CDT mile 843.5, miles hiked 19
In between storms for the day
I had an accident today, as I was getting things ready in my tent when I knocked my alcohol stove over and burned a hole in my tent. 1. I know better than to cook in my tent and 2., I am lucky I didn’t set the whole damn thing aflame. After cleaning up the mess and patching the hole with some Tenacious Tape I was packed up and Cheezy and I set off on our way to Monarch Pass to catch Zippy and Buttercup.
Post-holing my way up a slope
As we started our climb we hit some snow, it was more patchy than the entire way but it still took some time to posthole through. We made it to the top of our first big climb and as we were navigating our way through the snow, the sky quickly darkened and the thunder began. Minutes later we were dropping down into the forest and getting pelted by hail. The lightning was getting close 10 seconds, 5 seconds, then it was right on us. I quickly pitched my MLD Duomid and the two us sat out the storm snacking on bars and waiting for it to pass.
A quick selfie and a rare blue sky
We loaded back up and descended the snow-choked forest. We eventually made it to a snow-free jeep road that we walked down to Marshall Pass where the boys had slept the night before. The sky had cleared mostly but we texted our friend POD to get a weather forecast, thunderstorms after 3 pm, and we were not making good time. Cheezy and I weighed our options and agreed the best thing to do was to give it a go and if needed take a bailout on a low route.
This little storm shelter saved our bacon during a storm
We stated up the climb and once again were in the snow, the miles came slow but we trudged uphill. We made the ridge and set a bearing cross-country to the saddle, ever vigilant about the weather. When we made the saddle the sky once again started with the light show and thunder booms, luckily there was an emergency storm shelter that we were able to go sit in. As the storm dismiss thing we had a nice hot lunch and black tea with milk. It was just what we needed. The storms passed and even though we had to hike a ridge the next 6 miles and storms were expected later, after seeing the sky and what was coming we said, “let’s go for it”.
Cheezy on Monarch Crest, what a great hiking partner, one who just tells, “go for it!”
The climb out was all snow with post-holing to our crotch but we slowly walked uphill to a clear patch and finished the climb to the ridge. Once up we saw our path for miles it was mostly snow free, or snow avoidable by walking up around it. For the next few hours, we would walk the divide and try to stay as high as possible. We ran into two mountain bikers who said to expect lots of snow and not were they right. It seems no matter if we are on a north, south, east or west face we have snow of some sort still to deal with. As we walked we commented on how long the day was taking, generally, 19 miles could be done by 3 pm but today it took all the time we had.
We were on the ridge when off in the distance we saw a huge bolt of lightning hit a mountain we counted 16 seconds and it was moving our way. We dropped down a few 100′ into some trees, dropped our packs and spread out away from each other on our foam pads. The reason we spread out is in case one of us gets hit the other can take care of them. We sat there with hail pelting us and the storm passing overhead. 15 minutes later we decided it was safe to get going so we started off on our final leg.
Staying on the actual divide gave us some snow-free miles, Photo by Cheezy
The trail was still full of snow, my legs were getting tired from constantly lifting them from the post holes but then it happened we hit a jeep road and in a few 100′ the snow let up and we were on dirt. As we walked the last mile Cheezy said she hoped an RV was parked at the trailhead making her a nice pasta dinner, I said I couldn’t wait to have a cold beer. A couple of hundred feet later and there was a note on a tree from fellow hiker Goosebumps and in a small snow patch was a 30 pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon. We each grabbed a beer and cheers, as we walked the last 1/2 mile drinking a beer we were giddy with delight. Cheezy said it was the best beer she had ever had, I guess the best ones are the ones you earn, because most Germans would never say a Pabst is a beer, yet alone the best one they have ever had.
Nothing like an ice cold, hard-earned beer
We made it to the Monarch Pass store as they were closing, Buttercup and Zippy left us a note that they had gone to town, but to our surprise, they had only made it there two hours before us. We walked out to the highway to hitch the 23 miles to town, just as Cheezy had predicted the 3rd vehicle we saw stopped to give us a lift, a sweet old Ford conversion van driven by a girl with dreadlocks and her beau.
They folks dropped us off at Disco and POD’s new place in Salida, CO. They stuffed us full of good beers, burgers, and a homemade pie that was to die for. Buttercup and Zippy joined us and they told us of their night at the cabin and getting there at dark. I wrapped up the day with a hot shower and crawled into a soft bed. The miles did not come easy today and at times we felt lie asking “are we there yet”, but in the end it was a very rewarding day and I am happy we arrived safe and sound despite the weather.
A rainbow was fitting end to a long day
