[Day 65] Snow or Swamp

The mosquitoes were not in attendance this morning. I presume last night’s air temperature was too cold for most of them. I packed up, downed a liter of water, and headed for the snow.

Leaving camp at Lake Elmo, I soon encountered snow patches as I rolled through the forests. The snow was firm with a little slip, and I had relatively little issue walking it — it maybe added a couple minutes per mile. The Steamboat area experienced the most snow in Colorado this year, and it was lingering heavy. Where ground was exposed, the dirt was mud. The morning and much of the day consisted of two options: snow or swamp. Either slip-slide on the slow snow, or dredge through muddy meadows of snowmelt.

As I approached Buffalo Pass, the snow remained firm, but sun cups topped with a slick layer of wet snow were developed. I felt cartoonish at times; some of my slip incidents were long, drawn out dramas of ejecting water bottles, throwing trekking poles, and flailing limbs. The snow continued the entirety of the day, and I would estimate about 12 of 25 miles were atop snow fields. It seems my snow maps may have failed me (or at least grossly underestimated the amount of snow remaining on the trail).

The trail slowly ascended towards Lost Ranger Peak throughout the day, providing some climbing relief from the usual bluff thousand foot climbs and drops of previous Colorado. By the end of the day, on the north side of Lost Ranger Peak, it was time for descent from the 11,800 foot elevation.

I picked camp on my map about four miles ahead. Rarely on trail do I daydream about food. Typically, my day into town might have a bit of licking my lips. But, I was craving huevos rancheros my last few miles of my hiking — specifically the breakfast I had in Steamboat Springs. I made it to camp at North Lake, and my Mountain House chicken fried rice was pretty sufficient in kicking my hunger.

Signing off,

Zeppelin / fReaK (ON a leash)