Day 57 - Monday, June 20, 2022 - 22.8 miles - 61,062 steps - MP 1151.2 (Elbert Creek) to MP 1174 (North Fork West Tennessee Creek) - Vert Up - 4950’ - Vert Dwn - 4708’ - Total Miles to Date - 910.9

Imagine Anne of Green Gables house. Standing in front of the house the ridge line at the peak of the roof runs left to right. Then there are the gables poking out at regular intervals directly toward you, for today’s hike let’s imagine three of them. The ridge line represents the Continental Divide. It would be easy to walk the divide if the ridge line of the Rockies was as straight and level as Anne’s house. But it is not. The ridge line is jagged rock climbing to highs and plummeting to lows, unsuitable to try to construct a trail on. So, instead the trail is moved down from the ridge line to either the west side or the east side depending on which terrain is most suitable for a trail. But then there are those darn gables. The trail climbs up the side of one gable, down the other side, up over the next and then down its other side and so on. How many ups and downs? Depends on how many gables (ridges) protrude from the roof (main Rocky ridge line) and how far you hike during a day. Those gables (ridges) are the left overs after glaciers and rivers ravage the areas between them. Some valleys are steep and deep, some gentle and shallow. But to hike the CDT in Colorado you climb out of and drop into each one. And at times you climb over the divide itself and clamber up and down the gables on the other side. Such is the CDT in Colorado. And that is why the vert up and down is always in the 4 to 6 thousand foot range. Today, we climbed and descended three gables, er, I mean ridges and traversed the valleys between them. 

I left camp before Monk and walked by the tents of the family. Not a peep. All asleep?

We passed through two wilderness areas today, the Mount Massive and the Holy Cross. Today was a blur of stream crossings and traversing on the Atlantic side of the divide. Except for three high ridges that afforded territorial views, we were in trees most of the day. On one of those ridges we met Raider, a 55 yr old ex-marine survival school instructor and his tramily of Pitch, Rooster and ET. Monk and I had been enjoying the view, which included Leadville, and talking for 15 minutes when they arrived. We chatted a few minutes with them, gave them a minute or two head start and then headed down ourselves. 

Both of us wanted to up our mileage game a bit, so we set our sights on the West Fork of North Tennessee Creek, 22.8 miles for the day. We searched for good camping in this wide river bottom and found a spacious area that would have accommodated 20 tents. The mosquitoes were thick, but Monk braved the onslaught to sit outside my tent and show me photos of his work outfitting the inside of his sister-in-laws pizza restaurant and bar in Atlanta. His work is incredible. The interior is warm, inviting and very eye catching. The centerpiece is a 26’ bar he constructed. 

Because we were in the bottom of a valley and cold settles, it got cold quick and stayed cold all night. A little ice in my water bottle in the morning. But a good night’s sleep and a great day. 

Every river valley is terraced into standing lakes by the beavers. The dams are old enough to have full size trees growing out of them. This beautiful dam and beaver lodge caught our eye. 

Sometimes you have to turn around, no matter how many miles you are trying to make. This mountain scene would have gone unnoticed had not Monk glanced back over his shoulder. 

The Rocky Mountain on the far left background is Mt. Elbert, over 14,000’ tall. We hiked under its flank this morning where the family was camped. Lots of gables between us and there. 

Monk waits for me to catch up. Nice place with a beautiful view. 

FarOut shows me on top of one the gables. 

Our campsite. Monk’s tent still pitched as I leave early. One difference between here and 40 miles back, all the standing trees here are alive. Back there they were all dead and dangerous to sleep under.