Day 77 - Sunday, July 10, 2022 - 17.6 miles - 44,779 steps - MP 1502.1 (Gravel Rd 3 miles into Wyoming) to MP 1519.5 (Battle Pass) - Vert Up - 3689’ - Vert Dwn - 2843’ - Total Miles to Date - 1207.1

Day 77 - Sunday, July 10, 2022 - 17.6 miles - 44,779 steps - MP 1502.1 (Gravel Rd 3 miles into Wyoming) to MP 1519.5 (Battle Pass) - Vert Up - 3689’ - Vert Dwn - 2843’ - Total Miles to Date - 1207.1

Last night was a little scary.  We were camped in the forest because we couldn't find anyplace else good to camp, nothing level, or cleared or dry.  But, we were camped in the middle of a totally dead, standing forest. Many of the dead trees were leaning. And these are full sized 100' trees looming above us. Dallas, in particular, had a tree with a yellow ribbon on it, as if marked for cutting, leaning about 20 degrees just off to the side of her.  About an hour after I set up my tent a dead branch fell on my tent, startling me. Thank goodness it wasn't very big, but there were many more hanging up above me with the potential of falling, but it was a totally calm night and we made it through.

In the morning my foot was very stiff. The fact that we started on a hardpacked gravel road didn't do it any favors. It took over 3 miles for it to loosen up enough that I could get back to a normal gate. By this time Dallas had to be a mile in front of me.

The trail followed the ridge nearly exactly. This meant it went up and down every bump on the ridge. The ups were straight up the fall line, the downs the same. These were very steep chunks of trail. This made the going very slow for me as the steep stuff just wears me down. Old Bag, Short Sticks, and a few others passed me. The other factor that slowed me down besides my foot were my shoulders.  I would expect my left shoulder, the one I got the COVID booster in, to hurt, but not my right one. In fact, from left deltoid to right deltoid across my spine and shoulders my body just ached. At night, the pain in the tent was all enveloping, as if crawling into the tent was crawling into a cocoon of pain. I popped Ibuprofen as often as common sense and kidneys would allow and it would keep it somewhat at bay, but I have begun to really dread the nights.

I sat down along the trail for lunch and Gib stopped by and joined me. As we ate and talked Short Sticks passed by. Gib took off ahead of me after eating. I didn't see anybody else for the rest of day.

Did I mention this is a town day? Yes! We are headed for the small town of Encampment, WY, about the size of Vader. The last 5 or 6 miles of trail passed through open meadows 60 acres or bigger in size, separated by tracts of forests. These meadows were beautiful, but incredibly soggy. Many times I was sloshing through mud right up to the top of my shoes and leaping flows of water in the low points of the fields.

When I finally emerged at Battle Pass where Hwy 70 crosses the divide my feet were wet, my body hurt and there was no one there, everyone before me had caught a ride to Encampment.  I walked through the parking lot down to the highway and set up to hitchhike.  After 5 minutes and not a car a vehicle approached from the opposite direction.  In the back seat I saw Feel Good and Caddie Shack and Lemon Hope. They pulled into the parking area.  Lemon Hope's mom was up from Utah and had brought them back to the pass so they could start northward this afternoon.  She was not heading back down for an hour or so. I stood on the highway hoping for a ride. I stood there for 45 minutes. Not a single car came by.  Finally, she was ready to return to Encampment and gave me a ride down. Dallas texted me that she had gotten the last cabin for rent in Riverside, the town right next to Encampment (only a mile apart). They dropped me off there.

Imagine the shack that the Joads lived in upon arriving in California from the midwest in the Grapes of Wrath. Built in the 40's, furnished with furniture and art of the same vintage. Linoleum floors. Only one power outlet in the place, a light above the sink with a three way plugged into it and extension cords running to the fridge, to a fan in the living room and to a fan in the beddroom. Basic, but out of the wind and rain.  Dallas took the bedroom with its "Deep Valley" bed. I slept on the hide-a-bed. We had dinner at the Bear Trap Cafe.  It was good. Bought a few supplies at the grocery/hardware/autoparts/outdoor store (think Olsen Brothers only 10 steps down), iced and rolled my foot and then spent another near sleepless night fighting pain in my shoulders and neck. 

The post office opens tomorrow morning at 8:30am. There must be 20 of us needing to get our resupply packages from there and then needing to hitch back to the pass. Dallas and I decided to get to the Post Office at 7:30am and wait there for it to open rather than wait in our shack.  This way we are first in line.

