Total Weekly Mileage: 244.2
“On the Edge”
The beginning of the day looked good, but yet again, rain came in around 10 a.m. On and off, I wanted to stop when it started coming down hard, but after the day before, I had to keep pushing. Luckily, it stopped by 5:30 and just stayed cold and overcast for the remainder of the day. I was cold that night—really cold. If I rationed my food, I could make it to Grand Lake, but I needed to get some warmer clothes. Doing these big miles with little sleep wasn’t going to last long.
I made it to the highway by 11 a.m. the next morning and hitched into Steamboat Springs. After a light resupply—sushi and chicken wings, which I ate on the curb outside the grocery store, enjoying the looks from upper crusties thinking I was homeless—I picked up some mid-weight cross-country ski pants, a hat, and gloves. Back on trail by 2, with help from Richie and “Professor,” the road walk out of town was hot until the clouds closed in again. I pitched my tent and waited it out: 15 minutes of hard-pounding rain and hail.
The rest of the day was roadwalking—from paved to dirt to forest to 4×4 roads. These roads were the gradual beginning of getting up into the big mountains. I think they’re called the Rocky Mountains.
Getting into Grand Lake, I noticed in a trail register that a hiker I met on the PCT in ’22 had left that morning. I would catch Squalo the next morning. He was cowboy camping on the side of the trail with a group of four. He decided to hike with me. We had our work cut out for us—big mountains to climb and potential for bad weather within the next few days.
The plan was to push hard over some 13,000-foot steps that day: James Peak (13,500) and Mt. Flora (13,200), with a lot of other hard pulls resulting in over 10,000 feet of ascent and 39 miles for the day. Also, we needed to reach the pass for a Winter Park hitch before dusk. My homeless-looking—sorry, I mean unhoused-looking—self has trouble getting picked up, and when it’s dark, forget it. We had to hustle.
It was tough. The thinner air and three-mile uphills were rugged, but the views were spectacular, and it was great to hike with someone for a change. Mid-afternoon hit us with a hailstorm, but the summits were clear.
At 2:06 p.m., I hit the four-month mark of the hike with 4,185 miles. By 7:55, we made it to Berthoud Pass. By 8:15, we were on our way to Winter Park. After a quick pit stop at McDonald’s (four McChickens and a double quarter pounder), we checked into the Best Western. Resupply, shower, laundry, AYCE breakfast, and back on the trail by 11.
Not as hard as yesterday and shorter, with a nice paved road walk along I-70 to finish the day and put us at the base of Grey’s Peak (14,200). I was glad Squalo was going to be up and out with me at 5. With the afternoon weather looking sketchy, we crushed the ascent and topped out on Grey’s at 7:30. Did the usual Instachat/social media stuff and took off.
The hike off the top is harder moving south. Following the knife’s edge, staying as close to the ridgeline as possible—it’s some precarious hiking. Slow going and scree make it tough. By 3 p.m., we were surrounded by storm clouds and could see where it was really coming down behind us. We hiked fast and hard to outrun all of it. Being at 13,000 feet for most of the day meant complete exposure, and it was not a place to get hit with a storm.
By 6 p.m., we made it down to 11,000 feet and to where the CDT and the CT join. Into the woods and safe. The Colorado Trail is plush compared to what we had just gone through the last few days—single track, well-marked, plenty of water. It was great. 36 miles for the day.
I said goodbye to Squalo the next morning at 5 a.m. and took off. Got rained on a bit by the time I made it to Breckenridge. Just wanted a coffee and a doughnut and spent an hour charging my stuff and talking with another hiker I met named “No See-Em.” More rain back on trail, and I was fairly happy with my week when it ended around 240 miles.
I’ll try to be funnier for next week’s write-up, but I’m currently trying to pack up and get back on trail right now. Gotta get my pale ass through this state before the bad weather comes in. Which it has—and it’s been rough. But that story is for next week.
