8/18/16 Thursday to 8/22/16 Monday

8/19/16 Thursday

We met our friend, Nitro Joe, at his motel and joined him shuttling to Molas Pass.

As the 3 of us started hiking we ran into about 20 trail crew doing work on the trail.  We made sure to personally thank each one for their contribution to our hike. We began to tackle the climbs and said goodbye to Nitro Joe who hikes fast.

Redbeds layered with white rock & in the foreground, conglomerate  boulders.

  By the time we started up another pass it had started raining in earnest. During a hard hail we sought shelter off trail under a big tree until we could see if the weather was safe for us to hike in.  We determined it was ok so we got back on trail.   We'd brought leftover pizza to eat at our break and it was delicious!  We crested a pass in the cold, pouring rain. Our shoes, pants, gloves and parts of our shirts were soaked. As we dropped onto a new valley the clouds lifted and small lakes could be seen in the distance.  We were both cold whenever we stopped, the wind was blowing but it was great to think we might get out from under this rain.

We stopped for good in a small campsite near a waterfall. We got our tents set up and dinner eaten without rain falling. Because our feet were soaked they were really cold & we both had trouble warming them up again.

Didn't take many pictures today because it was too cold & wet.

We shared our camp site with 5 other hikers who came in after we were inside the tents for the night. We usually camp in solitude but there are not many places available in this section.  Hiked 14.7 miles & camped at 10,912 feet.

8/19/16 Friday

We crossed two streams like this one.  Every stone or log that rested in the water was covered with white. Peggy said it's calcium carbonate from mines upstream. 

The trail climbed up over a slide rock ridge and entered the beautiful meadowed Tin Cup Basin. Far off in the distance were the sharp teeth of the Rockies and the famous Lizard Head Peak. 

Lizard Head Peak is hard to see but is just above the trail in the distance.

Peggy filling up on water from the lake at Bolam Pass.

Climbing by cliffs called redbeds we saw very rich red soil and rock.  

We came to a basin where we knew we'd have to climb out but neither of us could see how.  

Blackhawk Pass.  You can't see but there are switchbacks that go right over the low spot.  The wildflowers were beautiful in this basin.

Field of flowers.

Just one step over Blackhawk Pass the trail can be seen moving down the peak. This was a beautiful example of the redbeds.

A look back at Blackhawk Pass and CT sign.  We found water in a ravine that was our last water for 22 miles.  We both pulled 4 liters out and thank goodness only had to go 1 mile to a campsite. Carrying 8 pounds of water was tough to do.

Hiked 15.1 miles camped at 10,797 feet.

8/20/16 Saturday

Being at this elevation we knew it could be warmer in the night and it was.

Today we wound through the forest and out to hillsides covered with corn lily.

Peggy, dwarfed by tall corn lily.

Blue gentian surrounded by purple asters.  A whole mountain was covered by these flowers in peak color.

A look at our back trail.

This is a waterless section, we're each carrying water for the day, water to cook dinner with and water to start the next day with. There were 2 places with possible springs which we searched for to no avail. 

Oddly, someone had written in charcoal on a tree the word WATER.  So I checked it out and found a trickle that I scooped up with a Baggie filling 2 liters.  Peggy was just starting to look for a spring when I hiked up to her.  Now we could drink when we needed.  We were both thirsty.

Overlook Trail was our campsite. We walked to the overlook located at the end of this shale covered mountain top. We can see in the distance the mountains we covered in the last two days. At 8 pm we heard a whole chorus of coyotes!

Hiked 14.2 miles camped at 11,358 feet.

8/21/16 Sunday

Sometime in the night the wind came up the mountain like a train. Luckily we were tucked away and didn't get in it's path.

Today we climbed up and up to crest the mountain and walk along the ridge top.

We walked along the top of this ridge, I like to look back and see where we've come from.

Topping out we saw these amazing peaks. This is the start of Indian Ridge, an exposed ridge walk with amazing views.

Hiking higher, a look back at the same ridge.

Next to be tackled is this mountainside. See the trail going up and over.

Once over the top, there's more to climb. 

The shale that makes up the foreground mountain top is slippery and hard to walk on. 

We had to climb up this narrow rocky connection to gain the top and switchback down the back side to Taylor Lake,  a rocky trail with drop offs on either side.  

This is the approach. 

Taylor Lake where we got water.

Clouds began to collect so we hurried over the Kennebec Pass Trail to see this old miner's cabin on the top of Sliderock Canyon.

This is the downhill trail off Sliderock Canyon. Can you believe mountain bikes ride this too?

Rain began in earnest as we made our way down, down, down from the ridges.

These are Mexican Hats growing tall against the wet rocks. We found a campsite by Junction Bridge.

Set up camp and ate dinner in a rain break. Once finished eating it started raining hard. We settled in for our last night on the Colorado Trail.

Hiked 14 miles camped at 8,559 feet.

8/22/16 Monday

Woke to scattered rain but we were able to pack up as the rain stopped.  Today is our last day on the Colorado Trail, only 14 miles to the terminus. 

The wet vegetation growing close along the trail meant we might get pretty wet walking out. It was a forested walk, first climbing 1,000 feet then pretty much downhill most of the way.  We stopped a few times to snack and arrived at the bottom amid groups of local hikers or tourists interested in our Colorado hike.  We talked to a few of them and one lady offered to give us a ride to our Durango

Inn. 

Completion!  About 6 weeks - 486 miles

on the amazing Colorado Trail.