The next morning it was chilly but beautiful. We were all sad to part ways and agreed the prior evening was very special. The bar had been set very high and we knew that night was magical.
The moon and the morning glow made us sad to leave this valley. It was also decided that my trail name is "Gadget" due to all of my gadgets. Thanks Homemade! It was a fun way to start the day. The day of our big climb.
Homemade and I enjoyed each others company discovering we had many, many things in common and also identifying flora and fauna along the way.
This patch of sunny flowers was so bright and cheery.
This tree has a vagina! 😲
We came upon a beautiful creek and another one of the fantastic bridges installed along the trail.
My favorite. Blue Columbine. The state flower of CO. I try hard to get these growing in my yard in NE. They never look this pretty.
We stopped for lunch and Brian met up with us along with a pilot who was out riding his bike and two ladies in their 70's out for a day hike. We were at an overlook near Jefferson Lake. I noted my lips are about as peely as this tree bark.
We noticed a lot of old poo.
Black haired poo with all the poo washed out. Bear poo?
We'd like to know.
We'd also like to know why some people on the trail seem to take so much pleasure in being condescending when they talk to you and criticize your packs, clothing, weight and then flaunt their "ultralight" set up. We came across one such person this day. She/he had veiny legs. Did we point this out? No. But I will now, just for spite. That'll show her/him. Ha! Dont criticize fellow hikers on the trail!
We went on and on hoping to soon break out of the woods and get to the final climb. I knew we were close when the distance between the tail and the sky became marginal.
Then we came upon this flowery meadow. With the mountains we both felt like singing "The Hills Are Alive With The Sound of Music..."
So we did. We did the spinning thing too on a patch of gravel. I stumbled. I have no graceful moves.
And I have sweaty pits.
We also saw the smoke from the new fire...
The last stretch before the final ascent.
As we tried to chase two other people further up the trail (that didnt work well, we ran out of breath after 5 rapid steps) we ran into Brian again! He was getting snowmelt water.
Snow!
We are finally close to some snow.
Smoke!
Not a good thing to see.
So what did we do after watching the smoke from the fire explode up into the air and become a sinister column of heat, fire and devastation?
We ate gummy bears and hot tamales and took a lot of pics.
Dramatic pics like this showcasing the wildflowers.
(Crouching down low to get this shot with my pack on)
A shot that shows the treeless landscape and the remaining climb we have.
Meantime the smoke kept exploding into the sky. I did more crouching on the ground)
And still more crouching.
Obviously not holding the phone level. I was getting tired of crouching down and getting up! (I have a samsung note 8)
Beautiful blue flowers by the cairn make for a nice pic.
We made it over the top and headed down. Spectacular view of Summit County.
These little blue flowers caught my eye and captured my heart.
Brian then left our group to camp as we reached treeline. We wanted to push further on so Homemade and I with my aching feet carried on.
I did more crouching and getting back up. The darn wildflowers are just too picturesque not to capture with my camera.
Then we got to the downhill.
The rocky downhill.
Hurt
My
Feet
More
Why
Dont
You.
This is what I thought of this section. It sucked big time.
We reached a roaring stream and a huge campsite and no people! It was cold that night!
Homemade captured my tent at night with my inner glow going on.
I hung my bear bag far away but within sight of my tent as I opened the door. Imagine my dismay when I opened my door the next morning and my bag was gone. Then Homemade came out of the trees with both bags. Whew!!
We do have similar tastes.
My bag, purple and gray.
Her quilt, purple and gray.
Frozen socks.
We came across this pretty stream.
My socks drying on my pack. A walking laundry line.
We came upon the dog kennel where they raise sled dogs.
Hun-dreds of dogs.
All barking at once.
A cucophany of barking.
Saw an elk print. It was big and there were the jalapeno popper shaped poo piles nearby so I'm guessing elk.
Some idiot carved a face into this poor tree. It was already dying on the face side. Grrrrr.... 😡
Another pretty stream.
And look at my dirty sleeve which is a catch all for everything. Homemade asked me to correct her if she wiped her mouth on her sleeve. I gave her a look and then showed her my sleeve.
I am not the person to monitor public etiquette.
Beetle tracks on the dead pines. So sad.
