100 DAYS and COUNTING

The 17th of June I rested. It was a quiet day. Other thruhikers were finally starting to catch up with us and I hung out with them. Sea Legs, RedFish, Stretch, and Nick were all in town. I hadn’t met any of them before, they had all started mid April way after I did. Widesky decided it was time for him to hit the trail and left mid afternoon. The rest of us all went out to dinner at the Mexican restaurant and then I got my stuff packed up and ready to go for Monday. I was mailing my new Melanzana fleece home so I wouldn’t ruin it on trail and a few other odds and ends.

As the 18th dawned I knew there was no hurry to get moving since the post office didn’t open until 9 am. Still I was up early and pacing around the hostel. Around 840 I headed to the post office and was first in line when it opened. I payed the exorbitant fee to mail home my fleece and walked back to the hostel to grab my pack and get out of town. The rest of the hikers were heading out to get breakfast as I arrived. I told them I was hiking out and they said they’d be leaving as well, later in the day. I said my goodbyes to Marion who was flying back to Kentucky that afternoon and the awesome hostel owner LeVerne.

Then I shouldered my pack and started walking. I stopped by Safeway and bought a prepackaged sandwich then made it to the outskirts of town where I could hitchhike back to the trail. It was only about half an hour when a guy stopped and picked me up. He wasn’t going all the way up the mountain but he carried me about halfway and dropped me off at a turnout. I was only there a few minutes when a young guy stopped and gave me a ride the rest of the way.

I was finally back on the CDT and ready to head to Canada, still so very far away. It was almost noon so I walked up the trail into the trees a little ways sat on a log and ate my sandwich. Then I started to hike. It was a nice day and I was trying to decide if I should only do a short day and camp before the snow on the 12000 foot mountain ahead or if I should go ahead and try to push over it.

Around 30 minutes later it started to hail. I met a couple of Southbound Colorado Trail hikers (it and the CDT share a lot of trail) that were looking for a spot to camp and get out of the weather. They had seen Widesky earlier in the day, crossing the mountain. I walked on and the hail stopped after a while. The trail led through some grasslands that made for pleasant hiking.

I came to a waterfall and took a break enjoying the scenery and being back in the mountains. After awhile I continued on and it wasn’t many miles after the waterfall that I started hitting snow. And it started to rain, hard. I decided to find a spot to camp. This was easier said than done since there were no flat spots at all and everything was covered in snow. Eventually I found a spot where I could fit my tent even if it was pointed downhill. I set up and climbed in our of the rain, cold, wet, slightly tilted, and happy to be back on trail. I was at mile 1207, I had made it 7 miles.

I wasn’t feeling very motivated on the 19th and I was still lying in my tent a little before 7 when I heard something walking outside. I stuck my head out and Redfish , a thruhiker from Sweden, walked by. He yelled hello and I returned the greeting. As he continued on I packed up my gear. As I was dismantling my tent Nick ambled up. We exchanged greetings and he walked on. I was almost ready to go when Sea Legs hiked by with a shouted hello. As she vanished over the hill I couldn’t help but laugh at the morning hiker parade, after not seeing anyone in the woods for so long it was a nice change of pace.

I fell in line and began to trudge up the mountain through the snow. I soon came upon Sea Legs taking a break and passed her by. The snow was deep and I was snowshoeing, following the others tracks, Nick didn’t have snowshoes and I could soon see him in the distance postholing in the snow.

After a while we reached Kokomo Pass and from there the snow got deeper and less stable. You never knew which step would send you plunging in up to your knees or send you plummeting forward into the mush leaving you to wallow and crawl trying to regain your footing again.

Nick hollered that he was going to climb further up the ridge and see if the snow was any better there. I continued on following Redfish’s tracks. I lost sight of Nick but soon spotted Redfish in the distance. We made it up over Elk Ridge at 12280 feet and through Searle Pass. Fighting the snow the whole way. At some point it started to rain but I barely even noticed. I caught up with RedFish and he turned and said “I have a joke” “yea? “I replied “We’re going Slowbo” he laughed(Nobo-hiking north, sobo-hiking south, slobo- get it?) I laughed and we hiked on, down the mountain towards Copper Ridge. Copper Ridge was a small ski resort village that was right on the trail and we were planning to stop by the small general store there and pick up a few supplies.

