Super Feet insoles that most hikers praise above all other. They were $45 each but when I put my foot into my shoe, it instantly made sense. I’ve got some plantar fasciitis starting from all this walking… hopefully these help heal it but at least they will slow the progression.

The people at Ski Haus were so nice to let us hang around and stay warm. We also replaced our broken trowel and got new fuel for the next leg. We are all supplied up once again. Yay!

The next stop for us was the post office where we planned to pick up a Nikon D3300 that my dad sent to us after we told him we were thinking of getting a nice camera for the trip. He has been working on photography for several years now and started with this camera but has since upgraded. It’s perfect for us amateurs though! We took the bus to the Post Office only to find that the storm had caused a power outage and they were completely closed. Thankfully when we tried again the next day, we had better luck!

We decided to knock out all our chores for the day before checking into the Quality Inn which we had reserved the day before. This meant it was time to resupply for the coming 95 mile stretch so we went to Walmart. On the way over on bus we got a call that our room had been double booked and was no longer available. We weren’t very happy about this. Most hotels were full and we had found the best deal we could which was already pricy. Sometimes misfortunes end up being good though and in this case, the Nordic Inn where we ended up for the night was fantastic.

After Walmart we hit our hotel and met Emily, the NICEST concierge I’ve ever met. She was so kind and excited about our journey. She upgraded us to a suite and helped us with our laundry when their guest machine stopped working. She was super cool even before I found out she had been a professional snowboarder for ten years in her 20s. What a lady!

Our room was cozy and warm with handmade furniture and two rooms. How luxurious! We also took a dip in their hot tub which you could only use on reservation so we had the whole place to ourselves. Ahhh. So refreshing.

We spent the rest of the night in our room apart from when I went out by bus to pick up a pizza. Ryan was able to do his fantasy football draft while I watched YouTube videos about different kinds of honey from beekeepers and then music videos. All the while eating mac and cheese, pizza, and milk and Oreos. Trying to put on weight is kind of fun haha!

The night was topped off by watching La La Land and sleeping in a bed for the first time in almost a month. Paradise.

Day 57 – September 9

After a lazy morning in the hotel and checking out RIGHT at 11am, we took off for Jimmy John’s for lunch before leaving town. Hitching was easy and a lot of fun because our ride had been looking for us! Chuck and Wendy said they had seen us a few hours before in the downtown area and thought about telling us they could give us a ride in a couple of hours. The timing was perfect because a couple hours later, they caught us trying to hitch out of town. Chuck is currently in the process of section hiking the AT and has been working on it for four years now. He’s also an avid backcountry skier and sparked great inspiration in us to try the sport where you get yourself up the mountain without a lift.

He dropped us off in the mountains where we left off and it was clear we had missed quite the storm. There was snow everywhere. We road walked on highway 40 for two miles before turning onto the quieter highway 14. We took this road for 9 easy miles, but we were FREEZING! It was so so cold. The coldest we’ve had yet. Walking helped us warm up but breaks were seldom to retain the heat we had built from exercise. During one short M&M break, we met an angry local who told us the CDT wanted to put the trail through his land. We listened politely as he told us about his frustrations and he soon turned very sweet wishing us a lot of fun on our journey. Other cars were extremely friendly sometimes giving energetic smiling waves as they drove by us. Most gave nearly a full lane of room when they passed. It feels great to be back out.

The sun came up in the evening so we could watch it set as we came upon our campsite 12 miles in. Time for some bed time wraps and a tea latte we are planning to share to help warm us up! It’s chilly out here!

Day 58 – September 10

We woke up to a cold frosty morning. Brr!! It was a beautiful walk though through the quaking aspens and pine trees. Our entire day, which consisted of only 12 miles, was on dirt roads that descended slowly before climbing a few thousand feet up at a gradual slope.

Since we ended up dry camping, not staying near a water source, we waited to have breakfast until we hit a good stream flowing about four miles out. To get there though we had to go through a huge heard of noisy cows including a bold young bull who stood me up and wouldn’t budge from the road until Ryan met me and he ran off. I guess there really is safety in numbers (and height) when it comes to animals!