In the huge graveyard of trees we did see quite a few new trees. We hope they make it. Homemade chose this one as her tree. Maybe she can continue coming back in future years to check on it. Maybe give it a drink and a hug.
The beetle trails are interesting and I hear this wood is expensive to buy.
Stunning colors. Quite a contrast. Look at that blue sky too.
Very cool fuzzy purple flowers and a tiny Christmas tree. 🎅🎅
We found a big log to take a lunch break. Didnt realize it was a big rest stop for all the mountain bikers. One guy rode by with his dog running alongside!
Another umbrella user!
The sloped trail created by the mountain bikes played havoc with my poor feet.
But the wildflowers kept me entertained.
So bright and sunny.
The wild Rose's were brilliant blotches of color that just popped in the landscape.
Bear sign.
Not camping here.
Not that there was a spot to camp.
We came upon burn areas.
Actually burn spots.
We realized this was clear cutting.
Quite a lot of clear cutting.
It created a landscape ths looked like something out of the Lorax. I expected the Lorax to pop out of one of the stumps. He didnt of course.
We watched or guthooks app closely and then marked this important spot on out journey.
At least it was important to me. My first hundred miles on the CT is DONE.
I like this pic too so I included it. I am really dirty and stinky here.
We are down in the last valley before the last climb.
Time to get water.
This giant ant hill was close to the water site. Ants everywhere. I had to brush them off when I picked up my pack.
We climbed the hill and who do we come upon? Brian! He graciously declined our lodging offer. He would be meeting family tomorrow in Breck.
We wished him a good evening and hoped we would see him later on down the trail.
Ok, this was taken earlier in the day. I am posting this on my phone and I cant move the pic up in order so here it is. It was taken near the smiley face tree.
We greeted another CDT hiker. She was looking for Dixie (Homemade Wanderlust). We told her we hadn't seen her so we all decided she must be back in Breck. She said Perk was 3 days ahead. Her trail name is Casper. She was carrying a 40 pound pack with 7 liters of water! She let me try it on. It was amazingly light but didnt feel comfy on my back. I have a bad lower back. And a bad middle back. And a bad cervical back, bad feet, bad knees, bad skin, bad eyes, great hearing.
Another charming patch of Columbine happiness to brighten our journey.
Then we met "One Gallon". He is from IA and understood when I talked about Ragbrai. Very interesting and funny fellow. He is hiking the CDY and will make it. He said the people in Breck on the CDT better get a move on. He can tell who will and who won't make it to Canada.
Then we came upon the steep hill of switchback hell.
I am scared of heights.
The trail slopes towards the edge in some spots and is covered in loose gravel. My boots kept sliding on the steep sections. I kept my eyes on the trail, my poles planted firmly as I walked cautiously along and my sphincter clenched tightly until I reached the safety of the bottom of the trail.
A pic taken as we waited for the bus.
As we sat at the bus station for our connector bus we started taking stock of ourselves and noting our lack of cleanliness. My hands are NOT very hygienic.
We gre tired of waiting so we got an Uber ride to the restaurant a guy recommended.
We were welcomed in, bags and dirty bodies and were treated like celebrities when everyone found out what we were doing.
We were amazed that all ou have to do is ask for water and a big jar of clean fresh water is brought to you, immediately. No filtering or crawling through bushes
Amazing!
We ordered burritos big enough for two. We did not share. We even had chips and salsa.
They had 6 different hot sauces, mango, blueberry, cinnamon something, green, red, it was all incredible and was a fun evening. The drinks didnt hurt either.
We made it to our hotel.
Wow! Swanky.
The hostess said she liked us and upgraded us from a room with two beds to a 2 bedroom condo with 2 bathrooms!
We passed a wedding reception on our way to our castle. It was tempting to drop our packs, dash in and start dancing. We were still dirty and stinky so we didnt.
Our amazing kitchen.
So much to help cook our simple dehydrated breakfast.
A comfy bed awaits me.
Look at all those pillows!
An amazing shower.
Waiting to be defiled.
Gadget, the defiler ready for action.
OMG, look what was hiding under my Buff. Stunning.
And tangly.
A lemongrass shower later and we were floating off to dreamland....it was another awesome day on the trail.
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