Copper ridge is also where everyone had a decision to make. It was where the low blue Silverthorne alternate route took off. If you remained on the official red route you would go up to the highest part of the trail staying at over 13000 feet on exposed ridges and climbing over Grays Peak the only 14000 footer officially on the trail. As far as we had heard noone had yet made it over Grays this year. I knew I had to at least attempt the red route but the others weren’t sure. Widesky had already started on the alternate which was easier, shorter, and lower down.

As Redfish and I got to the Mountain Market in Copper Ridge the rain picked up. We bought some snacks and sat on the porch, watching it rain. I went to the outfitter and bought new tracking poles since I had broken the one I’d just bought at the used gear store in Leadville, one of the many times I had fallen that morning. I then returned to the store. Nick showed up soon after followed by Sea Legs and Stretch. We watched it rain and someone suggested we get a room for the night. Of course rooms in a fancy ski resort don’t come cheap but Sea Legs got one and we split the cost 5 ways. It wasn’t a big room but we crammed all of us and our packs in it anyway. We all went out to the local Mulligans for dinner, and then returned to the room. I got a call from Widesky and he was returning to town after not being able to get over the ridge outside of town because of the soft snow. I went out in the rain and found him at the store, then brought him back to our already crowded room. We were warm and dry and well fed at mile 1219 on the CDT.

The 20th came all too soon and all but Widesky and Nick were still determined to hike the high route and face Grey’s Peak. But no one was certain it was actually possible at this point. I wonder how many times someone uttered those words “it’ll be fine” as they glanced around at these strangers now friends United in our cause, hoping someone would affirm it. One or another always would “yea it’ll be fine” they’d utter back in a hopeful tone usually adding ” we’ve got a few days before we get there we’ll figure it out”

we had all fought battled and suffered to make it this far. We were battered and tired, hesitant and uncertain, none of us knew what lay ahead only that it was going to be tough. A thruhikers cornerstone of confidence is the ability to hike. If the trails suck for a while; no worries, we can just push hard, do extra miles and hike out of it into something better but the snow has crushed us. It’s taken away our big mile days. It’s our manacles, our ball and chain forcing us to question ourselves, reaffirm our resolve, and dig deeper than ever before into our inner wells of grit and raw determination. Often, when our legs tremble, our breath shakes, and our backs scream from the weight it’s pure stubbornness that carries us on.

But somehow we all decided not to face it that day. I’m not sure who made the decision or really if anybody did but somehow it was decided to take the day off, grab a free bus to the nearby town of Frisco get another room and relax. Mob mentality took me along. We all headed to the bus stop around 11 and climbed aboard.

We made it to Frisco and Widesky and I got Taco Bell and the others had Chinese. Everything costs more in Colorado so the 5 dollar box was 750. Someone found a hotel room online we could all split and we headed over there. A girl Widesky knew came and picked him up and he was gone. The rest of us just laid around and watched movies on the tv putting off the snow covered peaks of the Rockies for another day.

The 21st Redfish decided to take a bus to Silverthorne to switch out his boots at REI. Widesky had never returned: and the rest of us boarded the bus back to Copper Mountain and the trail. Upon arrival Sea Legs took off on an errand, Stretch said he was going to eat and Nick and I started hiking. At some point Nick had been given the trail name Lumber over the last couple of days. The recently christened Lumber and I walked out of town and started climbing the next mountain. There was quite a bit of avalanche damage and loads of fallen trees to climb over.

We climbed up 12490 feet at the top of the ridge. The wind was blowing like crazy and the snow was fighting us with every step. There were huge snow cornices at the top and we had to go over the ridge and find our way down.

We dived off the ridge and stayed as close to the snow covered trail as possible while we made our way down into the valley. For a while we followed a creek that led us down the mountainside. We reached the road at the bottom, a place called Gold Hill, some kind of housing development. Nick decided he wanted to take the bus to Breckenridge and then find a way back to the lower route from there. He didn’t want to face the high Rockies. We parted ways at the bus stop and I continued on for a couple of more miles to a really cool camp spot at 1235.8. It was an opening in the middle of a grove of trees.