We met a really nice hunter and his son who are out looking for Elk after we started our long steady climb. We chatted for a bit and even entertained the idea of slack packing, having them drive our backpacks up to the top so we could climb with no weight, but changed our minds and decided to hike the natural way.

Right at the top, it began to snow. It got very cold and came down thick! The hiking got pretty miserable so we decided to call it good at 3pm and set up camp for the long haul. It’s supposed to snow on and off until 10am the next day and so far we have a very white tent and a very cozy interior. An early night to bed will hopefully mean a good and early start tomorrow…. if weather permits!

Day 59 – September 11

Waking up in the freezing cold with a couple inches of snow outside and on top of your tent while you are snug in a warm sleeping bag is cozy. Getting out of said sleeping bag to get water, and then having to pack all of your cozy cozy warm stuff up and handle frozen tent pieces is not cozy… neither is walking in the below freezing temperatures and dealing with extremely chilling winds! It is however, gorgeous and exciting when it’s new and for us it was very new.

We took a very slow morning enjoying hot tea and breakfast and as carefully as possible putting our things away in an order that kept the warmth as long as it could be kept. Getting going was better than we expected since our clothes kept us plenty warm. Yay! The only frozen bits were our fingers and toes, and a little bit warmer but not by much, our noses, cheeks, and lips. We walked along the road we had been following for a while and commented on how nice the tire tracks were for seeing our way. Before long though we were off the road and in completely fresh snow. I was nervous about venturing into the cold, snowy, concealed world ahead. What would it be like having no easy to follow trail? How long would these freezing temperatures last?!

Turns out not hard, and not long. The trail was surprisingly easy to follow as a white line weaving down through the forest and we began an immediate descent which thinned the snow as the day slowly warmed and it began to melt.

We had lunch at a little steam in a valley after enjoying the winter wonderland then we began a climb that eventually took us up to Sheep Mountain at around 11,600ft! Colorado has some high peaks, and we haven’t even seen the biggest ones yet. It was very, very snowy up high with drifts that made our feet sink in at least a half a foot, sometimes much more. The trudging through snow was slow going, and the uphill made it even slower, but we were still enjoying ourselves in general.

It was about 3/4 of the way up our first big climb that we realized Ryan’s rain cover had fallen off his pack on the way! I dropped my pack and began a run down the mountain scouting it out. It took probably 15-20 minutes of descent before I saw it laying in the middle of the trail. Success!! Hiking without a pack felt great and so did finding Ryan’s rain cover. I took off back up the mountain shedding layers even in the freezing temperatures from the effort of climbing. Ryan met me part of the way down and hiked back up with me to my pack. We continued our climb, noting the slow progress we had been making today mileage wise.

The scenery was GORGEOUS up high, and the snowy mountain tops were just dangerous enough to be a little exciting but not actually risky. I couldn’t help but wonder what lay ahead on our next climb though which was supposed to be another 600ft+ and after a melty evening then cold night which could cause ice. It may be way unnecessary, but I knew I’d feel safer taking a lower route. We found another option that follows dirt roads through the valley and adds only 2 miles to our day. Ryan humored my worries and we decided to take the low road this time. It’s hard to not feel silly, I know I am way less bold than many other hikers who do the CDT. It’s so hard not to compare with others on stamina, boldness, asceticism, speed, or lightheartedness. We probably would be fine going over the peak, and we might be in much more treacherous conditions in the future, but this time, we are opting for the safe route and there is definitely some comfort in that.

While trying to decide which way to go, we met another bow hunter who is out looking for elk. His name is Jeff and we had a good time talking to him. It’s cool to meet so many people who are braving the harsh outdoors and camping out for extended periods of time. Jeff is staying for two weeks! He offered us a fill up on water from the five gallons he had in his truck and we accepted since the sun had set and we were ready to cozy up once again. Thank you Jeff!

