CDT mile 764,miles hiked 22

Buttercup is ready to roll back to the trail

After many long talks, Big John decided it was best to go to Lake City and rest for a bit and then set off on his own.  He enjoys camping and taking his time and having to keep up with us is taking away from his hike.  We all walked to town and met up at Arp’s a wonderful restaurant in Creede.  We feasted on breakfast before Greg in Wild, and the French couple arrived to give him a ride to Lake City.

After catching up on their adventures it was time to go.  I gave Big John a giant hug and we held each other for a minute each of us with tears streaming down our face.  It might be the last time we see each other until the end and it was as sad as any goodbye I have had.  We loaded up and went our separate ways a tough move for each of us yet we know it was the right thing.

An old mine on the road out of Creede, photo by Cheezy

Me, Zippy, Buttercup and Cheezy started up the road out of town it was a cool walk that took you up through the old silver mines in the area.  A few cars and ATV’s passed us on our walk as it is a popular loop to do.  We eventually left the road and pushed up San Louis Pass. We startled a large bull moose and he dodged into the woods.  When we crested the saddle we came to our old familiar friend the snow.

We just can’t find summer

We started out across the snow post-holing some and the saw where the trail led to a valley.  We decided we would take lunch there, we worked through the woods post-holing and crawling over blowdowns, I took my time as I am still gun shy after my fall.  When we reached the valley we saw another bull moose walking away and then saw a cow moose and two calves.  We watched them as we ate cheese and prepared for the next climb.  The next saddle led us to the next snowfield and another saddle in the distance.

I was having a hell of a time post-holing up to my waist and cussing as my foot got stuck in the snow.  With each step, I knew I had made the right choice days ago to head into Creede.  I was the last one up the saddle but once there we saw the majestic snow-free valley below.  We ate a snack and headed down.

The trail is now sharing the same tread as the Colorado Trail and you could tell from the fine tread and good maintenance.   The valley was teaming with wildlife we saw deer and 2 large bull elk in velvet.  The highlight though was our 6th moose of the day, a large bull in velvet.  We stopped and watched him taking photos and stunned at his massive size.

The mighty bull moose was a treat to see up close

We strolled down the trail which is more of creek due to the snowmelt melt and found a nice meadow to camp in.  A hot  meal and a nice small fire to sit by rounded out our day.  We are excited because tomorrow’s terrain looks nice and we should be snow free most of the day.  It will be nice to get 20’s in again on this stretch and keep our journey north moving along.

Drying socks after the daily slog, they might just be the worst tasting marshmellows ever