[Day 52] Leadville

It was an awkward night in the bunk room at the hostel. I was roomed with many older men who did as they pleased without much consideration. One man liked very much to walk around the room butt naked. Another, fellow watched action movies on his phone all night at full screen brightness with sound on. The other couple men used the bathroom four or five times each during the night. I’m no gem, but at least I stay quiet, keep clothed, and do my business in a single trip.

I packed my things and headed to downtown around 8:45am. I grabbed a spicy hot chocolate from ZeroDay, a hiker-inspired coffee shop. The drink was interestingly spicy, but not quite my mojo, so I washed it down with another hot chocolate from across the street.

I bummed outside of the Melanzana store for an hour, using their Wi-fi and waiting for opening and stocking of the overstock selection. The overstock wasn’t out at opening, so I decided to get breakfast. I ate at the Golden Burro, a downtown cafe recently reopened as entirely plant-based foods. Unknowing of its anti-meat agenda, I was hesitant as first look of the menu, but the food did not disappoint. The fake egg, soy sausage, and mushroom burrito smothered in green chili sauce surprised me.

After breakfast, I hit the Melanzana store again. I was recognized from my visit yesterday, and I guess they liked me. They let me into the exclusive, appointments only section for another item. I grabbed my sister a fleece and managed to find myself an item from the overstock options. Their fleece clothing line is some comfortable wear, and I’ll be back to Leadville soon enough for more gear.

I shipped off the Melanzana gear. The plant-based breakfast was large, but not filling. It was time for lunch. The barbecue joint was closed, so I headed for High Mountain Pies again. Chase, a fellow inspired by my journey, bought me a whole pizza. I managed to eat all but two slices that I reserved for dinner on my exit out of town.

At lunch, I met two other CDT hikers: Dang and Knuckles. These guys followed my tracks through the San Juan’s and had been trying to catch me for a couple weeks. I could see myself tracking with these two, but they also pulled 40 miles of hiking with a summit of Mt. Elbert to get to Leadville. That’s some freak material — unleashed, not on a leash like myself.

I walked to the other side of town for resupply at Safeway. An uninspiring rain, hail, and thunderstorm came in around 3pm and didn’t let up for three hours. I loitered at the laundromat, pretending to be waiting on my clothes. Once the rain cleared around 6pm, I walked towards the highway exit from town and stuck my thumb up. After 40 minutes or so, just before I reserved a hotel room, a Jeep gave me a ride up to Tennessee Pass.

I only intended for three miles of hiking, but I nearly doubled that. I made some off trail cuts, one that took me along abandoned railroad tracks. I walked three scenic trails simultaneously today — the CDT, the CT, and the briefly-merged American Discovery Trail which runs east-west.

On my map, I saw an interesting note about old bunkers from the 10th Mountain Division. I had to check them out. I ended my day at the bunkers, and I decided to call one of the rooms home for the night.

I am a tad bummed that I was driven out of Leadville, but these small Colorado towns are in their prime summer tourist and event season. The Collegiate West will give me an excuse to return to Leadville (and to grab myself another Melanzana).

Signing off,

Zeppelin / fReaK (ON a leash)