Today we did 15.3 miles, snow is slow! Good thing we’ve got extra food this leg and an option to cut off some trail if we need. All is well!

Day 60 – September 12

We woke up to another cold morning, but this one wasn’t so cold that it hurt. Yay! Unfortunately though, my quilt in my sleeping bag had not stayed in place during the night and I didn’t think to check for it… instead I figured it was just that cold and I tossed and turned a lot through the night, much chillier than I would have liked to be.

We set off after another slower than we would have liked morning and began our easy walk on back roads, avoiding the 12,300ft icy/snowy/slushy peak the trail went over. It was a little muddy and icy but not too bad! We also ran into Happy Dance and All In who we had met in town a couple days ago. They have two vehicles and drive one south to hike up north to the one waiting for them and repeat the process. This means we will most likely cross their path many more times on our way south as they hike back up north from their vehicle as they, overall, go south too. They were a lot of fun to talk to, a really nice couple with good happy vibes and I enjoyed that they had chosen to bypass the peak as well. Happy Dance was having some knee pain so they decided to take it easy.

We got back on the official CDT in the mid afternoon and went over some gorgeous rock formations before dipping down a bit to a river. On our way down we ran into a mother moose and her baby grazing in the trail. There was zero fear in them and they didn’t budge an inch when they saw us. There was definitely some fear in me though and I kept good distance while Ryan snapped pictures on our nice new camera. We gave them a wide berth after about 10 minutes of them staying put!

We are camped by the river tonight and clocked in some low mileage again, around 15 for trail miles and probably 18 actual walked since our detour was a bit longer. Time for dinner then bed!

Day 61 – September 13

Ryan and I had a very late start today. We spent the morning mulling our time over, discussing what we wanted moving forward and getting on the same page. We left camp around 11am set off on a 19 mile day to end at a split in the trail. Our plan was for me to take an alternate into town the next day, about a four mile stretch, while Ryan went deep into Rocky Mountain National Park on a 21 mile loop to meet back up at night.

Our morning brought a big climb and we listened to Prince Caspian on the way up. It was a gorgeous day that warmed slowly after another freezing morning. The snow was slushy and sometimes the trail was very muddy so our progress was a little slow but overall enjoyable.

After meeting a nice young couple out backpacking and hunting for elk, then a couple from Boulder celebrating a birthday weekend, we crossed Bowen Pass and stopped at the top to talk to Flamingo, another SOBO through hiker who wears pink pants and hits insane mileages! You can see him on Instagram @Phillip.david.t

We spent the rest of the day hiking together and had a really nice time. To hit our goal, we walked to 9:30pm into the dark and found a good campsite inside Rocky Mountain National Park perfect for our two tents. It was very chilly again but we were tired from such a long day so it didn’t take long to get all settled in.

Day 62 – September 14

Flamingo was up and out so early! We all woke up around 6:30 and before I was out of my bag he was on his way into town. Ryan and I had breakfast, took down camp, and then hiked together past wherethe trails splits to get water for each of our journeys. I had 4 miles or so into town and Ryan had about 21 miles over a pass in the park on a different loop.

I hiked in solo and missed my buddy a lot, but also enjoyed taking it at my own pace. When I had just walked into the edge of town, Flamingo called out to me from a coffee shop and we both ate bagel sandwiches, checked the outdoors store, and settled in at the grocery store for a few hours while he charged up his devices. While sitting and munching on some food, another through hiker, Captain Dan, who had already done all three trails and was in town to hike the section we had just finished, which he had to bypass on his way through last year, bought us all some beverages and sat and talked for a couple hours.

At around 3pm I walked out of town with Flamingo, then wandered back in and posted up at a park to wait for a lost and found pickup! Yesterday on trail we found trekking poles that were mentioned on the CDT hiker Facebook page as lost. I strapped them to my pack and while in town we contacted the owner. His name is Lunar and Ryan and I had met him in Steamboat springs last week. He is part of the group with Happy Dance and All In who drive their car south, hike north to their other vehicle, and drive that one further south to repeat the process. He had just finished getting from Grand Lake to Steamboat Springs and drove his truck back to Grand Lake to pick up his poles.