Looking from the highway up to the parking area at Battle Pass. Lemon Hope’s mom’s car is  the only one in the lot. 

Caddie Shack, Lemon Hope, mom, Feel Good, ?? And me at Battle Pass

Our cabin, the “Prospector”. Not much, but it had a shower a bed and a hide-a-bed and a place to charge devices. That’s enough. 

Dallas writing her Facebook post inside the cabin. 

Day 76 - Saturday, July 9, 2022 - 20.3 miles - 57,096 steps - MP 1482.1 (1.5 miles up North Fork Elk Creek) to MP (Gravel Rd 3 miles into Wyoming) - Vert Up - 3740’ - Vert Dwn - 2677’ - Total Miles to Date - 1189.5

Today is the day we leave Colorado and enter Wyoming. I have been in Colorado since May 26. A long time to traverse its mountain ranges. It has been challenging and beautiful, but time to move north into the next state.

We started up the trail. Poor Dallas. She takes off like a shot while I limp along for the first couple of miles waiting for my foot to warm up. Then she has to wait for me to confer about a route decision. She has taken to waiting to eat breakfast until her first stop while she waits. This morning we decided to take a road rather than the redline (trail) due to comments we read in FarOut about the poor trail conditions.

As it turned out, most of the trail today is old road winding through the woods. A few vehicles passed as the day wore on, but mostly it was walking double track dirt road all the way to the border, except the last couple of miles which turned to trail.

Dallas waited patiently at the border for me, probably in excess of half an hour. She was there to video me crossing out of Colorado and into Wyoming. The border is well marked. Dred Pirate, Ranger and Arrow were at the border and I got a chance to talk with them for a while. Dallas scooted ahead to our destination for the night, a road crossing 3 miles further up the trail.

Lemmings. Where one goes we all go. Very near the road the trail makes a left hand turn on the edge of a wet marshy meadow. Someone missed that turn and walked across the meadow, leaving a very distinct trail of mashed grasses and weeds. Every successive hiker followed that beaten route, making it more visible and distinct. By the time I arrived it looked like the route to take so off I went. When ankle deep in water 200' into the meadow the trail petered out. I looked at FarOut to see I was off trail to the right. Now, I slogged through the wetland until I regained the trail. At the point I regained the trail stood Dallas, her tent up, cheering me into camp. I cleared sticks and pine cones to create a place to pitch my tent and did so. Then, I looked around and saw we were surrounded by dead trees.  A night of russian roulette with the trees.  Too tired to care (a bad sign). Another productive day of travel. Tomorrow with leave Colorado and enter Wyoming. Dreams of easier terrain filled my thoughts as I relaxed on my mattress. We shall see.

Trail or road. Sometimes it is hard to tell, but the scenery is always gorgeous. 

The border crossing between Colorado and Wyoming. 

Looking back at Colorado from Wyoming. 

Day 75 - Friday, July 8, 2022 - 24.3 miles - 54,181 steps - MP 1458.0 (Beautiful Campsite above the cliffs) to MP 1482.1 (1.5 miles up North Fork Elk Creek)- Vert Up - 3252’ - Vert Dwn - 5627’ - Total Miles to Date - 1169.2

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. 

Sunrise from my tent poised atop the east facing cliffs

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. 

Day 74 - Thursday, July 7, 2022 - 20.1 miles - 49,004 steps - MP 1437.8 (Where trail leaves highway 40) to MP 1458.0 (Beautiful Campsite above the cliffs) - Vert Up - 3146’ - Vert Dwn - 1403’ - Total Miles to Date - 1144.9

Jon offered a bagel, cream cheese, a banana and a cup of tea for breakfast. I heartily accepted. Then we loaded into his Subaru and headed for Rabbit Ears Pass. We picked up D’Anne at the Quality Inn, and Quiet hitching on the highway. We dropped Quiet first, he had already hiked some of the trail, then he dropped Dallas and I at the location where the CDT leaves the highway and ducks into the woods and meadows. 

Luckily for me, the trail was not too difficult today. I was still reacting to the COVID vaccine I got Tuesday afternoon and was really sick. The first few miles of the trail were the old Rabbit Ears Pass highway, still paved. That was wonderful because I could close my eyes and walk without fear of tripping. It felt like too much energy output to look and walk at the same time. My left arm was killing me and I was drained of all energy. I was hiking with D’Anne again. We had not hiked together since Grants, New Mexico, back about May 8th. 

