Total Mileage: 242.1

The goal for this week was to keep my 35 mile-per-day average through this tough section. The San Juans have been on my mind since last year and now I was finally about to do them.

The night before, I almost got water while eating a fig bar, until I caught a whiff of dead, rotting cow carcass. I entered into the La Garita wilderness and had 35.6 miles to reach the pass and hitch into Lake City for resupply. Some good meadow hiking until the uphill pulls started getting tough. Hail, rain, and high winds made it difficult, but I made it to the pass by 7pm. Was unable to get a ride in that night so I camped in a parking lot across the street.

The next morning it was cold and I was still damp from the day before. Once in town, I resupplied, charged my stuff at the church annex ( separate building for hikers and AA meetings), met and talked with “Golden Girls”, a cool couple doing the CT. I was back at the pass by 2 pm and into the big mountains.

Cold and wind for the next couple days, but the weather held and the views were spectacular and the hiking hard. There isn’t a lot of flat hiking in this section. You’re either going up or going down and by the 3rd night, pulling a 37 mile day with 9,500 feet of elevation gain, I was wiped out.

I pitched my tent where I thought it was safe from the wind but I was so wrong! At 1 am, my trekking pole (which I use to pitch my tent) snapped in half from the high winds. With the tent collapsed on top of me, I thought about just sleeping through it, but the wind made the tent so loud, I felt like I was being shaken in a paper bag. I packed up and hiked off the mountain at 2 am.

With hardly any sleep, I made my way to Wolf Creek Pass and got a ride into Pagosa Springs for a new pole. John and Dawn, two amazing people, drove me in and back up to the trail (23 miles one way). They had just hiked the CT and have also Triple Crowned. AT ’04, PCT ’05, CDT ’07. All With map and compass and before the trails became popular by the woman who ate her mother’s ashes.

Back on trail, I made it another 15 miles before calling it a day. 70 miles of hiking and 3 hours of sleep was a bit rough.

Almost in New Mexico and only 1500 miles to go!

Total Mileage: 248.4

What can brown do for you? For me, not much.

I made it to the Viking lodge at 6:30 pm Monday night, expecting a UPS package with shoes, shorts, and a headlamp. It was supposed to be there on Saturday. I waited until 1 pm the next day then rushed to one outfitter and bought shoes and another for the right headlamp. Saw “Mogley” who I had hiked with a couple days before. Got a ride up to the pass by a carpenter named Jeremy, and started out at 2pm.

I hiked late and slept in a parking lot near I-70. The next morning, walked the 3 miles up the dirt road to Grays Peak trailhead. First 14er! Took 90 minutes to reach the summit. Quick breakfast and down the saddle and up and over Mt Edwards Peak. Stalked by mountain goats I knocked out the Argentine-Spine with less that half a liter of H20 in the middle of the day.

Resupplied in Breckenridge the next day. Briefly hung out with some A.T. ’15 buddies (Guru and No One) and took off. Collegiate West around Twin lakes and up and over Hope Pass.

Met and hiked with “Pinkman” and arrived at Monarch Pass on Monday. Quick resupply and into Gunnison Wilderness.

Ready for the San Juans!

Total Mileage: 244.5

I made it to Colorado halfway through day 134. 6 States down, 3 to go.

Started to see a lot of hunters in this section. Elk season was a day or two away. Entering into Colorado, the trail was mostly ATV trails through the woods. Kinda lame but I could keep a solid pace. Eventually I reached the Zirkles Wildernes. Now the Colorado hiking would begin.

Long, never ending uphills, exposed ridgelines and water carries of 5-10 miles. My buddy from the A.T., “Flask” picked me up and I stayed with him in Steamboat. Surprised to see another A.T. buddy who drove up from Boulder, “No One” who I haven’t seen in 7 years! These guys were part of my trail family and I will never have another one.

I took my time getting back to the trail, which is hard for me and the miles and pace I feel I need to do, but sometimes you have to slow down and enjoy the company. Ate an overpriced but delicious breakfast and “No One” got me back to Rabbit Ears Trailhead by 10:45.

20-something miles of road walk later and back on trail. I was close to the spot where I broke my foot, so getting to that and beyond was going to be an incredible milestone for me. I knew the spot, how could I forget. I arrived there and sat for 10 minutes, thinking about everything I had to overcome to get back to this less than a year later. 3 jobs, endless planning and redoing 4800 miles. I had to dig deep to get back and now that I have, it was all worth it.

I briefly stopped into Grand lake the next day and headed out around 10:30 just wanting to get to Winter Park where my hike ended last year. I kept thinking about how I felt in this section, my foot becoming increasingly sore and trying to figure out what it was. I saw a log I sat on last year where I had taken my shoe off, rubbed my foot and popped 6 ibuprofen. This year it was a tough stretch with a healthy foot over James Peak and Mt Flora. Big uphills with a ton of elevation gain and sharp rocks covering them. I kept thinking, “you did this with a broken foot” and remembered the excruciating pain I was in.

Arriving at Berthoud Pass, I’m healthy this time and everything from here to to the end is all new to me. It’s been the hardest thing I’ve ever had to overcome, but if you want something bad enough, you can’t ever give up!

Total Mileage: 265.9

I was cold and wet all night so I wasn’t able to get good sleep. I struggled to get packed up and moving, but finally did at 7am. A late start for me but that’s how it goes sometimes.

Because I wasn’t able to get close to 40 miles the previous day, I knew I wouldn’t make it to South Pass City before they closed the gift shop at 5pm on Thursday. I decided to do the alternate routes through the Wind River Range and hit Knapsack Col and Cirque of the Towers. My pace would be slowed by the terrain but I would get some really good views and some good technical hiking in.

Leading up to Knapsack was awesome with beautiful lakes and twisting, exposed trails. I did the CDT redline last year so I was happy to do these alternates even though my pace would be slowed. Arriving on top of Knapsack at 6pm, I had a sketchy scree field to navigate down to Glacier and into Titcomb Basin where I camped for the night. I was satisfied with 29.8 miles for the day.

On the trail at 5am the next morning, I made my way back to the CDT and to the Cirque of the Towers alternate by the end of the day.

The next morning the clouds spit rain on occasion and I pushed hard, up and over Texas Pass and Jackass Pass. Saw a weekend hiker with the most lopsided, enormous pack I think I’ve ever seen. I asked him if he bought one of everything at REI before this trip. A lot of weekend hikers in this section that I had to pass, “excuse me,” “right behind you” until making it back to the CDT and through some blow-downs. I finished late with 38.2 miles leaving 11.5 miles on the table to South Pass City and my next resupply.

Arriving there just before 9am, I took just over an hour and got back on the trail wanting to do 35 miles out from 10:30am. The Basin is completely exposed desert so I was able to cruise and finish with 46.5 miles.

The next day a 50 and 32.9 after that to arrive in Rawlins by 4:30 on Sunday. Hotel, Walmart, good sleep and I was at the post office and heading out of Rawlins by 11am. Met a mechanical engineer named Mountain Goat and we hiked out of Rawlins together. Cowboy camped off the side of the road.

It felt good to almost be in Colorado!