I spent the rest of the evening with him, and Ryan who had made it to town after his long day in Rocky Mountain National Park. We grabbed dinner and crashed behind Trinity in the Pines church which offered a free campsite to through hikers. So nice!

Day 63 – September 15

FINALLY. Finally it’s a little bit warmer again. We had a very cozy nights sleep behind the church and Ryan let me use his second pair of long johns so we were both very warm and toasty. There was only a little frost out in the morning. Haha

We took it super slow getting up and left our tent around 10am to walk into town for a warm drink. We also got bagels and sat around enjoying the comfortable morning air. On our way to coffee we met The Wander Women, two ladies in their 60s who are southbound this year, and said hi and bye to Lunar. We also met another southbound couple, Christy and Jay Drop (could have this name wrong) who just got in town for a zero.

We took our day at a very slow pace too and carefully combed through the small, expensive grocery store in town to select as cheap and delicious four days worth of food that we could. It was hard work, but someone had to do it. Or we would starve.

Leaving town was GORGEOUS as we walked next to the mountain lakes for over 7 miles. The quaking aspens got the message about colder temperatures and suddenly we find that they have all turned a bright and happy shade of yellow. Some are loosing leaves and our trail is getting colorful now too! I spent most of our walk texting and calling friends and family until my phone totally died.

We came upon a perfect little lakeside campsite at 7pm right before a .7 mile stretch in the National Park so we decided to call it a day at about 7.5 miles of walking. Dinner was delicious, ramen for me, Zatarains for him, and we had fun talking about silent retreats, throwing rocks into the water, and eating the staple m&ms.

Day 64 – September 16

We had a lovely morning waking up by the lake. An m&m we had left out over night as a critter test was left undisturbed and made for a sense of peace knowing we slept without small scavengers trying to get to our food.

We got up at 7:30am and took down camp quickly before eating breakfast bagels with nutella and peanut butter. Delicious, easy, and filling!

Our first leg of the day was about 7 miles to the road where we turned onto an alternate to avoid a crazy section of downed trees. Yikes! We were told a hiker took TWO days to go SEVEN miles. Are you kidding me?! A ranger we met on the way informed us that it was truly impassable and gave us good directions to get around and back to the trail without struggling through the mess. Ryan and I had a fun time chatting about our future while we walked and soon found ourselves at a privy right before our turn where we took a break chatting with the camp host who had a lot to say and was generally a joy to talk to. They also had potable water there so we filled up two liters each and set back off.

On our road walk beginning the alternate route we were passed by All In, Happy Dance, Larry Mashed Potato and Nostrovia who were flipping south in their car and offered us a ride to skip this section with blow downs and later a fire closure we also have to bypass. We thanked them and told them we were okay with our current trajectory but hoped to see them later!

I got to call my mom and sister to help pass the road walking time and Ryan and I made plans with Michaela about when she will come meet us for a few days to hike! Hooray! Sometime in late October we will have good company with us.

The next part of our day was on a nice trail through pretty woods, not much elevation change, and a few friendly hikers. We passed the time with podcasts and made decent progress. Eventually we came to more road walking to finish off the day in the same way. We met some friendly hunters and passed our blog onto them, hello hunters! We hope you got your elk! Thanks for showing us your elk bugle call, that was really cool.

Our goal was 25 miles but we tapped out in the dark at 9pm with 23.9 miles for the day. We are hungry and very tired. Night night!

Day 65 – September 17

We walked the aqueduct road up and down to where we were set to rejoin the CDT. We had a conversation with Flamingo a few days ago about road walking… something about your foot hitting the ground the same way over and over and over on a smooth and groomed surface is PAINFUL! Although, it’s fast. I was feeling the road walk aches though, mainly in my hip flexors, especially after a 24 mile day before. It was about seven more miles of walking to get to the Devil’s Thumb trailhead where we cut over to the CDT again and discovered blow downs galore.

