The Unpolished Princess

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! 

Start: Mirror Lake Alternate 5.6

Stop: Colorado Trail 125.7

Today’s Miles: 25.6

Total CDT miles: 869.4

I am so utterly worn out. 

I slept great, once I warmed up. I was in my leggings, down booties, beanie, and puffy.. and it still took about 30 minutes to get warm. I never got hot and never took off any of my layers. I’m shocked!

We decided last night before bed that we would get to the road to Cottonwood Pass and take it up and over the pass, down to the Colorado Trail. We realized a little too late that this is the part of the loop to Twin Lakes that Nope was taking from the Butterfly House. If we had known about the snow then, we’d have done the same from there, instead of needing to go up and over a busy road pass again, and then also adding miles to our trek. Oh well. Live and learn. 

Pebbles left about 10 minutes before me this morning, and I got to walking just after 6:30, bleary eyed and cold. They say it takes 3 weeks to form a habit and all that-I’m on round 3 of thru hiking and on day 49 of this round.. why am I still not a morning person? 

The trail was mostly up for the first part of the morning, starting off in wooded forest and opening up to gorgeous views above the tree line. Right when I was spotting my last bit of trees for the foreseeable future and planning where to go dig a hole, Pebbles appeared from behind me! I screamed and almost had a really big problem on my hands! 

He had somehow taken a wrong turn and went down the wrong path for at least a mile before he realized it. This whole time I was trying to push myself to climb faster because I knew he’d be so far ahead of me, and he was accidentally behind me! He carried on up the mountain and I snuck off into the woods to dig a hole-ultimately still being forever far behind him. 

The views at the top of the climb were gorgeous, and there was a long line of snow right at the top-I just hiked around it since the mountain was otherwise a grassy bald. On the way down, somewhere before the junction to the road for Cottonwood Pass, a girl came walking my way. I asked her about Lake Ann Pass. She said it was sketchy, but doable. After chatting a bit, I had a feeling Pebbles may want to change his mind and take the redline instead of the (snow free) Colorado Trail after talking to her. 

I was a little anxious, but resigned myself to be ok with going either way. It would be sketchy in the snow with a cornice and vertical descent, but if everyone can apparently make it, surely I can too. When I finally caught up to Pebbles, who was just packing up from his lunch, he informed me of exactly what I had expected. He decided to chance the redline. 

I sat down and started eating my lunch, and asked if he’d wait for me before crossing it, since I’m slower and I didn’t want to cross it, and potentially slide to my death alone. He said he would. He didn’t leave right away, and chatted with me awhile instead. By the time I was packing up from lunch (only 25 minutes later, if even), we were back to taking the Cottonwood Pass road walk to the Colorado Trail. 

I was instantly relieved. And then the next obstacle: he wanted to hitch to the Colorado Trailhead junction, 15 miles from here up and over Cottonwood Pass. I didn’t want to ruin my continuous footpath over something I could control. We stood at the road for a few minutes, and when no cars immediately came by, I told him I’d rather walk the 15 miles, but he could hitch and go without me. 

We both ended up walking the whole way. Instead of going in a few miles on the Colorado trail, we’re camping at the junction. We did a little Bushwhack off the road uphill right before Cottonwood Pass, and it wore me out. Then, coming downhill for roughly 10 miles, baking in the sun and walking on the asphalt-my body feels cooked. When we got close to the junction, I yelled up to him, “I’m not going up a pass tonight!” 

From the junction, the trail goes up 2500 feet to a mountain pass. I don’t care that it didn’t have snow on it-I wasn’t going to go up it at all tonight. My legs are baked and I have heat rash brewing on my back, hips, and butt. I’m tired. I told him as much when we got water from the creek that crosses right at the junction. I know I sounded snappier than I intended. 

I assumed he’d keep going, but instead he stayed at the junction with me. He seems a little irritated, but I could be projecting. I hate feeling like I’m holding him back, but I also can’t keep pretending I’m 22 and can just keep walking when I feel awful, just because he can. Yesterday was over 8 miles more than we planned, and we already made it to 25 miles today. We don’t have to keep pushing so hard when we’re technically doing just fine on time. 

Anyway. That’s today. I’m tired and burnt and exhausted. And I don’t know if I’ll be able to stick to his mileage or if he’ll want to keep waiting on me. Which is totally fair both ways. I really don’t want to hold him back and have him resent me because I can’t keep up. Ugh. Alright. That’s it. Goodnight y’all. 

