Wow! Did it feel good to sleep in a bed! I usually don’t really notice, but last night was exceptional. Normally I’d be antsy to get up and get going, but the Post Office doesn’t open until 7:30 and the taxi service doesn’t start up until 8:00 so I had a lazy morning in bed, eventually going down for continental breakfast about 7:30am.
When I asked the owner if he could give me a ride to the Post Office this morning he looked at me with incrudulity. “That offer was for yesterday. I have to work today.”
“But the Post Office wasn’t open yesterday. You knew that. What good would a ride to the post office done me yesterday?”
He just shrugged his shoulders and suggested I call a taxi. This I did and got one to pick me up about 8:15am. While waiting I Finnish packing and tried calling the PO to make sure they had my package. They never answered the phone. ??
When I got to the PO only two were in front of me. When my turn came I asked for my package. It took the clerk 15 minutes to hunt it down, even though I had spray painted it yellow to make it easy to see. The problem was I had Andy send it to me care of a business that no longer existed, even though FarOut still had it listed.
I went to one of the prep counters and began emptying my box. Everything was covered in a fine powdered milk. A small hole had been poked in the plastic bag and ever jostle of the box sent powder milk everywhere. Cleaned it all up and added it to what I had bought last night. I met a couple CDT hikers at the PO, then headed out the door and up to the highway to thumb a lift to the pass. It is a block to the Main Street in town. As I crossed over the river I looked down to see the hot water overflow from the public bath house pouring from a six inch pipe into pools created with river rock by the locals to make a “poor man’s spa”.
Once on the Main Street I walked in the direction of out of town, waiting for the stop light to change and let some cars by. When it did,the third car, a black Honda stopped and asked where I was going. “Wolf Creek Pass”. That was where he was going and I loads my pack in the back seat and me in the front. That quick. I was standing at the pass at 10:00am, hours before I thought I would be.
Once at the pass I started up the trail. I was quite apprehensive about this 114 mile section. Most everyone I knew from the trail was skipping it either by driving to Wyoming and hiking the great divide, a relatively flat 120 mile section or bu taking the “Creed Cutoff”, a 40 mile shortcut that bypasses most of the San Juan range. I knew of no one attempting it.
Last night I woke at about 12:15 quite anxious about doing it. Kingo, a 27 year old I had met early on was out there, the only one I knew. I had texted him to ask about conditions. If it was worse than what we had just gone through it would be a very long 114 miles, hence all the extra food. I hadn’t heard from him. But a text had arrived at 11:30pm while I was asleep. He said it was easy peasy and almost snow free. He doesn’t know yet how much this text put me at ease. I was asleep again in minutes.
Now on the trail I found snow in places, and blowdowns, but not as challenging as the last section. I had planned to make five miles if I got a late start from town, or nine of I got an earlier start, but 10:00am was wholy unexpected. I stopped at the nine mile lake, set up my tent and cooked dinner even though it was only 3:30pm. As I cooked I studied FarOut and realized I could camp at 13.4 from the pass and that would set me up well for water and camping tomorrow. I took down the tent and packed up. I hadn’t gotten 100 yards up the trail when I heard someone call out “Coach”. It was Jif and Bingo Bongo. With the quickness these two moved I was sure they would be at least a day ahead, but nope they were coming up from behind. They Were not doing the San Juans and we’re taking the Creed cutoff. We hiked together for 15 minutes breathlessly chatting as we climbed through 11,000 feet. They stopped to camp. I still had 2.7 miles to do. It was so nice to see them. They are
Great people
I camped on the ridge at 12,200’, protected from the wind by a clump of trees. The site was not ideal. It sloped a bit and the ground at this altitude was frozen, but it was getting late so I set up.
I was cold all night. My inflatable sleeping pad does not provide any insulation from the ground and as it was frozen, the cold radiated up through me all night. Needless to say, I didn’t get much sleep. Yet, it was a great day to a new section of the through hike.
Steaming hot water from the public bathing house spills into the river. The locals have built holding ponds so they can soak outside for free.
CDT sign and dead trees with snow across the trail. A typical scene.
The trail disappears under a 6 foot wall of snow.
Bongo Bongo and Jif set up their tents in the basin below as I continue on.
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