We had set a goal of 19.5 miles for the day, a lake. About 4 miles before it Hammer and Kyle caught up with me. We stopped at the Buffalo Pass Access Point mostly because there was an outhouse. After using the facilities we were back on the trail to the lake. We had noticed comments about “epic camping” on top of the cliffs a half mile beyond the lake. I was really hurting and we tried to find camping at the lake that would work, but it just seemed buggy and damp. I sucked it up and hiked up the next half mile. D’Anne found great spots to set up with an expansive view on the territory spreading out to the east with the promise of an awesome sunrise. 

I lay in my tent for half an hour before I felt I had the strength to cook dinner (light the stove and boil 2 cups of water). Exhausted as I was, I wondered how I would find the strength to hike again tomorrow. My arms, neck and back were killing me along with overall body fatigue. A good night’s sleep can fix this?  We’ll see. 

The trail out of Rabbit Ears Pass was spectacularly beautiful. The flowers are now blooming, the vegetation lush. It has been raining a lot with afternoon thunderstorms so everything is wet and growing. 

Kyle and Hammer hanging out at the outhouse at Buffalo Pass Access Point. Sit down toilets are always appreciated!

Day 73 - Wednesday, July 6, 2022 - 0 miles - 4294 steps - Zero in Steamboat Springs - Vert Up - 0’ - Vert Dwn - 0’ - Total Miles to Date - 1124.8

Jon offered me the use of a bike to get around town today. What a great idea. Saved me walking on my sore foot for a day. Before I went to town I sorted my food. I dumped out my granola. I really like it for breakfast, quick and tasty and full of calories but it gives me monumental gas. I need an alternative. I have pop tarts and I’ll try Special K as a substitute. Not as calorie dense, but we’ll see. 

On the bike I rode to the BAP store, the Big Agnes outlet. It is in a bright red house one block off the main business district. Got some light weight tent stakes to replace the ones I’ve lost in the winds (when the wind whips the tent and the stake pulls out the cord flings the stake off into the bushes. I can never find them), some bug repellent, a new spoon and fuel canister. I checked at the drug store about switching to topical Ibuprofen instead of oral but decided against it, mailed some unnecessary stuff to Andy from the post office and then met D’Anne for lunch at the Mai Thai restaurant. We had a nice lunch. The food was excellent. By now I was fading due to the COVID booster so I struggled home and went to bed. It was about 3:00pm. Jon and his wife went out to dinner, so I had the place to myself. I had some Special K for dinner, checked my pack to be sure it was ready to go and went back to bed, achy and exhausted from the effects of the shot. 

2:00am until 6:00am we’re a sea of pain. My left arm and shoulder were inconsolable. Neither heat nor ice would calm the pain although hot showers distracted me enough that I didn’t notice it while the water was bearing on me. DONT GET A COVID BOOSTER WHILE ON A THROUGH HIKE. 

Day 72 - Tuesday, July 5, 2022 - 19.5 miles - 33,369 steps - MP 1418.3 (Random flat spot off side of road) to MP 1437.8 (Where trail leaves highway 40) - Vert Up - 1131’ - Vert Dwn - 1891’ - Total Miles to Date - 1124.8

This installment is late coming out. I’ll described the day’s events below, but first let explain my tardiness. No elephants. No dogs chewing up my iPhone. Nothing that elegant. Mine is sheer bad judgement. You see, I decided that since I had a zero day tomorrow and a nero today, I should get caught up with my COVID boosters. I was one behind. I reasoned I didn’t want to get sick on the trail. The host at the AirB&B, Jon, that Sally booked for me hiked the first 300 or 400  miles of the CDT this spring (how’s that for trail magic!) and was eager to help me in anyway he could. When I mentioned a COVID booster, he called the drug store about 6 blocks away and found I could walk right in. So, about 3:00pm on Tuesday I got my “jab”. I figured I’d be sick Wednesday and raring to go back on trail Thursday. What could possibly go wrong?

Wednesday came and I had completely forgotten I had gotten the booster. I borrowed a bike and rode to town doing errands. About an hour later I started feeling woosey. I was meeting D’Anne for lunch. Uh oh. Not gonna be good company. I had purchased some Tylenol on my errands and they helped me get through lunch. Riding home I felt awful. I went to my room and went to bed after assuring my pack was ready to go (about 3:00pm). That night was horrible. I woke at 2:00am with my arm absolutely killing me. I didn’t want to wake the hosts so I took hot showers to dull the pain and moved my arm all over as instructed by the CDC via the Internet. I finally snuck downstairs and grabbed an ice bag out of the freezer. I never did fall asleep again. Should I stay another day at the B&B or suck it up and get on the trail? This is not one of those you decide adventure books. I decide. Suck it up. 