A while later Redfish showed up and pitched his tent in the trees. He told me Stretch had decided to go the low route as well. He’d seen Sea Legs and she had told him that she was still going the high route but it was raining and she had fallen off a mountain that day so she deserved a room and a bed and was headed to Breckenridge for the night.

The 21st found me packing up at dawn. Red Fish was still in his tent as I hit the trail. As everyday there was a mountain to climb and once we got over this one and down the other side we would then climb up to the ridges and stay above 12000 feet for 40 or 50 miles till the other side of Grey’s Peak.

As I neared the crest of the days climb I checked my phone for signal and I had a message from RedFish saying that there was a huge storm coming and we needed to get out of the mountains at a road a few miles ahead. I really didn’t want to go back to town but also didn’t need to be stuck at 12 or 13000 feet if a bad storm really was coming. So undecided I made it down to the creek at the bottom of the hill and sat down to eat some snacks. Not long afterwards RedFish came out of the woods. He told me that everybody had been calling and texting him that there was another 2 feet of snow about to fall in the high Rockies.

There was a gravel road there at the North Fork of the Swan River mile 1246.2 which he planned to hitch out to the main road on. I decided to go with him since it would be foolhardy to climb into the high Rockies after being warned of the approaching storm. We stood on the side of the dirt road for a while and a guy driving a flat bed pickup pulled up and said we could ride out to the highway on the back if we wanted and of course we did. He wasn’t a slow driver so we hung on tight and made it out to the main road in no time. Once there we planned to go to Breckinridge where Lumber (Nick), and Sealegs had stayed the night before. So we walked to the bus stop to head south( I love free buses.) Right before the bus was due Redfish got a text saying everybody was going north to Silverthorne now because Stretch was already there and he had a room we could split.

Redfish and I recrossed the highway to the northbound bus stop right before it pulled up and we climbed aboard. A few stops and a transfer later we were in Silverthorne. We found Stretch in the La Quinta Inn and the three of us went out to Chipotle to eat. After we got back to the room I walked over to the REI and exchanged my inflatable pillow, which had started leaking from the seams, for a new one. Upon returning to the room I discovered Lumber and Sea Legs had arrived. We checked the weather and the storm was going to dump on Colorado until Sunday mid morning. We decided to play it safe and booked the room for another night. Then watched tv and relaxed. It was the first day of Summer and it snowed all night long.

The 22nd it snowed in the morning, rained all day and snowed again that night. I kept imagining what it must be like up on the ridges if it was that bad below 9000 feet. I went to the movies and watched Men in Black International that afternoon and picked up some Subway to eat in the room.

The following morning of the 23rd it was still snowing. We all hung around the room in the morning hoping the weather would clear. Sea Legs was the first to leave hoping to get a head start to do the 8 miles that would catch her up with me and Redfish. The rest of us checked out at 11 and went to Chipotle for lunch. Afterwards Lumber and Stretch headed off to the low blue route and Redfish and I boarded a bus to get back to the dirt road where we could hitch to the trail.

It didn’t take long to get a hitch even though it had started to rain again, and soon we were hiking. We only went a couple of miles to the middle fork of the Swan River at mile 1248.7 which was right before the climb up to the ridges. There was more rain coming in and Sea Legs was already at a campsite by the river. We decided to call it a day and set up. We all ate and hid in our tents lulled to sleep by the sounds of rainfall and wandering what tomorrow would bring.

As the sun rose on the 24th we were hiking. We started the day at around 10000 feet and had to climb all the way to the ridge above 13000 and then follow it along. I elected to take a route called the Argentine Spine which was a tough ridgewalk across the sky to Mt Edwards. The spine was extremely steep in places and had no water. The views were spectacular but it was exhausting. I was trying to make it to an emergency hut about halfway across where I hoped I could get out of the wind and sleep. I walked about 19 miles and came to a huge hill on the ridge. The hut was at the top and it was an extremely steep climb. I was so tired it took me an hour and a half to make it up the hill, less than a mile. When I made it to the hut it was full of snow and uninhabitable. I was too tired to carry on so I found the flattest spot I could on the ridge, my tent half on and half off the snow. Up at 13,550 feet where the land tries to touch the sky I set up my tiny shelter as the winds roared in protest at my audacity. I melted snow for water and collapsed exhausted. My tent flapped and fluttered shook and strained but it held and I slept. After midnight I awoke again and the wind was so loud it sounded like a freight train was speeding up out of the valley. My tent was so sloped All my stuff and I was pressed to one side. The poles were bent double with the roof pressing down on my body from the gales force and all was fLapping mightily but it was holding and there was nothing I could do so I pulled my sleeping bag over my head, wondered to myself if I was going to wake up in OZ, and slept.

