We set the alarm a little early this morning (4:30), so we can break camp and hit the trail early. We are eager to get to Salida for a couple of nights of R&R, but we still have 9 miles to cover as the data book told us that Hunt Lake was the last viable camping spot with water before reaching Monarch Pass. (more…)
We wake up in our trailside camp at 5 am. We only have eleven miles to go today, but it’s Saturday and we want to break camp before the weekenders start coming through. Even though it is still dark, it feels much warmer this morning than we are used to, so we decide to start out the day hiking in shorts. It seems a little risky, but we are getting more tolerant of the cold after three weeks of being on the trail. (more…)
It feels so good to slow down and take it easy. That’s what summer vacations are all about. Yet, even on a 490 mile-long hike that we carefully planned to complete over a leisurely 42 days, it’s easy to get caught up in the get-up-and-go mindset that we associate with our everyday work lives back home. (more…)
Today is said to be the most beautiful section of the Collegiate West Wilderness. We will be entering Segment CW3 at Cottonwood Pass, and we will spend almost the entire day above treeline. With so many miles of exposure, it is important that we hit the trail early in case the weather turns on us in the afternoon. So, when the alarm goes off at 5 am, we don’t dawdle. (more…)
Our third day in the Collegiate West is similar in many ways to yesterday. We woke up and immediately crossed a beautiful high mountain pass as our first challenge of the day. We spent much of the day descending and hiking flat only to end it with another 1000 foot climb into camp. And, just like yesterday, we spied another moose along the way, this one a lone female grazing in the shallows of a beaver pond only 50 feet away! Lightning, so to speak, really does strike twice. (more…)
Our tent site has the pleasant sound of a creek rushing nearby, and, with the long day of hiking yesterday and the crazy thunderstorm, we both have the best night of sleep so far on the trail. That’s probably a blessing because we have a challenging day in store starting with a big ascent over Hope Pass followed by a long descent and then a final climb to Lake Ann. It’s our first full day in the Collegiates, and we are anxious to see if they are any more challenging than what we have experienced so far. (more…)
After a very enjoyable zero day in the Twin Lakes/Leadville area, with our time split between watching the World Cup Final (France beat Croatia 4–2), taking care of laundry, lunch in Leadville and celebrating Alison’s birthday, it’s time to hit the trail again and begin the Collegiate West segment ending in Salida. Thru hikers on the CT have the option of taking the original Collegiate East route or the more rugged Collegiate West route shared by thru hikers on the CDT. Some folks even string the two together to form the Collegiate Loop. We don’t have time for that, so we’ve chosen to tackle the Collegiate West, as we hear it is more scenic, and we feel up for the challenge, especially after a pleasant rest day. (more…)
I wake up in our lumpy, rogue campsite behind the Visitor Center in Twin Lakes just before 6 am to the sounds of the magpies squawking, the hummingbirds whizzing by our tent and a car pulling up on the other side of the willow bushes that separate us from the Twin Lakes Forest Service parking lot. I listen to all the sounds around us from the comfort of my cozy sleeping bag for several minutes before I remember that today is my birthday! (more…)
Last night was, hands down, our best night of sleep on the trail so far! Perhaps because, for the first time in three nights, we camped on top of the hill instead of down in the valley. The air feels warmer up here, and it is not so chilly when we come out of the tent either. (more…)
The tent is still wet from yesterday’s rain when we wake up. It’s never fun packing up a soggy tent, but Matt straps the fly to the outside of his pack in hopes that we will find a warm patch of sun to dry it in during a trail break later on. (more…)
Take A Hike Photography 