Near copper mtn to Leadville

20 by 2. That's one of those magical hiker numbers that means your going to do a big mile day. My goal was to get 20 by 1. This would put me in Leadville before the storms arrived. I saw them on the radar while I had signal yesterday and they looked nasty. I got up and was hiking by 530.
I made good time crossing the first two passes between me and Leadville. I did get delayed by the beauty of my surroundings and a herd of sheep. But I persevered and didn't have a sheep dog follow me for half a mile barking at my heels this time. I made the halfway point of 10 by 10 but then looking at the sky realized that there were no clouds up there to threaten me. I slowed down then. I even contemplated skipping Leadville all together. That thought didn't last since I had been told by some people way back in silver city that the best pizza on trail was found in Leadville. It was good but I've had better, not on this trail though. I also needed to resupply for the stretch to monarch crest and had been told the resupply in twin lakes wasn't good, turns out it was a perfect resupply but that's getting ahead of the story.
I made it to the pass to Leadville but not until 230. I got distracted by some cool ruins and history stuff. I had pizza in town and stayed at the local hostel, which was amazing btw. Did my resupply and waited for the big storms to show, they never did. It seems that Breckenridge where I was looking at the weather did get hit but the storms stayed north of us.

Grand lake to big rock campground

I really need to get better at getting out of town. I didn't make it out until noon again. The hike was a breeze. I just hiked around lakes all day. There was a section which Ley warned that the blowdowns in a 3 mile section were terrible. A thing of nightmares if you will. Luckily for me they had finally cleared the blowdowns out. It would have been bad if they hadn't but no worse than some sections in Montana. It did still take me a while to hike that section but that was because there were raspberries everywhere.
I made it out of the wilderness and rmnp areas finally, both require permits for camping and got to some public campgrounds. There was supposed to be a little old lady that sells snacks, ice cream and makes baked goods but she's getting on in years and stopped doing that this year. I hadn't heard this and when I asked a local about it he gave me the whole story. He also said if I head to the final campground and talk to the hosts there they'll take me over to a ranch that is trying to take over that little business. I went there and talked to the host, Carl, and he informed me that the ranch was out of ice cream! That was the whole point I had hiked out some really good chocolate chip and macadamia but cookies to eat ice cream with. Carl went in his rv and came out with his wife and ice cream. We ate the whole bag of cookies and pint of ice cream, by we I mean I ate most and they had a cookie and a few scoops. Hurray for trail magic!

Never summer wilderness to grand lake

Never summer wilderness is aptly named. That rain I got last night turned into ice. The mountains I had hiked over yesterday were covered in a light dusting of snow. All afternoon hiking yesterday was very chilly. Like late fall temperatures. Ah well that's behind me. Today I go into Rocky Mountain National Park(rmnp).
The trail only does a little 22 mile loop up a mountain before dropping down into the town of grand lake. The thing is there are camping restrictions since its a national park. You need backcountry permits and bear canisters to camp in the park. There is a shortcut that skips the loop and takes you into town after only 4 miles. A lot of people do that. Or they take the shortcut to town and slackpack the loop+shortcut. I wanted to hike the loop but it was going to be a big, 30 mile, day. I had 7 miles of hiking from my campsite to the start of the loop then the entire loop. I was basically slackpacking anyway since I was down to just a lunch and a few snack bars.
I'm very glad I did it. The hiking was cake. The trail was in perfect condition with a gentle climb up the mountain. The way up was along a creek valley with water everywhere including a cute little waterfall. Once I got up there the wind made it chilly but the views were fantastic. The west faces of the mountains still had a bit of snow on them giving a nice contrast to the blue, green and gray of the sky, grass and rocks. The hike back down was a bit steeper but it was switchbacked and again followed a creek with some great swimming holes and cute cascading waterfalls. Definitely worth the time and effort. If I had skipped it I'd have just been lounging around town all day.
The hostel I stayed at was incredible. It was built on a cliff overlooking grand lake and was built to highlight that view. The bunk room wasn't great butI didn't spend much time up there when I could spend it in the lounge.

Saddle to never summer wilderness border

What a day. Two big climbs with lots of tough terrain between. But it is the CDT so the pain was rewarded with incredible scenery. I started the day with a steep 2500 ft climb up Parkview mountain. That took a while but wasn't too bad since it was a pick your path, ie there was no trail only cairns, so I was able to set a pace I could sustain. There was an old fire lookout tower that I wanted to camp in last night but the thunderstorms kept me away. It's probably for the best cause it was cold up there, mostly due to the wind. The views were great but the sky was kinda hazy so it wasn't the best views.

The way down the mountain sucked. Sucked big time. For this stretch I only had my phone for navigation since my maps didn't make it to steamboat on time.  That meant I only had one route to follow. The bad route. It took me straight down the mountain in a talos/skree field. It wasn't the nice kinda skree that you can ski down or the nice big talos that is stable. Nope it was a mix of the two so very slippery. Slippery + steep = scary. I did make it down without incident but would have much preferred to take the new route that walked down a gentle grassy ridge then switchbacks into a forest on new tred. Ah well.

