The day started with a mix of the worst: snow traps, slippery slushy snow from 70°F sunny weather, mosquitoes, steep slopes, and downed trees. Plus, I didn’t get going until 9:30am. Luckily, this rude terrain contouring the mountainside lasted only five miles. Along the way, there was the earthen, sweet smells of volatile organic compounds from the wet dense, decaying materials.
| 🗓️ Date | June 26th |
| ⇢ Mileage | 21.7 |
| 📍 Trip Mileage | 1325.4 |
| ⛅️ Weather | Sunny 65°F with some extreme wind from moon through late day |
| 🏞️ Trail Conditions | Slushy sloped morning; rutted ATV trail; ridge walking in the afternoon |
The trail dropped in elevation before the climb up Parkview Mountain, transitioning to deep rutted motor bike and ATV track surrounded by burn. It was slow trail. I was walking waist deep in a rut at times.
After reaching Colorado Highway 125, I began the climb up to Parkview Mountain, the last 12,000 foot peak on trail. The ascent, though not the most technical or steep, took a toll on me. Northern Colorado has been unassumingly hard. Everyday has more than a mile of climbing and intermittent snow of the worst quality for walking.
Eventually, I made the four and a half miles of 2500 ascent. I had decided to cut a switch back via a snow field and some steep off trail tussock grass — it probably wasted more time. The top of Parkview Mountain was ferociously windy. I used a shelter atop the mountain for a break, but the door kept annoyingly oscillating open and closed due to the wind. I had no intention of stopping it since I wouldn’t be there for long.
The slow descent followed a windy ridge down to Haystack Mountain. Haystack Mountain had a large burn area, leaving baren trees standing up much like haystack needles.
The day was tough day. I hope the past couple lower mileage day provided some recovery for the days to the Wyoming border.
Signing off,
Zeppelin / fReaK (ON a leash)
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