Up and over to Copper Mountain

Woke up early he next morning and  Chris and I went to breakfast at my favorite place, the Log Cabin Cafe.  We both had the oatmeal which they load with fruit and nuts.  Then it was off to Breckenridge and the trail.

All ready to go.  My pack looks heavy but it's not bad.  But it is the start of a new week and it is full of food.

I start hiking and get a ways up and then the coffee kicks in and of course so does my bladder.  I was in the middle of a clear cut area.  No privacy!  So I hurried up to treeline as mountain bikers and day hikers passed by.

I came upon a trail crew.  These are an example of the volunteers who make hiking the trail so easy.  I thanked the for their efforts.  They were amazed I was from Omaha and hiking to Durango.

These gals stopped to take and asked me if I was doing "that camping thing".  I tried not to laugh and said yes.

This is "Kid" and her dogs.  I think the husky is Mush.  They are hiking the CDT from Mexico to Canada.

A little later I got to the burn area.  The fire that happened last year.

Strange to see the part where it didnt jump the trail.

And then there was a huge area where it did jump the trail.  There were signs of regrowth already.  Especially by the stream.

This gal and her horse are also doing the CDT.

They are hiking with this gal who they met on the trail.  This gal has the biggest pack I have seen on a CDT hiker. They said they were hiking over the summit when it stormed, rain, hail, lots of hail and snow.  The horse was not happy with all of that.

Found a spot to camp just before the end of treeline and the last water source.  It was raining when I put up my tent.  Had to put up the fly first and then crawl in and out up my tent to keep everything dry.

Bear sign?

Didnt see any bears.

A guy and his zpacks duplex tent camped nearby.  

Next morning I headed UP and came across patches of snow.  

The views were beautiful above treeline. I could look back down on Breckenridge and lake Dillon.

I believe this is a marmot! 

I also saw little pika's.

This is Noah on top of this hill.  He hiked up here, shouted really loud just to express his exultation of the view and this made me look up and see him.  We ended up hiking to the summit together.  He is a student from Illinois.

Happy Halloween!

Ha ha ha!

Following Noah and "Pepto" who passed us on the trail.

The view up top.

These gals from New York joined us as did another couple of gals who tried unsuccessfully to give me some of their food.

I ended up sending this pic to the Colorado Trail Foundation and they used it on their FB page.

And over the other side you can see Copper Mountain!

Then the trail begins a long slow drop down to treeline.  You hike quite a ways away from copper.  On the way down I met a couple who have a condo at copper.  Lots of questions.  Nice couple. 

Once I got down I made camp by the river. A few other tents were already there.  The river blocked the sound of the highway which was nearby.

I explored around and took pics of the river.

Then I hiked a mile for a pop and some oreos that grabbed my attention at the last minute.

Another thing I do before dinner is filter water.  It was raining so I did it indoors.

The last thing I managed to do is make dinner and then spill olive oil all over my pants.  So I had to wash them and hang them up to dry.  They wouldn't dry much.  It was already getting late.  Oh well.  Guess I will be hiking in rain pants.

Glad I brought them!