The next big hill was relativity easy. Just a bunch of up in a grassy valley with more grassy valley on the other side. I kept hiking until dark then setup my tent about 2 miles from the Rocky Mountain national park boundary. I got it up just in time again as it started raining on me right as dinner finished cooking.

Mile 1578 to Saddle between haystack and Parkview mtns

Yesterday's grind payed off today with some fantastic views. Unfortunately today also brought back the afternoon thunderstorms. The morning hike was great. I got to the roadside spring Beads had mentioned and it was beautiful, at least compared to all that cow water yesterday. There wasn't going to be any more water issues for a while. Most of the hike I was up on a grassy ridge with clear views in all directions.
It was crystal clear blue skies in the morning but as I was heading for a 5 mile exposed stretch the storm clouds gathered. I debated dropping off the ridge into the valley below where I could follow a road past the ridge or even all the way around the big mountain is have to climb after it. I eventually decided to stick with the trail as the clouds hadn't created any lightning and only a little rain. It totally worked and I had more great views from the ridge. I ended up camping a few miles after the ridge right before a big climb up a mountain as the storm clouds were back. I made the right choice as right after I got my tent set up it started to thunder and rain.
Shortly before that I ran into a new creature I'd never seen before. I'm calling it a tree mongoose. It looked exactly like a mongoose but was running around in the pine trees doing stunts like a squirrel.

Steamboat to mile 1578

The hitch took forever but I finally got out of town. I was a bit worried since my guide said there was no water available for 30 miles but beads assured me that wasn't the case. It was only 20 miles to a spring with all of that being road walk, half asphalt half dirt. There was also a lot of nasty cow water available if I grew desperate enough. I'm hoping I never have to drink that crap again while on this trail. The hike went well I hardly felt my foot at all so that was nice. I got about 15 miles from the pass before calling it a day. Not a great day but necessary to get to the good stuff.

Zero in steamboat

Took a day off because my foot was sore in swollen. Expensive stay! There was a big bike race in town and all the hotels were booked. I finally got a room at the la quinta which was nice but not a $180 a night room. Ah well the foot feels better so it was worth it... I think.

Trail creek to Saddle near mile 1537

Another day I don't recall much of. I know I went through the mount Zirkle wilderness and there were lots of sheep.  That's the main reason I'm keeping this daily blog. It's only been about two weeks after I did this hike and I can only clearly remember a bit in the afternoon where there were some thunderstorms and the sheep. I have the pictures and they are gorgeous but I don't recall the morning at all.
The afternoon though that I remember. I was hiking along the west side of the divide when out of nowhere I start getting hailed on. I am trying to figure out why since it was sunny. There was this Congo line of dark clouds about a quarter mile wide that went off all the way to the western horizon that had to be the source. Honestly I found it strange how there was just this one congo line of clouds and blue skies everywhere else. The next 9 miles was going to be up on a ridge but it looked like I could just hike past the clouds and be fine. There was no more precipitation until I camped but boy did those clouds get angry once they crossed the divide. They got out of their Congo formation and turned into massive thunder clouds on the eastern side of the divide. It was really cool. Here I was walking along in blue skies and sunshine and just a mile or two away was this intense thunderstorm raging. I kept hiking until I hit a saddle where another cloud Congo line was on the southern side of the saddle. I setup my tent there in a tiny patch of trees since I could hear thunder coming from them and I would still be exposed under them. It was a fantastic camp spot. I had a great view of the lightning flashing in the valley to my east.

5 miles from battle pass to trail creek

Big day today. I finally made it back to Colorado. I was very happy to make it back here. Only about 700 miles left. Unfortunately that is about all I remember for the day. Other than being disappointed in the state of the trail. The trail in that section is multi use. That means dirt bikes and atvs use it. If they would take care of the trail the way the horse packers do I'd have less complaints. But they seem to like it when the trail gets so eroded that there are big boulders everywhere and mud puddles in the road. Still there is trail so I shouldn't complain too much.

Saratoga to 5 miles from battle pass

A nice easy relaxing day. My sister was coming to pick up the bike in late afternoon in encampment. I still had 20 miles to get there but it was all on asphalt so wouldn't be more than 2 hours. I spent most of the morning soaking my sore body in the hot springs. Hiking muscles transfer ok to biking but there was still a lot of pain. I am looking forward to hiking again.

I made it to encampment without an issue and met my sister. After exchanging my bike for the gear I had given her we drove up to battle pass. She had brought her dog along and they hiked the first 2 miles with me. It was great seeing her again even if it was such a short time. I hiked a few more miles but didn't get to far before it started getting dark.

Rawlins to Saratoga

What a day. It started out great. Perfect weather, a nice relaxing morning lazing around my hotel room followed by an all you can eat thai. To be perfectly honest the thai was disappointing. It was basically a Chinese buffet with a curry dish added to the mix.

