The Unpolished Princess

Start: 1373

Stop: 1405

Today’s Miles: 11.4

Total CDT miles: 1076.8

I finally fell asleep after 1am, and didn’t move until after 8:30! It was GLORIOUS! I packed up my stuff, except for my food bag, and then quickly walked down to the other grocery store to resupply. Check out would either be 10 or 11, half the stuff said one and the other half said the other-so I had to get my food and repack everything by 10, just in case. 

I was walking out of the motel, keys returned, by 9:45. I waited for the gear shop to open at 10 and was their first patron harassing them about shoes! During all of this, Pika-who Pebbles and I met on the PCT, messaged me about just getting to town! Wolf would be in soon, too! We decided to meet at the gear store and then go get lunch together, saving room for Wolf and the rest of their trail family! 

I must have tried on every single shoe in that store. The girl helping me, Rae, was wonderful and so patient. She’s thruhiked before so she understood my frustration. We tried every brand they carried, we tried new insoles in my shoes, we tried new insoles in new shoes-none were working! They either hurt my toes or were too wide at my heels-which I already have the flipping blisters on, so that didn’t help. 

She joked about sandals, and then it hit me. It’s 4 days to Steam Boat Springs. I can get some sandals to try out during this stretch, and if I hate them, I can try to find new shoes in the next town. Rae did say the store in Steam Boat had several other brands that they don’t carry, too. So, yall, I walked out in a pair of Tevas with my socks. Lord help me.

They graciously held my pack and my old shoes to mail home (so mom can return them to REI for me, they still look great, they just hurt my damn feet). They even gave me a box that my shoes would fit in since the Tevas box is too small. I thanked them profusely, and Pika and I headed off to get lunch. I had just missed breakfast, but that’s ok. I got Mozzarella sticks and a burger with fries. Delicious. Pika got a veggie burger and a milkshake. Also fantastic.

Wolf got there about half way through our meal, and immediately had me laughing. She ordered some food, too, and we all three ate and caught up and laughed. It was so much fun and those two almost had me thinking I’d stay in town again and hike out tomorrow. I didn’t-but damn I wanted to. I have a feeling they’ll end up catching back up to me, so, maybe I’ll get to hike with them in the near future anyway. 

After we ate, I said my goodbyes, got my pack and stuff to mail home from the gear store, and walked down to the post office. I mailed my shoes home, I talked to a sweet man about my hike for about 10 minutes, then headed down the road that would eventually reconnect with the trail, in about 6 miles and through Rocky Mountain National Park. I could have taken a trail to do the same thing.. but it was through a burn zone and I’d have to backtrack through town again. No way. 

As I walked, it started to rain.. it waited until I was technically far enough out of town for it to be inconvenient to turn back. If it had started sooner, I’d probably be writing this from the Big Horn Lodge instead of by a stream alone in the woods.  Oh well. The trail once I reconnected with it was gentle with lots of water around. It made for pretty pictures with the stormy skies. The rain only lasted an hour or two, off and on, and now laying in my tent, everything is dry. My socks may be an issue with the sandals-getting wet constantly, but whatever.. it’s worked so far-11 miles wasn’t short in new shoes! Although, the terrain being so easy might be giving me false hope. 

I’m praying the next few days go well in the sandals and I’m able to hike 20+ miles each day. Steam Boat Springs will be a town I have to hitch into, so, timing needs to be good for that last day, otherwise it’ll be like today, a late town leave time making for a shorter day of hiking out. Tricky business. I’m setting my watch alarm, we’ll see what time I get up and moving tomorrow! Sweet dreams!

Start: 1350.2

Stop: 1373

Today’s Miles: 22.8

Total CDT miles: 1065.4

I was awake, bright eyed and bushy tailed at 6am! Something about knowing town is within reach makes me move-which is nuts, seeing how I just had a week away from hiking. Whatever, I am who I am! 

I packed quickly, annoyed at having to pack my tent.. cowboying really is so much easier, and was walking before 6:30. I had stopped short of a cabin yesterday, complete with a privy and drive up dirt road-and seeing it this morning made me glad I camped a little before it. There were 2 vehicles there and no where good to cowboy-and I don’t think you’re technically supposed to tent camp there (maybe not where I did either, but to be fair, I didn’t see the sign stating that until after reaching the cabin). 

The trail for the majority of the morning was easy dirt woods and it meandered with the mosquitos mostly downhill. With my bug lotion on, I didn’t have any issues with bites, I just hate their buzzing sounds near my ears. Mid morning, after a steep descent of perfectly maintained switchbacks, I came up to a stunning lake, the first of three or four for the day! And those lakes came with day hikers and campers galore!

