It is amazing what sleep can do! Last night I didn’t have the strength to boil water. Now I am up, packed and hiking down the trail. Amazing. I still feel absolutely terrible, but at least I am more than a horizontal zombie. The trail is running the ridge through the Mt. Zirkel Wilderness Area and it is beautiful. The ridge top views are amazing. Rock outcrops on the tops of the ridges with encircling meadows below. Beautiful.
At mile 8.7 for the day the trail starts dropping, like 5000’ of dropping, taking us back into the timber and blowdowns to the West Fork of Elk Creek. On the way down we run into a crew of older men with Forest Service Volunteer shirts on. They are clearing the smaller blowdowns off the trail with hand saws. Anything bigger than 10” they can’t cut, but they saw all the limbs off the big ones making it easier for us to negotiate climbing over them. Another mile or two down the way I run into a horse packing company coming up the trail. The lead horse and rider has three mules strung behind as does the second horse and rider. I step off the trail to the downhill side to let them pass. As I do, I trip. I plant my pole with my left hand to catch myself but my weight carries me forward and down. My sternum catches my full weight on the end of the pole with such force that my trekking pole bows and bends, taking up the force of my impact. Of course, my sternum got the full force as well. The rider asks me if I’m okay. I can’t speak for a few seconds as I catch my breath and absorb the pain of the impact. I’m okay I tell him although my chest really hurts. They pass and I continue down the trail.
The distance to Encampment, WY from Steamboat Springs is a little more than 80 miles. We are trying to do it in four days, extending the first three days by a mile or two over 20 so the last day is a little short of 20 getting us into Encampment in the early afternoon. Today we are aiming for a water source at 24.7 up the North Fork of Elk Creek. It requires about 2-3 miles of gravel road walking to get to the trail that goes up the north fork. The road crosses the Middle Fork of Elk Creek. Here I find a few families camping near the river on the meadows and fields. I am hot, thirsty and wanting to be done for the day, but I have about 2.5 miles left. I spot a cooler in the back of a Subaru station wagon. I want to yell and ask if he has a cold soda in his cooler I could have, but I don’t and keep moving.
The creek near where we are camping is perfect for soaking feet. Dallas has found a shade tree to camp next to that is right on the trail about 100 yards further up. I stop and soak my feet, 20 in, 20 out for 80 minutes then move up to set up my tent. My fatigue today is greater than yesterday. I lie motionless on the floor of my tent for 30 minutes trying to regain some strength. I cook dinner, then crawl (literally) out of my tent to go to the bathroom, then realize I am too tired to go. I climb back in and wonder how I will have any energy for tomorrows hike. We are now camping at about 8200 feet and it is warm. I have my down quilt out, but I don’t pull it over me until long after dark. Sleep, the great restorer comes quickly, although my chest is a little painful with each breath.
The trail through the meadows of Zirkel Wilderness
Beautiful early morning light on the trail, meadows and peaks
The meadow wildflowers are in bloom
Flowers!
I iced this bugger for an hour, rolled it on the ball and then applied the strap to calm the Plantars. Still talking at me.
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