While I was getting ready I looked up a route to the town of Saratoga. Beads had told me that it had a free public hot springs and was just down the road from encampment, where I was going to turn in the bike and hike again. There were two routes according to Google maps, both about 40 miles from rawlins. The default route took me along I80 frontage road then down to Saratoga. The other route followed the cdt bike path for 15 miles then cut across another road straight to Saratoga. I'm like great I'll take the second path.

What Google failed to say was that the second road was private. I talked to the rancher and he said it was private the whole way. So I've got a decision to make ride the 15 miles back to rawlins then take the other route or try to find my way. The rancher had said I could keep going to Jacks creek road then take that over to Saratoga. I'm like great Google has a route that mentions Jacks creek road I'll follow that route. Guess what, after 10 more miles I find out that route is also private. So I keep biking I can see Jacks creek road on the map so I decide to just bike there. That was a no go either, what the rancher didn't mention is that there was road construction going on and the two roads didn't connect due to that. So out comes the maps again I can see a forest service road, hydrology road was the name I think, that connects me to Jacks creek. It's a two track but is public so I took it.

It was a fantastic ride. I got on it at the top of a mountain so it was a 10 mile cruise down the mountain's ridge. There was even a creek that I desperately needed to refill my water since I was only carrying enough for a 40 mile ride not 70+. There was one point where Google said I had to go left when the road obviously went right, but I decided to trust Google. I should have known better. The road to the left obviously hadn't been used and was quickly over ridden by sagebrush and deep sand. I ended up walking the bike for 2 miles before it reconnected back to the right road. I finally made it to Jacks creek road but it was now 715, the sun was setting at 820 and I had 17 miles to go. I crushed those 17 miles. Granted to was all downhill, very gentle down but down. I made it into town by 830.

Vazquez tunnel to Silverthorne

What a great day. Getting a good nights rest really makes a difference. Of course the scenery helps but I think this king sized bed with a personal hot tub in my room is what is really doing it for me.

So the usual, I got up started hiking had an amazing sunrise and a gorgeous hike along this valley. I get to Jones pass which is my final junction to do grays or Silverthorne. I got no cell reception so my thought of calling Bigfoot, remember him from new Mexico, who is off trail and in Denver to bring me supplies is out of the question so on to Silverthorne.

The next valley is even more beautiful than the last. The last one had some major industrial complexes in the valley marring it's beauty. This one only has a forest service road or two to dilute the natural wonder. I think man the day just can't get better. I climb the pass to the next valley and there is nothing reassembling humans there. No buildings, roads, and hardly even a trail to interfere with the incredible scenery in the valley. The day just keeps getting better and better.

So I climb the next pass and at the top I have 4G signal. I don't know if I've had 4G anywhere on this trip yet and here I am on a pass with no signs of civilization and I have better phone signal than I have at home, interstate 70 and Silverthorne were just 5 miles away down the hill I just couldn't see them. So I check out Facebook and see a post by another hiker that Silverthorne has a Chipotle in it. Now me and a few other hikers had discussed and lamented the fact that there was no Chipotle on trail since hiker hunger would let us decimate a burrito with no problem. Low and behold just 7 miles down hill is a Chipotle. I ran down half that hill, I was hoping to catch the other hikers since I hadn't seen them since Lincoln.

Well I get to Silverthorne and I'm tired and go looking for a hotel room. As I walk past the Quality Inn I decide to see if I can get a free nights stay seeing as I've stayed in a bunch of choice brand hotels on this trip. I call up the choice hotels and see how many points I have, 3850. A night's stay at the quality Inn is 16000. Well that's a no go. Then the agent says hold on let me see if you qualify for any promotions. Yep I qualified for the spring and summer promotions bringing my point total up to 16500! He offers to book my room for me and starts rattling off what the hotel has to offer. He starts with a king room lists its amenities, that I don't really pay attention to since I'm exhausted having hiked 29 miles with 4 2000+ ft climbs, then he starts on the next room. I stop him and say just give me the king that'll be fine. It turns out those amenities that I ignored included a hot tub in the room. Today was a good day.

Updates in a few days

Have had to rely on the phone for navigation since south pass city so I've had to conserve battery which is why so few updates. I'll get caught and posted when I get to Breckenridge in a few days.

A&M reservoir to Rawlins

Not much to say about this. I was sore from yesterday's ride but not too bad considering I did 78 miles on a gravel road after not riding a bike in 2 years. The ride was nice with the first 15 miles on a gravel road then switching to an asphalt road for another 16 miles before jumping onto a highway for the rest of the route to rawlins. When I got to the asphalt I inflated my tires up to 70 psi and I'm glad I did. It seems I had been riding with my tires under inflated the whole time. I thought I had them at 40 but must have lost some air taking of the pump yesterday cause the back was at 25. No wonder I was feeling so slow. Riding on asphalt with properly inflated tires was so nice. I made it to rawlins in no time. Only to find there were almost no rooms to rent in the hotels. I had to get an expensive room just to get a place to stay. Ah well I needed a good night's rest since I hadn't stayed in town since Jackson 9 days ago. One expensive hotel room every 10 days I can afford.