Magrilless

Stats:
Distance: 9 legs, 21 segments, 46 days, 358 miles
Best food: cream of celery soup
Wildlife sightings: squirrels and chipmunks and marmots ants picas, more cows, and … a moose!

Day 41-43:

Rolling fields and expansive views made for some easy(ish) walking these days. Although it was plenty warm with very few water sources (many sullied by cows), so we still had a nice challenge.

When we crested the hill and saw the Cochetopa Creek, it was like looking at Eden! We raced down to the banks and threw off our clothes for a chilly and heavenly dip. (Where we were joined by Early Bird, a lady trying for the fastest known time. Her aim is between 9 and 10 days. Doing 50+ miles a day — yikes! — that skinny dip must have felt even better to her.)

We followed the creek up up up with a couple of very chilly morning fords. It was actually a very pleasant hike (although fairly exposed to the sun) all the way to treeline. We were set right below the saddle leading up to San Luis Peak. And lots of folks joined us at our camp site before their summit bid next morning. Party!

Day 44:

Views, glorious views! Up to the saddle below San Luis we went. What a sight!

We dove down into the green bowl, then up to anther saddle we went. More views!

Down and around and up. Wow!

Down and up sooooo close to 13,000 feet. More to see!

One more time down and one more time up. But, oh, how far we can see!

We added just one more saddle for a super windy and rainy campsite. Thank goodness for going into town tomorrow!

Day 45:

Oh, Snow Mesa. We worked to get there, but once we dropped in, it was beautiful!

We made sure we walked the 3 miles of exposed tundra during the morning, before weather (specifically lightning) could be an issue. (You can see why it would.)

We walked to the edge of the world, then dropped down down down to the highway where our perky wagon could whisk us over to Creede for some drying out and good resting up.

Day 46:

Creede allowed us to get all dry and wander around interesting places and eat all sorts of good things. It’s our last town stop with our amazing perky wagon. Which means that we’re nearing the end of our amazing journey. Which is pretty exciting! As was celebrating Baba’s birthday our last night! Here we go!

Stats:
Distance: 8 legs, 17 segments, 40 days, 302 miles
Best food: popcorn shrimp
Wildlife sightings: marmots, picas, some deer, lotsa cows, a fox in the distance

Day 36:

We expected rain and thunderstorms and wet hiking all day today. But we outran it all! We even enjoyed the view above treeline while we walked, for once!

Hitting the point where the East and West Collegiate routes join up again felt like a big deal, and looking back on the view made us feel incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished so far.

We threw down some big miles (12.5) and camped with a lovely (only partially obstructed) view.

Day 37:

We got so lucky yesterday. And our luck held for a looooong time today too. Blue skies, amazing vistas, pretty much easy walking too.

Until about 4:30, when we were a mere mile and a half from camp. (There’s not a lot of water options this leg. We’re having to be a little stricter about where we stop.) Then the skies opened up and we ended up walking down a mud stream (formerly known as the trail), getting progressively wetter and wetter ourselves, to the only creek for 10 miles.

Of course it was fine. We all eventually got dry and warm, and Bill stayed out to cook us dinner and filter us water. Our hero!! Tomorrow there will be sun again.

Day 38:

And there was, of course! We were a little soggy getting up, but we stuffed all our wet gear in our wet packs and squished out of camp in our wet shoes, sure we’d find a bright sunny spot to dry out everything later.

We did! The cows were willing to share their huge field with us so we could sprawl out and bask in the sunshine.

Knowing that afternoon thunderstorms were definitely bearing down on us, we decided to do things differently this time. At 3:00, we pitched the tent and took shelter just as the first drops began to fall.

One and a half hours and definitely the right decision later, we came out long enough to cook and eat dinner. Then ducked back inside when new sprinkles began — warm and dry!!

Day 39-40:

Boy, it rained all night and we were glad to be dry all night! It was no slouch of a day, with 15 miles until the highway and several (not insignificant) ups and downs to conquer.

