CDT Day 50: June 24, 2025

Start: Colorado Trail 125.7

Stop: Colorado Trail 150.7

Today’s Miles: 25

Total CDT miles: 894.4

Man, oh man. Today was a long, but glorious day. I officially think I want to hike the Colorado trail! Pebbles and I went up and over 3 mountain passes today and shockingly-I loved every minute of it. Although, to be fair-I think I’m only shocked because of how crabby I felt yesterday. Sometimes I like having a short memory! Haha

Pebbles and I cowboy camped last night, I was so worn out and pissed off that setting up my tent just seemed like something that would push me mentally over the edge. So I didn’t. Until a little after midnight when it started to rain, of course. We both popped up and got our tents up fast-and then 15 minutes later, there was no more rain. I was happy about being in my tent-Pebbles was irritated it didn’t rain more to warrant setting his up. 

The first mountain pass started climbing immediately, and Pebbles made sure to point out the many places we could have camped before the top. I was just glad to not have had to do any climbing last night, or to have had to tote extra water for it either. At the top of the 2,500 foot climb I got enough service to apply for my Tokyo Marathon charity bib! The applications opened in Japan while I was sleeping, and I was on a mission to get to service to make this happen! It’ll be my 6th star, so it’s a big deal. I’ll find out in a few weeks if my application was accepted or not! No pressure! Ha. 

It sprinkled on and off all morning and felt kind of muggy, believe it or not. I was sweating buckets, and even before getting anywhere near the top to stop for service, Pebbles got way ahead of me. This elevation just seems to zap all of my energy. It literally gets so hard to breathe. I have to take so many mini breaks that it’s embarrassing. BUT, passing all of these Colorado Trail hikers shows me that while I’m slow-I’m still faster than a lot of other people! I’ll take the wins when I can! 

When I got half way up the second pass, I ran into Pebbles who just finished his lunch and was starting to hike again. I followed him for about 10 minutes or so before I found the spot I wanted to stop and eat my lunch at. God, faster than many, but nowhere near as fast as this guy. But what can I do? And a girl has to eat! I sat for a good 30-45 minutes eating and enjoying the scenery. A couple people passed by here and there-nothing too exciting. The views were wooded and there was nice pine duff to rest on. I was content. 

As I started hiking again, I came across a man sprawled out across the trail, his stuff everywhere, and his dog on a leash beside him. I said “hi” and asked if he was ok as I side stepped the trail to get around him. He laughed, said he was good, and then asked if I wanted to smoke a joint with him. He seemed a bit off, but nice enough. I said no thanks, to which he responded with a laugh, “damn! Your pack is huge!” Oooooook then. I laughed him off and kept hiking. 

Twenty minutes later, his pup caught up to me off leash, and then he caught me too, doing this weird little run. I scoffed because his pack was actually ginormous, with stuff literally dangling down to his kneecaps! But then I realized when we chatted a little more, while hiking behind each other, that he’s homeless. He told me about loving flowers because they’re so symmetrical, I told him I agree wholeheartedly and that Colorado has had some of the best wildflowers I’ve ever seen.. and then he started to jog again.. 

Weird. When he started jogging he was at the top of the pass and starting to head downhill. Downhill running makes sense, so I didn’t think too much of it. Until we hit the tree line and he was no where to be seen, suddenly. I kind of got the heebee geebees.. then I spotted just his pack sitting in the middle of the trail. No man. No dog. I start to get concerned for my safety a little bit, like he might pop out of the woods and attack me or something.. I even went so far as to pick up a rock.. just in case. 

He did pop out a few minutes later, doggo in tow. I’m glad I didn’t scream, hopefully I didn’t appear as startled as I was. They were just scouting out where they wanted to set up camp. I told him there was a stream coming up and that might be more ideal for him and his dog, you know, to have close access to water for the night. He said he’d think about it and he told me to have a good night then started walking back up trail to his pack. I picked up my pace. I’m sure he was fine-but to claim being a female alone with this guy didn’t have me nervous would be a lie. I think it’s just something women have to constantly be on guard about. Strange men. Anyway-glad I was prepared and paranoid instead of unprepared and attacked. People can be nuts!

I got to the top of the third and final pass, and then started my descent. At the bottom, I was greeted by Nope and Pebbles and about 50 other people camping at the campground beside a river. It was a nice set up! We scouted out our spot, and Pebbles and I decided to cowboy camp. Nope said his goodbyes and kept hiking. He does big days but sleeps in-so he does a lot of night hiking. No thanks. 

While we were sitting on our sleeping pads, talking about the day, a woman walked over and gave us trail magic! She was so excited to meet CDT hikers! We got yogurt, some fruit, and a cheese sandwich. Odd choices, but free is free and food is food. We were happy! Then, a man came over and went on and on about how cool and brave we are for doing this hike AND for cowboy camping specifically. He was one man with a HUGE 5th wheel camper to himself. He even invited us over to hang out at his site, but we were (and are) too tired. 

Tomorrow, we only have to hike 9 miles to get to the spot that Pebble’s friend, Tina, is going to be with her husband and trail magic! I’m so pumped! I can’t wait to meet them! Technically, Tina is close friends with Laurie, another friend of Pebbles who follows his long hikes (maybe my blog, too).. she’s a fellow backpacker and adventurer, as is Tina and her husband. They’re out on a road trip in their Vanlife Van, and we were able to get somewhere that our paths could cross! How freaking cool! 

So, on that note-goodnight! We have places to go and people to meet! And probably good food to eat, too! Haha! Sweet dreams!