[Day 51] Holy Cross Wilderness

I slept amazingly well next to the roaring Busk Creek feeding into Turquoise Lake. Condensation on the inside of my tent was abundant, but it should be — I was camped in deep wet forest next to a gushing creek with rain overnight.

I had 15 miles to Tennessee Pass where I’d hitch into Leadville. I knew, however, there was about four miles of forested snow around the slushy elevation line of 11,000 feet. I cruised through the forest over rolling terrain to the start of Holy Cross Wilderness. A couple thousand feet of enjoyable climbing ensued. After Mt. Elbert, the climbing feels light. I expect this effect will be gone after today.

I soon hit the snow of the Holy Cross Wilderness, and it was shorter than, but as slow as expected. Right at the wilderness boundary, the snow conveniently disappeared and the terrain returned to rolling forest.

Soon enough, after a couple hours of drizzling rain, I made it to Tennessee Pass. Ten minutes with my thumb out provided a ride south to Leadville.

Townsend, my adventurous kayaking driver, entertained the lore of Leadville. He told me of Leadville’s once prospects to be Colorado’s capitol, the Silver Dollar Saloon and it’s frequent outlaw visitor Doc Holiday, and the numerous endurance events hosted in the town, namely the Leadville 100.

Townsend dropped me on the south side of the downtown strip at his favorite Leadville restaurant, the Tennessee Pass Cafe. Their hamburger did not disappoint.

I proceeded to book my hostel, purchase a Melanzana fleece for my mom, pick up my package from the post office, and grab a chocolate shake from the ice cream parlor.

I did boring chores around the hostel, then hit the local pizza joint around 8pm. I ate a 16” diameter San Luis pie (topped with pork, avocado, cotija, and green chiles) by myself. This attracted the attention of my neighbors, and soon enough they were asking how I managed to eat the entire pizza. It was a couple in town for the marathon tomorrow — it’s packed out the town and made finding a place to stay difficult.

I’ve been interesting in visiting Leadville since I read the book Born to Run in middle school. I’ll take my time around town tomorrow before I head out, if I can’t find a place for another night.

My throats been sore since this morning. I pray I don’t wake up sick.

Signing off,

Zeppelin / fReaK (ON a leash)