Jon had offered to drive me up to Rabbit Ears pass above Steamboat Springs to the trailhead. We picked up D’Anne at here hotel and a CDT hiker hitching along the road, Quiet. All the way up I was questioning my decision. When Jon drove off and I put on my pack I knew it was wrong. I felt awful! But, soldier on. We did 21 miles that day. But more on that later. 

Back to Tuesday. I had 21 miles to walk to get to Rabbit Ears pass where I would start to hitchhike to Steamboat Springs. It was all road. The first 10 was on dirt or gravel, the last 11 on highway. It started out slightly downhill and stayed that way for about 6 miles. My foot was tolerable so I was able to average better than 3 miles an hour. It was awesome to see the miles click by at more than one every 20 minutes. When the road leveled out I was still able to maintain 3 miles an hour. I had gotten up at 4:00am and was moving a little before 5:00am so I was on the paved highway about 8:30am. I was determined to walk the pavement and not hitchhike. 

Highway 14 does not have much traffic. On this day, maybe one car every 5 minutes was going my way. It is a beautifully maintained 2 lane highway although the shoulders are quite narrow. I had walked about 2 1/2 miles of the 11 when I had a “Dumb and Dumber” moment. 

I was walking on the side of the highway facing traffic when a Subaru, on the other side of the yellow line, going my way, slowed and stopped.  The woman driver rolled down her window, “Would you like a ride?”  The man in the passenger seat leaned my way and said, “We are going all the way to Steamboat Springs.”  “Continuous steps” popped into my head. “Oh, if this were 8 miles further up the road I’d love to, but I better keep walking.”  

“You’re sure now?” asks the lady. 

“Yeah. I better keep walking.”

And off they drove. It wasn’t a bus full of beautiful, biking clad women looking for someone to rub sun creme on them, but after five  minutes of padding down blacktop with an inflamed Plantars Fasciae and bruised metatarsals I felt pretty stupid. I hoped they would come back. They didn’t. 

I walked another hour (3 miles). The weather was beginning to sour, my feet hurt, and I thought of all the things I could be doing in Steamboat instead of walking this highway. I switched to the other side of the road, kept walking and thumbed each car that came by. A red Ford pickup’s brake lights came on as he passed. Yahoo!  They drove me the remaining 3 miles to the junction of highway 14 (the one I was on) and highway 40 that leads to Steamboat Springs. So much for continuous steps. I walked a mile up 40, my thumb out for each passing car.  It started to rain. I put my pack cover on and unfurled my umbrella just as a retired couple in a Subaru stopped and gave me a ride. 

They had lived in SS during the 80’s and knew it well they said they didn’t really have an agenda and could take me to the post office and then to my B&B. I should have gotten their number and met them for lunch. I really enjoyed their company, and their kindness. 

Jon met me at his front door. In sheepishly said I was early. He said no problem and invited me in. It was about 11:00am. We retired to his back patio for tea and conversation. I booked an appointment for that afternoon(!) with a orthopedic specialist for my foot, hoping for a cortisone injection for the plantars and an x-ray for the metatarsals but had to cancel when I checked with Kaiser and found they wouldn’t cover it. I settled for UC Urgent Care. I took a shower and Jon drove me there. Great people. Great care. No fractured bones. No cortisone shot. I’d have to go to Kaiser in Denver for a shot and they probably wouldn’t do so on a first visit. 

I called Jon. He picked me up. Then the COVID decision. Ugg. 

I spent the rest of the day resting upstairs in my room or talking to Jon. I had dinner with Jon and his wife when she got home from work at the Ace hardware store in town. Jon is 70. His wife is 61. 

So,  good news day!  No broken bones in my sore foot, just pissed off tendons. Caught up on COVID boosters! What could possibly go wrong . . . .

Day 71 - Monday, July 4, 2022 - 19.9 miles - 50,672 steps - MP 1398.3 (Quick camp to avoid thunderstorm) to MP 1418.3 (Random flat spot off side of road)" - Vert Up - 3931’ - Vert Dwn - 4259’ - Total Miles to Date - 1105.3.

I was doubtful of making camp last night with only one liter of water, but it worked out fine. I had chugged an entire liter at the last water supply, so I suppose I really had two liters, one in my Smart Water bottle and one in my belly. I ate a package of Pop Tarts for breakfast while packing. A nutrition filled meal. Not!  But, 400 calories. They are a pretty calorie dense food. Like eating a slab of lard for breakfast. 

