7/26/16 Tues Twin Lakes, CO to 8/1/16 Monday Salida, CO

Twin Lakes Inn made us a sack breakfast because we were leaving early. We walked the road to a shortcut out of town listed on the CDT. It was nice not to have to walk around the lake instead we went  right up the hill. We joined the regular trail and traveled 3.2 miles, 3500' elevation to Hope Pass. 

2nd breakfast break!

Once up on the pass it was so windy & cold that we started right down the next valley. Along the way we saw an old miners cabin that we ventured off trail to look at. 

Linch break here.

Alpine Gentians!  

Collegiate Wilderness.

We're now on the CDT instead of the Colorado Trail for the next section. It's at or near 12,000' elevation, above tree line. We stopped and made dinner then continued walking until 6:30 pm, made camp & turned in. This sets us up for an early climb up to Lake Anne Pass tomorrow morning.

15 miles today.

7/27/16 Wed.

Cold & damp last night. We noodled up the valley passing frost covered plants and cold little freshets. We were really chilly. I had no energy and struggled to get into a rhythm to climb. It's 5.5 miles up to the pass. At last we left treeline and could see the pass.

Sky Pilot flowers with the Lake Anne Pass in the background. We climbed up through that rubble and above the snow area which is a cornice just below the trail.

A panorama of the valley we climbed through, this is Lake Anne Pass.

Dropping below into the next valley we heard motor bikes, they're allowed on this part of the trail. We never saw them but saw evidence of torn up trail. As we went round & round  the mountains we decided to stop in the woods at the first decent camp site. Ending up way back in the woods at a great campsite we were so glad to stop hiking. Tough going today, no energy, all day between 10K and 12K we only hiked 13 miles.

7/28/16 Thursday 

Great campsite & sleep last night.

Today we are hiking 5.5 miles up Cottonwood Pass then going on to 2-3 more passes. It'll be a challenge.

Coming out of the trees that's the trail up to Cottonwood Pass.

Peggy's last strides to the top in the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness this is the high trail of the CT which is actually the CDT (Continental Divide Trail) that we are hiking. It was very windy at the Pass, lots of cars & buses parked.  We started up the incline & ran into about 75 high school kids coming down from the top.  Kind of a zoo trying to get around them.  Finally there were a couple of adults who tried to get the kids to move off trail so we could get up the steep hill!  

Windy & cold!  Maybe 30-40 mph. 

Our next pass.  No water available until partway down the third pass. 

Down the next one.

The last pass, we walked by the snow and down to water. 

My tent.  Finally home at 12,053 feet elevation. Hiked 15.5 miles today.   Made dinner & went to bed.  Looked like some rain but only a splatter on the tent. During the night I saw lightening flashes in the far sky, thunder sounded but no rain where we were camped.

7/29/16 Friday

Today, after breaking down camp we turned a corner & came into another beautiful basin. 

Morning light on the trail sign. Top marker is the CDT, bottom marker is the CT.

Lots of green hills that we contoured around, heading up to another pass & down into another valley. We hiked to water & rested. It was hot in the valley.

Our plan was to try to get to a trailhead and get a head start up the next pass. The maps said there was a mine tunnel nearby which we looked for but never saw. What we did see as we walked the trail was what I called a corduroy road. 

This is actually what is left of an 1890's railroad bed that has become the Continental Divide Trail. There was an historical marker along the trail detailing the interesting history. 

We camped near the trailhead which was a mistake, lots of cars and campers, ATV's and motorbikes. We found a spot at 7:30pm, much later than we usually stop.  After making a quick dinner we went to bed.  We hiked 17.5 miles today, lots of rocky trail, feet hurt and my left calf has started hurting.  I'm using a water bottle of cold water to roll it on the muscle.  The zipper on my tent is not working in places so I'm making do as I can. 

Peggy & I talked about trying to get to Monarch Pass tomorrow, 18+ miles.  Don't think we can do that mileage in this difficult trail though. We'll see how it works out.

7/30/16 Saturday

The next morning early we were up and walking on that bouldery, ATV road.

We arrived at the end of the ATV road in a small clearing at Lower Hancock Lake. The trail took off into this basin and up the pass where the shadow & sunny hillsides meet.  We paused to look around and saw 3 moose!   Two bulls and a cow. One bull was quite big.   We watched them for about 30 min.

This is the smaller one who began walking toward us. Quickly we got our stuff together (cameras put away) and raised our trekking poles high so he would think we were big.  Moving quickly away, putting distance between us, we saw him standing right where we'd been standing! He and the cow both melted into the willows! Wow, what a sight!

The next valley that we walked through that morning had 3 lakes in it. We stopped for a break beside one & encountered a curious pika.

Usually pika are hard to photograph but his curiosity got the best of him.

My calf is hurting more so when we stopped I soaked it in a cold stream. We also celebrated the 1/2 way mark for the CT,  243 miles!! 

Peggy's & my shoes.

Lots of new trail work has been done here, maybe because of private property concerns. Who knows. 

This bridge was out but we used what was standing. Being close to a trailhead and day hikers, a lady was waiting for Peggy to finish so she could cross also. 

Next we started up a very steep climb, knowing we didn't want to get all the way up the pass because the skies were getting darker and a storm was coming.(see the dark skies). We stopped at Hunt Lake. There were day hikers fly fishing for Greenback Cut Throat Trout, catch & release only.

One lady caught this trout as I was talking to her husband.  They let me get a picture of it before releasing it.  Then the storm hit so Peggy & I both got into our tents. After the rain I went down to the lake & met a young hiker who we invited to our campsite. We spent the evening making dinner & chatting. Elise, who was later named Solo, was great, interesting to talk to and easy to be around.  We hiked only 9 miles this day but it was a good call to stop here, the lake is at 11,500 feet elevation. Tomorrow the Continental Divide.

7/31/16 Sunday

In the beautiful early morning light the trail took us straight up to the pass and right onto the Continental Divide itself!  Windy and cold!!  Elise got to the top along with us and we celebrated with a selfie.

Looky, Pegleg, Solo.

Top of the Divide!

Winding around hillsides at 12,000 feet we made our way toward the ski resort of  Monarch Pass where the trail uses some of the ski area roads. Stepping out of the woods onto Hwy 50 we walked to the Monarch Crest Store to pick up our resupply boxes, get a drink and a ride down the Hwy to Salida. We got a ride from the first car we saw, a great couple on a vacation from N Carolina, visiting family. We chatted all the way down the mountain as they dropped us off in the heart of town, not at all where they were going but kind enough to drive us in! 

The Simple Hostel is close to everything we need, grocery, post office, restaurants, mountaineering stores. We hiked 9 miles today.  

Tomorrow, 8/1/16 is a zero in town. Solo shared a room with us the first night and has already left for the trail.   Good luck Solo. We sure enjoyed your company!

When we take the trail again there are only 15 more miles of the Collegiate West

High Trail left then we rejoin the Colorado Trail. This Collegiate West portion has been hard, rocky, high and astonishingly beautiful- absolutely worth the extra effort.