The 25th found me still on the ridge top and the winds were dying down. I quickly packed up my gear and faced the day. It was the day I was to finally climb Grey’s Peak, the highest point of the CDT.

First however I had to get over Mount Edwards and then walk a knifes edge between the peaks. A knifes edge is basically a very narrow ridge with steep drops on each side. This one also included climbing over rock formations and of course slippery snow. One slip and at best the hike could be over at worst well I’ll let you imagine. I hit the edge and carefully climbed, crawled, staggered and stumbled the mile plus across looking at Gray’s peak in the distance determined to reach my goal.

I made it across and faced the steep climb to the summit.

I climbed the steep flank of the mountain and reached the peak. There stood Widesky, I hadn’t seen him since Silverthorne when he got in a girls van. He had taken a few days off and then hitched to the parking lot at the bottom of the mountain. From there he had climbed the easy social trail to the top ( the way down for me). We celebrated on top of the mountain and Redfish soon came over the knife edge to join us.

We had made it, so many were walking the roads around the high Rockies fearing it was impossible to cross. There was still a long way to go but standing there on top of that peak boosted our lagging confidence and then as a reward for our efforts a mountain goat summited barely 10 feet away showing us his rear in disdain. ” you think this is hard” he seemed to say ” I live here” As he casually walked away down a ridge we daren’t follow; we knew it was time for us to descend as well, for our brief moment of triumph was over, though we would carry it with us forevermore.

We still had a long way to go, that day, on the trail, in life, and in whatever great adventure comes after. We descended from our peak down through the snow we slid. At the bottom we hit the road, which the trail followed for while and then it led us to a bicycle path which took us uphill for several miles where we crossed under interstate seventy and then we climbed uphill to camp by a spring at mile 1289 about 16 miles from where I had woken up in the Argentine Spine that morning.

The 26th I had a plan to walk the 19.8 miles to Berthoud Pass at mile 1308.7 as quick as possible so I could hitch into the town of Fraser pick up some groceries and then hitch back to the trail. The morning started with a long climb as usual and then I walked ridges for most of the rest of the day. It was beautiful terrain though lots of climbing up and down. Huge snow cornices hung off the ridge side but there was usually enough dry ground to walk on where the winds or sun had swept the snow away.

I crossed the ridges climbed down a mountain and hit a road which I walked for a while so I could get to Berthoud Pass faster. I arrived at around 230. It took a while to get a hitch but I was in town at Safeway by 4 and got a few supplies. I walked across the road to Wendy’s and ate, while there I received a text from Redfish saying he was in town at the store so I walked over and located him. We hung out outside the store for a while eating snacks and letting our stuff charge. After a while we gathered our gear walked to the edge of town and hitched back up the mountain.

The parking lot at Berthoud has a big warming hut which is basically an empty building with benches and bathrooms. When we got there Sea Legs had arrived and already pulled out her air mattress and sleeping bag inside the place. Redfish and I went with the flow and got out our pads and sleeping bags to crash inside on the floor as well. A warm dry night for all.

We all got an early start on the 27th. We were headed for James Peak our last mountain over 13000 feet in Colorado. First we climbed Mount Flora at 13,120 feet and then took a long ridge over to James. The views were incredible. Walking along surrounded by an ocean of ridges peaks and valleys.

When I got close to James I realized the way across and up was a steep boulder scramble and rock climb with steep falls on either side. It was a bit harrowing clinging to the rocks and climbing up and over and through, high up on a mountainside. Several times I would step on a rock and it would fall away under my feet or grab one to pull myself up only to have it come loose and plummet to the earth far bellow.

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I was glad to reach the top and stand on stable ground again. From there it was a short hike to to the summit of James Peak at 13,309 feet. The winds were raging and I didn’t linger long before hiking on. I continued walking ridges for a long way just enjoying the mountains, taking in the view.

