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!
