Memphis and I eventually got up at 1 am and the snow was crusty enough to hold us. We made good time for the first 2 miles while we were on the open snow. Then the trail went into a forest. The snow was slushy and unsupportive in the trees. I just said fuck it and hiked on but this crushed Memphis and he was done.
After 4.5 miles there was an alternate route that dropped us down a valley to below snow line. Unfortunately the way down was a mushy postholing mess with river crossings to make it more fun. It took us until 10 am to get below snow line. I had planned on getting Memphis down the mountain and on the right trail out then heading back up, but after that mess we came down I decided to bail with him.
We got some nice yogi style trail magic on the way out. There was a couple camping and we walked over to see if they had any maps that showed the road walk up to pagosa springs, my maps got blurry and vague at an important intersection. They had a map and while we were discussing the route they invited us to breakfast of pancakes, eggs and bacon. It was great after that hard trip down. After breakfast they took us the 5 miles down to the nearest "town" to see if we could get a ride to pagosa or Chama. Unfortunately nobody in town was heading out so we started to hike the 25 mile road walk to the nearest pavement. After an hour a truck finally came down the road and have us a ride. When we got to the road we tried hitching to Chama but had no luck. I finally asked some local girls from the roadside restaurant if they'd give us a ride for 40. Since the restaurant was closed while the owners were attending a graduation they took us down.
It was now 4 pm and I was running on fumes. Memphis and I got a room in the y motel again then went to grab a dinner. On the way to the bbq joint we were going to eat at another hiker, axle, came out of the expensive restaurant and started chatting with us. We just said fuck it and went and grabbed burggers there.
It turns out axle and 2 other hikers were waiting for a trail angle from steamboat to come pick them up. The guy, Austin, had hiked last year and was helping people flip up to glacier to avoid snow. It seems Montana has a below normal snow year and was hike-able already. It didn't take long for me to see the wisdom of flipping and after dinner I grabbed my pack and joined them. 5.5 hours later I was up in steamboat, exhausted after getting 2 hours of sleep in the last 36 hours but happy to have escaped the snow.
No comments:
Post a Comment