I made it to Rollins Pass Trailhead at mile 1329.5, 20.8 miles from where I had started that morning and found a nice dry spot on a cliff to set up camp. It was a beautiful spot overlooking a deep valley. I set up my tent and went about my camp chores.

The 28th I was packing up when I realized I had left my tracking poles out and some critter ( a porcupine is the usual suspect) had been chewing on the handles and partially eaten them. Luckily they were still usable and I picked them up and hiked. That day was mostly getting down out of the mountains and towards the town of Grand Lake. I was pushing miles but as I got lower the snow got worse again and it was back to postholing again but it didn’t last all day and I got down to green trees and summer. I walked by Lake Granby and made it to Shadow Mountain Lake which I hiked along beside for a while before making a stealth camp site in the bushes at mile 1353.3. A 23.8 mile day.

The morning of the 29th I was 11 miles from the town of Grand Lake. I got up and got moving hoping to make it to town for breakfast. A mile up trail I came across Widesky’s tent. He had passed me in the dark. I woke him up and he started packing up while I continued on. Not much further on I was walking through an area covered in dead falls but the trail was mostly clear and I walked around the corner and saw two moose, one of which was blocking the trail. I watched them for a while and I wanted to linger longer but I realized I was going to miss breakfast. I started walking towards the moose hoping it would move so I could go by but it just ignored me. I told it I just wanted to go by so I could get some food and it still ignored me. I got way closer to it than I probably should have and it just stood there. I decided to sit down and wait it out but right then the moose looked at his friend turned right and ambled off trail.

I thanked him and continued on. It was Saturday and I had to get to the post office before it closed to grab the shoes I had mailed there and I was trying to hurry but then when I got close to town I was able to get phone signal and google the post office hours for Grand Lake; it’s closed on Saturday. That threw a wrench in my plans to hit the post office eat and hike out without spending a fortune. Now I had to stick around till Monday.

Well I still wanted food so I kept hiking and thinking. The Rocky Mountains National Park Loop is well a loop it goes out of Grand Lake makes 25 mile curve up over Flat Top Mountain and then comes back to the highway just 5 miles north of town. I started thinking about getting a bunk in town at the Shadowcliff Hostel for two nights so I could sleep there that night wake up early leave my heavy stuff at the hostel (slackpack) hike the loop and then hitch back in and spend Sunday night then hit the post office Monday and get out of town. Expensive but it would work.

But for now I was still heading for food. The trail walked straight into town and actually went down the boardwalk. Yes GrandLake actually has a boardwalk instead of a sidewalk. When I got downtown and started looking for a cafe I got a call from Widesky “I’m almost to town, wait up and we’ll eat lunch,” ok I said thinking I’ll grab breakfast and then meet him for lunch. But then he said “phone dying tell me where you are and I’ll come there” crap. I spotted a doughnut shop with a bench outside so I told him to follow the CDT till he saw doughnuts and my pack on the bench and he broke off.

I went in and got a totally awesome homemade hand dipped maple doughnut and an iced coffee. Then I happily sat on the bench on the boardwalk and people watched. Town was bustling with tourists and travelers and all sorts of folks. I was throughly enjoying myself when Widesky showed up about half an hour later. It was around 1030 by this time and the breakfast place had closed. However, the pizza place would open at 11 and there was a gazebo in a nearby park with electric outlets so we went over there and charged our electronics while we waited. I called the hostel and booked a bunk for two nights. I explained my plan to Widesky and he decided to come with.

Once the pizza spot opened we went and ate. I decided to get spaghetti. Afterwards we headed to the hostel which is a huge cabin on a cliff overlooking the town. Everyone was there. Stretch and Lumber had gotten there walking roads. Redfish beat me there by almost a day. Sea Legs had hiked in while we were eating pizza. Another CDT hiker called Dosa I hadn’t met yet came in too.

Redfish and Dosa decided they’d join us in our slack packing the next day. We all went out for dinner and then retired to our bunks.

In the morning on the 30th Redfish, Dosa, Widesky, and I hiked out with light packs carrying only some food and water for the day. The rest of the hikers had decided to skip the Rocky Mountain National Park part of the trail and chill at the hostel for the day then take the shortcut the next morning which was 20 miles shorter.