I spent the next hour walking around Monarch Lake saying “hi!” every 30 seconds. I stopped and chatted with 2 different people, both very excited to see a CDT hiker. I loved it! I passed an Amish family with the girls all in dresses in different shades of blues and purples.. they were super friendly, too. I was giddy as all get out!

I got to the ranger station and privy that is at the entrance to the lake I just passed, used the privy, then headed down the dirt road. At some point I came across a general store connected to a campground and decided to snag a soda and a sandwich. Mountain Goat, the girl who booked it passed me yesterday morning, was there! We talked a bit and then I kept hiking.. eating my sandwich as I walked instead of waiting for lunch. 

I just knew I needed to keep moving to make it to Grand Lake. Lake Granby was a looker, as I started my climb of the day around the right side of the lake. As I kept going uphill for no reason in my opinion, I kept looking out over the lake at the perfectly level dirt road on the other side. I had to remind myself that THIS is the trail, and it cuts between two lakes so I’ll technically get to Grand Lake faster, even if this stupid climb is miserable.

Mountain Goat caught up to me, and as we’re chatting and walking and I’m trying to breathe-a storm rolls through. The sky drops out, hail and rain and so much thunder. I never saw lightening, but of course as it hit, Mountain Goat and I were about to walk out into the open, tree free bald at the top of this climb. So, we waited it out in the trees. Thankfully, the storm came and went within 10 minutes. We started hiking again, and she’s so fast-I haven’t seen her since!

At 3pm, I had to sit in the shade with my shoes off for awhile. Both of my heels are blistered to hell, my right big toe feels like it’s bench pressing my body weight alone, and the balls of both feet throb. I’m not kidding, something has to give! When I started walking again, I wasn’t able to stop the limp. Each step hurt like hell, but I was worried about the terrain to put on my crocs, I still had to walk around Grand Lake before getting to the real paved roads of the town itself.

By 5pm, I had limped around the lake, managed to get to my motel, check in, and get those damn shoes off my feet! They were aching so bad, I just laid on the bed, dirty, for 15 minutes before mustering up the energy to shower. My feet are so cooked. It’s scary. Ughhhh.

Anyway. I love the Big Horn Lodge. A simple room with everything I needed and a shower with excellent water pressure! I got clean and then wrangled up my dirty clothes inside my sleeping bag liner, put on my rain gear, and walked through town. I was initially going to go to the gear store to look at shoes, but then realized they closed at 6.. it was 5:55 and I didn’t want to be that person that took up their time at closing. They don’t reopen until 10am, so it looks like I’ll get to leave late tomorrow! 

I carried my dirty clothes with me to dinner, since food was all I could think of at the moment. Sagebrush BBQ had an excellent Memphis style pulled pork sandwich! I got an extra side of baked beans because the portion that came with the sandwich looked like it was a ramekin for ketchup, not my side of beans.. and yall-I devoured it all! Plus like a liter of Mountain Dew. That waitress was impressed. 

With a full and happy belly-and a caffeine high-I made my way to the laundromat. It didn’t take long at all to wash my clothes.. while they were washing, I got a Gatorade and some lotion next door at the little grocery store. I was going to resupply there, but their prices were outrageous.. I honestly shouldn’t have gotten the drink and the lotion, but my face looks insane (dried out from getting burnt the last few days) and I was thirsty while washing clothes. 

Now, I’m back in my room, unable to sleep, but unwilling to be productive. The WiFi won’t load my pictures for my posts to my blog, so I gave up on trying to get some of them updated. Maybe I’ll have better luck in Steam Boat Springs, which will be my next town. I think I’ll just lay here, feet propped up on pillows, and watch some TV! Goodnight yall!

Start: 1329.8

Stop: 1350.2

Today’s Miles: 20.4

Total CDT miles: 1042.6

Today was mesmerizing.. but damn, my feet hurt! When I get into town I need to see about getting some insoles for my shoes, or changing entirely! I can’t keep walking like this.. these new shoes and I do not get along! 

I had the best of intentions of getting up at 6, leaving by 6:20. Instead, I slept until 6:30, waiting for the sun to be fully on me before deflating my sleeping pad. It was cold overnight, and windy! I used my pack to block the wind from hitting my face, since I cowboy camped, and thankfully my quilt kept me cozy, but anytime I turned and didn’t keep the back just right, I got a cold breeze up my shirt. 

I left to tackle the last 2 miles of the James Peak climb by 7:05am. I was moving slightly faster than I have been, but it was still slow going. The views were unbelievable though. At one point, I saw 2 elk up ahead on the trail looking back at me-all majestic! Then, they took off running and went across a huge snow patch! How do these animals not constantly break their necks? It’s crazy!

As I was less than 3/4 a mile from the top, I was passed by another hiker! She came out of no where! We briefly chatted, then she kept moving, she was aiming for 25 miles today so she can get into Grand Lake early tomorrow for her birthday! That’s some motivation. 