But really, it was a pleasant day. We accomplished 8 miles by lunch, then hit a big benchmark! We may have to start counting down soon.

We cruised down a dirt road to the highway, just as our perky wagon drove up and just as the clouds really started to threaten.

This was a tricky resupply, as there are really no tourist towns anywhere close by. But, really, we did deserve a break!

Nana and Baba figured us out some rooms in Alamosa and heroically drove us aaaaall the way there and back to the trail. Whew! But first we took some time to swim and watch the Olympics, and even fit in a carnival and rodeo. Our heroes!

Stats:
Distance: 7 legs, 14 segments, 35 days, 253 miles
Best food: wild strawberries
Wildlife sightings: a cadre of mating iridescent beetles, a cow

Day 31:

We conned our perky wagon into another slack pack day! Nana and Baba and Aunt Annalise even walked us down the trail a mile, then sent us off on our merry and free way.

We decided we were walking through the Mushy Mossy Forest. So many mushrooms! A little bit of sprinkling and a lot of lovely cloud cover made for an easy handful of miles.

To save our soles and sanity, they then picked us up at the dreaded Road Walk (6+ miles of asphalt — yuck), and took us to get ice cream bars instead. Yay!

We spent the night camped on their Airbnb porch with a stunning view of Mt Princeton and the Chalk Cliffs.

Day 32:

When you’re a few miles from a hot springs, you just have to go, right? We thought so. We packed ourselves up and headed straight for Mt Princeton Hot Springs. We spent the morning swimming and screaming down the flume, and then lunch dining on their patio. Ahhhhhh, the life of a thru hiker.

Then it was time to hit the trail again. We have a job to do, after all! At the end of the asphalt, we started climbing up and away.

Juuuuust at the top of our little hill, it started to blow almightily and rain. We removed ourselves into the trees, found as thick a trunk as we could, and huddled down behind it. The girls and Pie cuddled fully under the ground sheet, while Bill and I sat in our rain jackets and watched for any blue sky to reappear.

Which of course it did. (Good thing you didn’t ask me.) We continued on in the sunshine a few miles and set up camp in a lovely little meadow. It feels good to be off the road again!

Day 33:

No rain today; just blue skies all around, with a few puffy clouds late in the afternoon. My kind of day.

We walked through all different sorts of forest: sparse aromatic ponderosa, wet green aspen, mushy rocky and piney, shrubby and granitey. And at one point, we found exactly 4 ripe wild strawberries!

A little after lunch, we hit another milestone too — the halfway point (243 miles)! Another thru hiker walked past as we sat right down in the middle of the trail, so we got to share the good news with him as well. Every step we take now feels like it’s taking us home.

We decided to put in a few extra miles in order to stay close to a campground. (We get use of pit toilets and a dumpster. A night of luxury!) And it put us closer to our perky wagon and our next zero day in Salida.

Day 34-35:

We cruised down the trail, getting to the highway just as our ride rolled up. We got to have a picnic lunch together and then rolled into Salida and our super Airbnb.

Salida is a lovely little town, and we took full advantage of window shopping, ice cream, pool time, restaurants, TV, and games. Good thing; the next section might be a beast!

Stats:
Distance: 6 legs, 12 segments, 30 days, 216 miles
Best food: mini Starbursts, tutti fruiti chips
Wildlife sightings: a turkey family and a little snakey

Day 25:

We gave ourselves a treat (or more accurately, Nana and Baba did): a slack pack day! We left our backpacks in our cabin, grabbed a few water bottles and a lunch, and just hiked free!

The next trailhead out of Twin Lakes was a perfect distance (8 miles) and easily accessible by our amazing sag wagon.

Walking next to the lake was lovely and flat (if a little tempting for just jumping in!). The climb up the ridge was honestly fairly boring. But then we came down into a sage brush and aspen wonderland and perked right back up again!

And boy did it feel nice to have so much weight lifted off our shoulders (thank you Bill for carrying out meager supplies). Not to mention coming back to a shower, burgers, and a comfortable bed at the end. We might have to look for more of these opportunities….