But as I am trying to visit all the National Parks I definitely wasn’t going to skip one while hiking the CDT. Hiking without 50 pounds on my back was spectacular. I didn’t even have the hiker hunch I could just stand tall and stride up the mountain. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and we followed a wild beautiful river for a while. Once we got above tree-line we hit snow and some regular hikers with packs were fleeing back down the mountain. “There’s too much snow” they exhaled as they tried to catch their breath, “you can’t even find the trail up there it’s all snow we had to turn around” Redfish and Dosa had disappeared somewhere ahead but I looked at Widesky and I could see the glimpses of his thoughts as his mind went back over all we had been through in the snow for the last 500 plus miles. We weren’t too worried about FlatTop and it’s covering of snow on this bright sunny day. We told the other hikers we were going to give it a shot and started on. Some steep climbs and quite a bit of hiking over snow and postholing some we reached the summit. Looking at the Rockies never gets old or mundane and the scenery was gorgeous.

We ate some lunch at the top and then started the long descent down the road where we could hitch back to town. It had been 15 miles up and now we had to get 10.5 down.

There was still a whole lot of snow to trudge through on the way down and we pushed through eventually reaching lower elevations where all was beautiful and green again. I saw 2 moose crossing a field and then wandering through the trees as I hiked. A few miles later I came upon the field where 6 of the giants were grazing. While standing there on the trail I heard a noise coming from behind a tree and another one came right out on the trail next to me snorted and ambled down into the field to join his friends.

I hated to leave but I had to go so I hiked on through trees dappled with sunshine. About 3 in the a afternoon I reached the highway at CDT mile 1389.1. I had misplaced Widesky on the way down the mountain but knew he’d turn up eventually as he always does. I started trying to hitch back to Grand Lake to hit the grocery store and return to Shadowcliff for the night. One of the park rangers picked me up and gave me a ride to town. He dropped me off at the Mountain Market which was the local grocery store. I got some supplies and walked to the hostel. On the way an afternoon thunderstorm hit soaking me to the bone.

Redfish and Dosa had already made it back and 14 minutes after I got there Widesky walked up. Not only had someone gave him a ride they’d also given him 50 bucks. We just relaxed at the hostel that evening. I had bought the stuff to make egg and sausage breakfast burritos and cooked them for dinner. A nice night at the Shadowcliff hostel.

The first of July arrived all too soon and I had to get back on trail but first the post office. I hung out at the hostel drinking coffee until 8 and then walked 1.5 miles to get to the PO. My package was actually there and I was ecstatic to get rid of my boots and get back in trailrunners. I was only hiking in boots because my trailrunners didn’t work in my snowshoes but today I was finally mailing my snowshoes home. Oh happy day; I was extremely excited to be getting rid of the extra weight.

So I sent home my snowshoes and laced up my trailrunners. and hitched a ride to the trail. I was only about 2 miles up when I was forced to ford the Colorado River not once but 3 times in a row. So much for my new dry shoes. Still they felt way better wet than the boots ever did. I spent the rest of the morning climbing up and over Bowen’s Pass. Some snow some postholing but nothing I wasn’t used to by now. The afternoon I made my way back down, somehow I lost the trail in the snow and spent a few hours bushwhacking before getting back on track. I camped by a creek at mile1406.8. I set up camp and climbed in my tent to hide from the ragging clouds of mosquitos. Sometime later Widesky arrived and set up and then an hour or so after him can Lumber and RedFish.

The next day on the 2nd Redfish awoke and said he was doing 30 miles because he wanted to be in Steamboat Springs on the 3rd. It was still over 53 miles away. I was planning on hiking in on the 4th. Lumber said he would go with Redfish and ru to town. Widesky hiked out with a more leisurely goal of 20 to 25 miles for the day. We started the long climb up to Parkview Lookout. When we got close to the top a storm rolled in and started pelting us with hail. It started to hurt and thunder and lightning is a lot closer on a ridge at 12000 feet. The hail grew in size to that of marbles and became a steady torrent. We were being pummeled. Trying to protect our faces and enduring the pain we made it to a ridge somewhat south of the summit that we could see at the top of a steep climb ahead. Being beaten by ice and completely exposed to lightning and wind Widesky pulled out his old blue tarp and we huddled under it for a few minutes of relief.