It took some thinking but thanks to our three different maps and a nice day hiker from the city, we concluded it would be best to cut over to Fraser and do a small resupply before continuing on. We were getting a little low on food and the stretch ahead, after blow downs, was up over a 13,200ft peak and then a 13,100ft. That could mean some slow progress and we were already hungry.

On our way to Fraser a hiker we had passed heading out from Devil’s Thumb who was heading in for a quick hike with his dog passed us in his truck and offered a ride into town. We accepted! His name was Mark….. but his TRAIL name was Mr. Fix It. He had hiked the PCT in 2015 so we quickly hit it off. So cool! Since his hike he has worked for the forest service and is now working at a local brewery in Fraser.

He took us to Safeway and after a moment of shopping, told me that he had consulted his girlfriend, LP, and they wanted to make us dinner and offer us a shower, laundry, and bed. What?! We were very much on board.

Ryan and I took care of some errands and then Mr. Fix It picked us up for a quick drive to their condo. Immediately I was hit with delicious smells and as only another traveler would understand, the shower was offered up before anything else including pleasantries was taken care of. Ahhhh.

They made us caprese and jalapeño popper appetizers, grilled tri tip and zucchini with homemade chimichurri sauce and a delicious side salad, and tilamook ice cream sandwiches for dessert. We were in heaven! Mr. Fix It also has some extensive wine knowledge so we got a fun perspective to enjoy with dinner.

I had a great time talking with LP hearing about her life and adventures. She is now my role model for outdoor and travel goals! She’s got experience in running marathons, white water rafting, mountaineering, and now running development for a non profit, ROMP.

Speaking of ROMP, Ryan and I are now officially walking for a cause and are representing ROMP. They provide prosthetics for amputees in Guatemala and Ecuador where it is very difficult to get prosthetics. We have a page set up with them at Give.rompglobal.org/cdt.

Please think about making a donation! Supporting ROMP will support Ryan and I and help make this walk a little more meaningful.

I’ve been having a lack of motivation and it feels good to think our hike might help someone become more mobile. She gave us a little knife and some darn tough socks (our favorite!!!) that are donated for sponsors.

We also had a great time hearing Mr. Fix It’s stories from the PCT and sharing some of our own from the CDT. He has passed on his love to us for slings, think David and Goliath! On the PCT he discovered how powerful of a tool they are and used the long days and walking breaks to practice his skill. We are now equipped with our own sling and the materials to craft another.

Thank you Mr. Fix It and LP for such a refreshing time!!! You made us feel so at home on such a long journey.

Day 66 – September 18

After a delicious breakfast of eggs, bacon and coffee, LP left for the office and Mr. Fix It took us and their dog, Tusker, up to a trailhead in his truck Bessie where we had easy access to the CDT. We landed just before James Peak and hiked in a ways with Mr. Fix It and Tusker where we got a good tutorial of how to use the sling. We are looking forward to this new hobby!

After saying goodbye, we began our ascent to the highest point we have ever been in our lives: 13,253ft! Whew! You could definitely feel the elevation. The climb was slow going but eventually we reached the top. We also realized that the rest of our plans for the day were not going to pan out.

Ryan’s Grandma Honey and Papa Paul are in Colorado visiting his uncle Dave. They offered to pick us up so we could spend the day together and get some good rest! Woohoo!! The plan was for us to hike another 13 miles that day from the peak and hit Berthoud Pass where they could easily pick us up by car. We realized though after our slow climb, that the NEXT climb coming up which was 100ft lower but which we started from 10,000ft instead of 11,000ft like we did with James Peak would put us at Berthoud Pass well after dark. We reconfigured our ideas and settled on a pick up at St. Mary’s about 3 miles from the top of James Peak and all downhill.

They drove about an hour and a half just to pick us up which we were so thankful for! It was great to see familiar faces and also to get to meet Dave for the first time. We are with family ❤️

We went to Mexican food for dinner before running by the grocery store for breakfast food and then crashing at Dave’s awesome cabin home. Tomorrow is a zero day of enjoying time with family, now for some rest!