[Day 63] Going

I woke up around 6am to an unpleasant windstorm. Despite the wind, I slept well. I hit snooze for another hour and started hiking around 7:30am.

Out of the gate, my legs felt fresh from the lower mileage yesterday. I hit the first 1,500 foot climbs with pretty quick. Soon enough, I was above 11,000 feet on windy ridge lines. I leaned into the wind to keep myself tracking with the trail. Intermittent snow slowed my day, but wasn’t bothersome.

By midday, I hit my last 1,500 foot climb before a long descent towards Colorado Highway 14. It was slushy just about the whole way up, but I put my head down and got through it. At the top, I was at 11 miles for the day. I merged up with Forest Service Road 104, which bounced for a five miles around 11,000 feet, then descended to Forest Service Road 103, which led me to Colorado Highway 14. Yes, all of these roads are the official CDT presently — even the highway.

Before merging up with the highway, I caught glimpse of a shortcut along a fence line. It cut off maybe two miles — one of dirt road and one on the highway. I took it and it served me well. Though, I did have to make a waist deep crossing of a marshy, muddy, beaver-damned stream.

I hit the highway. I knew this was a commitment. All the land around the highway was private property for the next nine miles, meaning there was no camping. I let the legs motor, and I got myself to Muddy Pass Lake, just after the merge of Highway 14 and Highway 40. After 8pm, the highway was all but empty. It was 9pm when I reached Muddy Pass, and if I hitched into Steamboat Springs, I’d get there late with nowhere to stay. I set camp between the highway and the lake.

It was a pleasant and unexpected 37 miles of walking today. How did I manage it with about 10 miles of snow? I have no clue. I pitched my tent, downed a cup of hot chocolate, and called it for the night.

Signing off,

Zeppelin / fReaK (ON a leash)