When I made it to the top, I could barely see another hiker coming up, too.. now I was in the middle of people! This made me so happy, because I knew there would be a potentially sketchy snow part coming up in the next 7-8 miles, and if I can stay in front of the person behind me, I won’t have to go over it alone if I get there and panic. Selfish? Maybe. I’ll call it being safe. Ha.

The top of James Peak was all rock and 360 degree views of mountains on top of mountains with some civilization thrown in on one side (aka: the towns of Winter Park and Fraiser). It was spectacular. Pictures just cannot capture that kind of raw beauty. I was so entranced, I almost didn’t want to come down-but I had to stay ahead of that other person! So, down I went.

The initial descent was steep! I was actually struggling more going down than I did coming up-because of all of the loose rocks and lack of grip on the underlying dirt. After that first steep part, maybe a half a mile or so, the trail became this gorgeous footpath along the side of a mountain range. Every now and then, you could walk up between two jagged rock mountains and peek over to the sheer drop off on the other side. 

It truly felt like magic. The sun was shining, there were these dramatic and sharp mountain scapes, hard and unforgiving, and then there were also fluffy marmots and pikas running around all over the place squeaking. I felt like I should be singing or something, being surrounded by so much beauty. I didn’t though, and before I knew it, I ran into 3 other hikers coming towards me! One was a man and 2 dogs, sadly they didn’t want my pets. And then 2 women out hiking together! 

I chatted with the 2 women for a good 5 ish minutes. They’re from Colorado and had many CDT questions. I enjoyed every second of telling them my start date and what I’m toting-they made me feel like I wasn’t slow as hell or carrying too much stuff. It was so very refreshing. Seeing their excitement for me definitely made my day.. and honestly, my mood overall is much better today, too. I’m not feeling so defeated and unworthy of being out here. 

I kept chugging along, views all day long. Close to 12:30, I finally got to the area where the sketchy snow was. I was going to stop and eat lunch, but with the ridge line views, I could see another hiker up ahead and getting close to going up the sketchy section, so I pushed to the bottom of that area to eat, so I could watch the hiker I met this morning go up. She made it look so damn easy that I’m a little annoyed I let it stress me out for so long!

I ate my food, sat awhile, then made my way up. The first several switchbacks up this mountain were normal, steep as hell, but normal dirt and rock. At this one spot with snow to cross, the mountain actually had a little “shelf” or outcropping of regular ground. So, once you started up the steep snow, probably only 40 feet or so, if you fell, you’d only fall to where the snow ends.. you wouldn’t slide off to your death into a frozen lake below-like you would if that little outcropping of dry land wasn’t there! So, seeing that and knowing I’d be ok if I fell, I charged up!

I caught my breath after the snow and then continued climbing. At the top the chain of mountains was just a huge grassy meadow covered in wildflowers. I saw a guy standing up there so I said hi as I went to pass him. He was out SKIING and busted his face, hard! He had blood everywhere and was deciding on heading home or going for another run. There is NOT THAT MUCH SNOW UP HERE TO BE SKIING! It was wild! I’m still shocked! He showed me the marks from the ski runs he and his friends made on the side of the mountain (above the lake) and yall-I don’t know how they’re all not dead! They’re insane!

I said bye and reeling in my shock, I kept moving. I never saw any of his friends. Maybe they did die. Ok, that was morbid, sorry. I’m sure they’re all fine-adrenaline junkies to the extreme. I moseyed about and took pictures of wild flowers and talked to marmots and fussed at butterflies that kept trying to land right under my feet. It was an absolutely beautiful day!

Coming down the back end of that chain of mountains destroyed my right foot though. Not one toe is happy, nor my heel-well, actually-let’s just throw the whole foot away. It was a steep descent for miles and miles. As I was coming down, the person behind me this morning ended up passing me! He’s Swiss and speaks German, and is quiet but quite nice. We ended up leap frogging each other the whole rest of the day, and now we’re camped nearby each other. 

The trail went from alpine beauty to burn scar to mosquito infested forest. There were times i wanted to run to get away from those blood suckers. Once I decided on this spot, my tent was up in 3 minutes flat and me and all my crap have been inside it ever since! I didn’t even open the mesh to cook. I won’t be able to do that in grizzly bear country! Ugh.

Tomorrow is just over 22 miles to get to Grand Lake. Hopefully I can make it all happen and before it gets too late, so maybe I’ll be able to get some chores done before bed, too. I might be pushing it, but the terrain looks much more gentle than the last few days, so fingers crossed I can make it happen. 

Alright, goodnight yall! Pray for me to catch some town legs in the morning!  ooo.. that sentence just made me realize how much I miss TownLegs from the AT. Hmmm. Maybe I’ll text her when I get service! Goodnight everyone!