We knew there was a small shed we could shelter in on the summit but neither of us felt capable of making the climb in the pounding ice. However the temperature was dropping and we needed to move to stay warm. When it slacked off some we made a run for it. Just as we got moving thunder clashed so hard and close above our heads it nearly drove us to our knees lighting struck something nearby with a colossal flash and calamity. We squared our shoulders under the icy assault and made for the peak. The sounds of raging thunder and the lighting flashes drove us onward, and upward seeking shelter. Right before I reached the top the skies cleared. I still went to the shelter and sat down for a break. Widesky came by soon after and we ate some snacks. As we got up to leave it started hailing again so we returned to the shed and after about an hour we decided it was safe to leave. As we walked down the ridge trail we could see the storm dumping massive amounts of precipitation to our right and clear skies to our left.

Luckily the trail veered left. We hiked on crossing ridges and mountains. Widesky was having an off day. He felt dehydrated and his boots were tearing up his feet so he wanted to stop around 5 and I decided to go ahead and camp as well. We melted snow as there was no water and retired early knowing we had to knock out big miles on the morrow if we wanted to make it to town on the 4th as planned. A 16.8 mile day to 1424.1.

The 3rd of July came with a gorgeous sunrise. We were up and on our way. The first mountain of the day wasn’t too bad and we got over it quickly. Of course we hit snow on the way down .Eventually I got out of the snow and was following a nice trail. I crossed a river and stopped to check my map and realized I was on the wrong trail. There was a huge ridge rising a couple of thousand feet up on my left and the CDT was somewhere up there. Then it went down the other side. Not wanting to backtrack the mile back to the trail junction I decided to just climb up the ridge. It was a long way up and it seemed to take forever but I slowly climbed. The top was snowy and slippery and I slid with every step but with a final push up and over a rocky cliff I was back on trail. From there the trail led down a snow covered dirt road. Crossing through the snow as quickly as possible I made my way down. It seemed to take forever to get below the snow but eventually I made it and it was a clear dirt road for miles and miles. I was making my way to highway 14 which the trail followed to highway 40 where I could hitch into Steamboat Springs. There was a two mile shortcut on the app which I decided to take. It lead through a cow pasture and then down to a river which I was supposed to cross on a beaver dam. Of course the river was way up and the beaver dam was completely under water so I had to get wet After the river I was at the highway and I crossed and climbed up on the powerline to stealth camp. I was at mile 1352 about 8 miles from where I was going to hitch into town and 28 miles from where I had woken that morning.

The 4th of July dawned cold. My socks and shoes were frozen as I shoved my feet into them. Down the road I went for 8 miles. I made it to 40 by 10 and got a hitch into town pretty quickly. Once there I got a breakfast burrito and walked around. The 4th of July parade was going on so it was super crowded. I heard someone yell Wallace and saw HR on the other side of the street. He was carrying a huge elk antler on top of his pack. He told me he had found it on trail and carried it to town. He had put an add on Craigslist asking to trade it for a place to sleep that night since the cheapest available room in town was over 300 dollars a night. A guy had answered him and said he would let hikers camp in his yard in exchange for the antler but he wouldn’t be home till that afternoon. I followed him since I had nowhere else to go and we found a place to get some burgers for lunch. Widesky called and said he was at McDonalds. We got word that Sea Legs and Stretch had walked into town by road and found Lumber, Dosa, and Redfish who had arrived the day before. Acuna and Undecided were also walking in today and another hiker called Pabst I’d never met was said to be in town. We all had nowhere to sleep and were hanging our hopes on HR and his Elk Antler. Eventually Widesky texted me that everyone was gathering at a restaurant across town so HR and I wandered over. We hung out there until HR got word from his contact Taylor that everyone was welcome to come hang out at his house barbecue and spend the night. So we formed a hiker parade and walked over to his house. A former CDT hiker called Sandy that some of the others knew joined us and she had a car so we sent her down to the grocery store to get some stuff to grill. We got to the house and HR turned over the antler which gained us access, then we all hung out in the backyard. We ate elk burgers and regular ones potato salad and hotdogs and more. It was awesome celebrating the holiday with this eclectic group of freedom seekers. Around nine we took the short walk down the road to the park for the town’s firework show and then returned for a campfire and s’mores. We crashed on the floor and couches all over Taylor’s house. A great end to a great day, the 4th of July and My 100th day on trail!