Spring Creek Pass. Only 16.9 miles away. Then a hitch into Lake City, resupply box, a place to stay and wash up and rest up. Lots to motivate me to hike and lots to look forward to.
I wanted to be moving at first light this morning, but some kind of brain fog kept me from concentrating on what time it actually got light. I didn’t want to make breakfast and then sit in the dark waiting for it to get light but I didn’t want to lose to many minutes of day light. In the end, I didn’t maximize every minute of light, but I did get moving early.
Right out of the gates (in this case a decrepit log cabin) the trail climbed 1000’ to a ridge top and then stayed high for about 7 miles. Up here I passed a sign saying this was the highest point along the Colorado Trail (the CDT and CT are one and the same at this point) before it dropped into Rito Hondo Creek. Dropping into this basin the trail came down a rock ridge, switchbacking steeply. The people who surveyed for the trail did a great job of locating it where the winter snows melt first as there was snow on both sides, just off the ends
of the switchbacks, but none on the trail itself.
There is a problem with this trail staying high so long with no cover besides tenting in a wind. A delicate subject, but where does one poop if you cannot find shelter from the eyes of hikers passing by? The last two morning this problem presented itself to me. With a careful eye for topography you can sight along lines of observation and find little declivities in the landscape that allow you to squat down and be unseen while doing your business, but it is a matter of timing and deception. Yesterday my sight lines were off a bit. I saw Lush’s head bobbing down the trail while performing my act. Only for 4 or 5 seconds. Luckily, she was concentrating on her footing on the trail and didn’t glance in my direction. Today, I rounded a rise in the topography and shielded myself from the trail well, accept . . . until I was fully involved did I notice that that section of steep rocky trail that is snow free I mentioned earlier was now hovering above me. Anyone coming down it would have had their scenery spoiled. I don’t think anyone was on it.
Once down in Rito Hondo Creek I met “Old Bag”, a 39 year old woman who got her name because she travels with other hikers in their 20’s. She was a very pretty woman and did not resemble her name in the least. We chatted a few moments while eating and drinking water, then I left.
Something is radically different about the trail now. It is maintained! The CDT and the CT are the same, as mentioned earlier. The CT gets much more traffic and therefore more attention from the Forest Service. There are new log bridges across the marshy creek, water bars on the trail, the blowdowns are cut and other improvements.
Old Bag soon passed me for I am moving very slowly these days, feeling fatigued and tired. A zero or two will do me good. The trail now crossed a mesa and the tread was atrocious in spite of CT status. The ground was littered with loaf of bread sized rocks that you had to step on or between with every step. This lasted about two miles. I was passed by about 4 or 5 hikers eager to get to town, but as I watched them walk ahead of me I could see their contorted steps as they placed each foot on or between these annoying rocks.
When I reached the highway that is Spring Creek Pass I saw four kids trying to hitchhike, two were going southeast to the town of Creed and two northwest to Lake City, my destination. I joined Short Sticks and Gib headed to Lake City on the far side of the road. They said they had been there over an hour without any luck. This gives you an idea of how slow I am traveling because both had passed my within 6 miles of the pass.
The three of us earnestly stuck out our thumbs at each passing car for the next half hour with no success. A car only came maybe once every 3 to 5 minutes. Not much traffic on this road. Finally, I suggested that three hitchhikers at once was too intimidating for drivers to stop. I would go to the other side of the highway to a parking lot and let them try to get a ride. If someone stopped ask if they had room for a third. As I crossed the highway a car coming up from Lake City pulled in next to me and offered a ride down to town! I called Short Sticks and Gib over and the three of us piled in. This wonderful couple had driven past us a few minutes earlier, discussed us, then turned around to come back and get us.
The 23 mile ride was delightful, discussing hiking and Texas and menus and such. Once in town they dropped us at the Post Office where we each had packages. Then we walked to the Presbyterian Church where the minister, a man in his late thirties named Jason has turned the annex into a CDT/CT hiker refuge. Tables and chairs, tea and coffee, snacks, a bathroom and kitchen to help us get oriented to the town. He acted like a concierge, calling around town to see who had rooms and at what prices. A prince of a a guy. I settled for River View RV and Camping at $20 a night plus $4 for a load of laundry. I walked through town (Castle Rock sized) and registered to camp. It was now 5:30pm and the laundry was closed, so I set up my tent and then walked to Packers Grill, a wonderful saloon and restaurant for a dinner of hamburger, fries and a side salad.
Back in my tent, I unfurled my new Z-pad Andy had sent me and slept on it instead of my leaky-needs to be reinflated every two hours- inflatable-mattress and slept like a baby. Ahh . . . trail towns.
On top of the world. Bet when spring finally arrives up here it will be beautiful cloaked in green rather than brown
Heading down to Spring Creek Pass and the highway to Lake City
Hitchhiking to Lake City from Spring Creek Pass
Short Sticks thumbing for a ride.
The Post Office in Lake City
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