Day 26:

2600 ft of elevation gain ain’t nothing! But at least it was over 4 miles, and our goal for the day was just past 6. We hit a solid mile per hour, which put us at the high point for a victory lunch.

Down the couple of miles to the river was no big thing, and we were set up (nicely separate from everyone else sharing a tiny campsite) by 3:00. We were in a beautiful little valley, with the forest sloping away, purple peaks towering above, and beaver dams sprinkling the river as it meandered through a green carpet.

Tessa and I decided to take advantage of the beavers’ bathtub construction and took a chilly dip. We did feel cleaner! We let the breeze dry us on shore, watching fish flip and jump and flop for insects.

We watched the sun sink while we scarfed dinner and retired to the tent to relax our legs before the next climb.

Day 27:

We started the morning climbing back up to our the same elevation as our high point yesterday. Didn’t we just do this?

But just before we hit 11,800 ft, we hit a major milestone!

We made sure we stayed there long enough to brag to a few people passing by.

The rest of the day, we wandered through the trees, occasionally breaking out for a grand vista. Unfortunately, there was so much smoke in the air today (we could even smell it), we really couldn’t see far. We were left wondering, will we ever get above tree line and be able to enjoy a view?

12 miles from that morning’s camp, we found a cozy little pocket spot just above Silver Creek, made ourselves a juicy dinner, and fell into bed.

Day 28:

Okay, so I promise I’ll stop complaining about hills. After I do it one more time.

This was a steep hill! For awhile, we were averaging half a mile an hour. Which wasn’t an encouraging pace. But we did eventually make it to the top.

And then we screamed down all those thousands of feet we had just worked so hard to gain.

We were rewarded at the bottom by a pickup from Nana and Baba and Aunt Annalise, and a scenic drive into Buena Vista.

Day 29-30:

BV is such a cool little town. Parks, shops, ice cream, good restaurants, a hotel pool, and cartoons on the TV. Zero day, thanks for the recovery time!

Stats:
Distance: 5 legs, 11 segments, 24 days, 181 miles
Best food: pepperoni havarti sandwiches
Wildlife sightings: a deer, more squirrels, more thru hikers (maybe father away from Denver we’ll see more animals?)

Day 21-23:

We had a low mileage segment coming up (since we decided what we’re doing is challenging enough; we don’t need to add on an extra 14er too). So we spent the morning riding Leadville’s scenic train with ice cream and leftover pizza. A lovely morning off!

We spent the next two and a half days contouring the bases of Massive and Elbert. It was a pretty gentle couple of days in the pines, crossing streams every mile or two, listening to squirrels chatter, wishing peak baggers alternately good luck and congratulations.

Nana and Baba picked us up in the sagebrush at Twin Lakes and took us to buy ice cream and beer. (We still deserved it!)

Since there wasn’t too much of interest to report this segment, I thought I might spend a moment to share what we do for sustenance.

Most thru hikers buy peanut butter packets, tuna pouches, tortillas, ramen, and Knor pasta sides. And Snickers and Clif bars. Then in town they eat burgers and nachos (and occasionally a salad for the week’s vegetable intake).

We’re doing those things too. Except I spent the past year (and more) freeze drying lots of things to keep us a little healthier. With our peanut butter, we have banana chips and spinach rolled up in the tortilla. Our tuna salad has scallions and cranberries and pickles. Ramen is spiced up with some spiralized carrots and zucchini with chicken or tofu or turkey. Mac n cheese has diced veg and ground beef. One of our favorite breakfasts is porridge made from cauliflower, apples, berries, and coconut milk with coconut oil stirred in at camp. Plus we just have straight fruits or veg to snack on: apricot quarters, seasoned and blackened broccoli, apple slices, sweet potato chips.

We’re eating just fine!

Day 24:

Twin Lakes is a funky little tiny place. But the scenery is beautiful and the burger shack just right. (It’s also close enough to Leadville to buy some new hiking pants — thru hiking is tough on clothes!)