In all my years of hiking and climbing it never occurred to me to dedicate a pocket on the outside of the pack for a tent. My new pack (well, really, 6 weeks of continuous use old now) has a long pocket on one side for your shelter. Smart!  The first thing you want when entering camp is your tent. The last thing you pack in the morning is your tent. This is wonderful. I can completely pack my pack inside my tent, avoiding the mosquitoes, then pop out, strike the tent, stuff it in its pocket and zoom off on my way. Brilliant. 

Yesterday, I had hoped and planned to camp 2.0 miles further up the trail than I did, but a thunderstorm was flailing on that part of the trail so I stopped short and sheltered from the storm. This morning as I passed my planned spot I saw it was indeed a very nice, flat spot with lots of room for tents. It was also right on top of the ridge, not a good place to weather an electrical storm. 

My foot took its usual couple miles to settle in to its day of beatings. The trail undulated up and down as it wove in and out between bumps on the ridge. Not much elevation change and the flowers were stunning. I took photos and used the “Picture This” app to identify them, if I had service at that moment (see some below). At one of these brief pauses I saw new text messages and found Sally had rented an AirB&B for me in Steamboat Springs. What?!?  How wonderful is that? I was planning to visit an Urgent Care facility and have my foot x-rayed to make sure it is just aggravated tendons and not a stress fracture. This made it easy. 

About this time I heard someone coming up behind me. G-String?  Yep. How did I get ahead of him?  On questioning, I found out he  and Woodpecker camped on the ridge and weathered the storm directly over them last night. He was a little slow getting out of camp this morning. Woodpecker was up ahead. I let him pass, but then kept up with him for a couple of miles, my foot being pain free right at the moment. We got a chance to talk a little. Soon we caught up with Woodpecker. She was pulled to the side of the trail in the sun, drying all her gear from last night’s soaking. I left them alone so they could talk in private if need be, and started down the trail, missed a turn and had to backtrack. G-String didn’t miss it and ended in front of me. 

The trail descended for a while, then began a 1000’ climb. On the climb, I got off trail again, noticed my mistake, but saw in essence I was cutting a very long road switchback and using FarOut, guided myself back to the road/trail higher up on the climb. As it turns out, from here to where we leave the trail to go to Steamboat Springs is all road walk, about 30 miles. 

Unless you zoom way in on FarOut, and I mean way in, the thick red line that marks the route covers the underlying map symbols and you don’t notice whether you are on trail or road. This section of road walk escaped me as I didn’t expect it to be road so I never zoomed in to look for it (I sent FarOut’s support team a suggestion that they use different symbology to make it easier for us to distinguish dirt road [- - - - ] from paved road [-••-••-••] from trail [ _______ ]. They sent a response back within an hour. Amazing.)

The rest of today was dirt road, very eroded at times, but good enough some OHVs made it up. G-String and Woodpecker were way ahead of me, or so I thought. Another thunderstorm was brewing and passing directly overhead. I had my umbrella out and was walking down the road when I heard voices in the trees to the side. They had taken shelter in the trees, waiting for the lightning to pass over. I joined them for about ten minutes, enjoying my umbrella’s protective wonderfulness when hail the size of marbles started pelting us. 

With the storm passed, we headed down the road again. They soon outdistanced me. I continued until I had 20 miles in (or so I thought. 0.1 miles short), set up my tent on the side of the road in the now shining sun and rested, wrote, ate dinner and watched the final episode of Stranger Things. It was only 4:15pm when I stopped. I could have gone farther, but I was tired of fighting the pain in my left foot with each step. I’ll wait until tomorrow. I’ll have about 18 miles to hike before I start hitchhiking into Steamboat Springs. 

Road walking does have its advantages. You can hike much faster because you don’t need to be concerned about foot placement and the grade is much gentler than a trail. Still, 18 miles is a lot of road to cover. I’ll get up earlier than normal so I can get to town at a descent hour. 

You can see the trail cutting across the hill in the near distance. Beautiful scenery for the whole day. 

The yellow flowers are Spearleaf Stonecrop

How about some Roughstem Rosinweed?  I love names that describe the plant. Easier to remember. 

Some Sky Pilot. Always found high up, as the name suggests

Sanddune Wallflower

Royal Penstemon

Tomcat Clover

Silky Phacelia

The Road

The hail that pelted us