Start: The Butterfly House 

Stop: Mirror Lake Alternate: 5.6

Today’s Miles: 24.6

Total CDT miles: 843.8

YALL! Today FELT like we’re really IN COLORADO! Finally! The peaks, the climbs, the snow, everything felt like I expected Colorado to feel like, and it was glorious! 

I slept ok at the Butterfly House-having my own room was essential for that, but it was stuffy, which always makes for a hot night. I opened the window at some point to get a breeze. It kinda helped. Either way, Pebbles and I were on the road by 7:30am. The gravel road out of the Butterfly House was steep and quickly went into deep forest. There were random cabins off in the distance, but it was clear that they were off grid or hunting cabins-albeit, very nice ones. 

Once the road turned to trail, we passed a cabin that had a sign saying trail magic by the creek. We were too lazy to go looking, but that cabin was on some pristine land. A stunning creek running in front of it, and then a complete bowl of mountains all around. Absolutely beautiful in every way. As was the trail as it climbed to the top of Chalk Creek Pass, with alpine lakes and huge boulders all around. Once we hit the top, we were greeted with epic views, more lakes off in the distance, and so many wildflowers! 

I was in a hiker’s heaven. Everywhere I looked was stunning! It was steep going down the back of the pass, but nothing terrible. I didnt fall, but I did come close to sliding down to my butt more than a few times! The lakes below all had fishermen at them and most of the fishermen had dogs, too. Literally a Colorado dream. After passing the second or third lake, the trail connected to a dirt road that clearly required off road vehicles to traverse. 

Then, it went a long an old railroad path for a while before turning back to trail. That was when we started to climb again and had a few patches of snow to contend with. Where we could, we went around, but the patches we did have to traverse were pretty easy and not high risk in any way. Every time I wanted to panic, I thought of the 8 billion trail runners out here running across this snow in regular sneakers. Hard to be a wimp with the potential of being shown up so easily keeps popping up. 

Pebbles and I ate lunch together in the trees off the side of the railroad path and people watched for a bit before continuing up and across that snow. The trail inevitably turned into a gravel road, and from a distance we could see a huge cornice of snow at the top of the next pass we were heading towards. We were starting to get anxious about it, not knowing how steep and what the other side looked like, when a four young guys in an old bronco came barreling past us. 

We watched as they continued up the road, switchbacking and getting ever nearer the snow. Then, they stopped! We just KNEW they were stuck and the snow was impassable and we were about to have to do something sketchy. As is the case most of the time, we were wrong. They were only stopped to play in the snow for a bit and to then keep going. We talked with them a minute, asked them about the road ahead-as we heard it was impassable by the lake. They hadn’t gone that far yet, but were planning to get to the same campground we were, so we’d probably see them there.  Cool cool.

The snow along the sides of the road was higher than our heads! It was pretty fascinating. And the entire road walk down from the pass was soggy from all the freshly melted snow. There was a marmot that tried to let me pet it, it was very curious of us and seemed sweet, but before I touched it, Pebbles said I shouldn’t because it could bite-solid point. Don’t trust the critters, no matter how cute and fluffy they are! 

As we started getting close to the lake at the bottom of the pass, the one we read flooded out the road around it, making it impossible to pass around it without getting wet, we were beginning to think our information was outdated and it would be totally fine! Those guys hadn’t come back, after all. Then we turned the corner. And our information was quite up to date. As a matter of fact, there was a Defender SUV floating up ahead in the lake. The guys we saw must have seen the SUV and decided against attempting to cross. There were water drip marks showing their multi point turn. Then I realized they were parked a little ways back in a makeshift campsite. Nice. 

We were able to scoot around the side of the lake by holding onto bushes and basically bushwhacking through ridiculous terrain to get to the other side of the lake where the road eventually emerges from the water. Pebbles stayed completely dry. My feet got wet when I miscalculated a step or 17 trillion. Whatever. We all know Grace isn’t my middle name. If I could have seen the bottom and could easily gauge how deep that water was, I would have just walked through it. I don’t trust myself not to sink to my shoulders and soak everything I own though. 

One on the other side, Pebbles and I found the campground and then walked through the whole place to find where we wanted to camp for the night. It got cold fast! I’m in all my layers at the moment. We’re set up towards the front of the campground so we can get up and out quick in the morning. There are several other campers nearby, one is a family with younger kids that were all super nice to us. We talked with them about the SUV in the lake and all got a good laugh. 

Once again, we’re cowboy camping. I swear, I’ve probably cowboy’d more than I’ve set my tent up on this trail so far, and I only did it one time on each of the other trails. Funny how things change and your comfort grows. Speaking of comfort, time to snuggle down in this quilt and get cozy! Maybe I’ll sleep good in this cold! Goodnight yall!