Posted by 25.6 miles
I finally saw a moose first thing in the morning on the first and steepest climb of the day. They did exist in these parts after all. It kept its eyes on me and distance between us as I approached, eventually trotting off into a thicket of willows and out of sight.
This first climb was a killer and had me doubting if this is how I wanted to be spending my time. I felt incredibly slow and sluggish up this one. Arriving up on top the reason for my lethargy became obvious – this was the highest point on the Colorado Trail at 13,271 feet. The highest point on trail so far.
Having completed this climb the rest of the day felt relatively straightforward. All climbs beyond were excellently graded and the elevation gain felt effortless.
Thunderstorms marked the day. From mid morning dark clouds started to build and thunder bellowed all around, followed by rain. Open ground is not the place to be for storms however that is all there was today, open hill tops with zero cover.
A fair weather hiker would pitch their tent and wait storms out but progress is slow if you do that all the time. Me, I launched head long into the weather having appropriate wet weather layers handy to change into. The one thing that would put me off is observing cloud to ground lightning. Despite the thunder I saw no lightning and suspected it was all cloud to cloud. I dodged a few storms passing to the sides but was caught by one from behind. It amazes me how rapidly the air temperature drops with a storm overhead. Light snow fell only to burn off immediately. Just as quickly as storm cells arrived, they would clear, the sun instantly providing it’s warmth again. It was a day of constant layer changes.
Just after lunch I reached the Spring Creek Trail Head. This is a jumping off point for most hikers into Lake City situated right on a highway, although the hitches can be hit and miss. Some will wait 2 hours or more for a ride despite the frequent traffic. Having resupplied in Silverton I just picked up the CDT on the opposite side of the road and continued on.
Straight away there short 2 mile climb onto Snow Mesa. Up on top all hell broke loose for at least 1.5 hours with driving cold rain and small hail. My hands were freezing and my rain layers were starting to wet through. I was coming up the last water source of the day and had to stop to collect water despite the weather. I was not looking forward dipping my freezing hands into freezing water but just as I’d set my pack down to retrieve my water bladder, the storm cleared out to the south and sun light returned. Perfect timing and a chance to dry off my rain layers.
Splits showed up at camp around 8pm pitching his tent in the low willows close by.
Mick Beckers 