The Dago Diaries

CDT mile 1197.9, Miles hiked 25.6

Walking down the ridge from Parkview Mountain

The morning wake up went smooth but as usual sleeping in a valley by a stream had everything as moist as rainforest.  I sat in my damp tent and sleeping quilt making breakfast and preparing for the day.  We had a big climb coming up, Parkview Mountain and at the top was an old fire lookout.

Sodas upon the peak Maverick looks like a giant

Maverick, Cheezy and I started out as a group, we chatted and joked and figured it’s good practice for upcoming grizzly country to have Cheezy in the front and be talking, so that when we come down the trail bears will be alerted of our presence, plus who the hell wants to wear one of this obnoxious bear bells all day.

Parkview from the north side

We crossed the highway which was the start of the climb, we ran into Double Shot and she told us Smelly Jesus was ahead. It’s nice to have other thru-hikers around again, we are in no way a herd but having even the occasional fellow hiker seeing you is a nice treat.

The climb was steep and long, we followed a trail and then an old road which eventually gave out to a steep cross country that followed cairns.  We climbed for an hour an finally met the ridge line and headed for the tower.  There was a group of 4 from the USFS trail building team there.  There was a couple who were part of the team and they had met on the PCT during their thru-hike. The crew had just packed up a case of soda to provide CDT hikers with a little trail magic upon reaching the top, so I sat on the summit, overlooking RMNP drinking a Dr Pepper, life was about perfect.

We descend down to a nice open meadow walk, however, the wind was howling today and it was all I could do to stay upright.  We eventually hit the woods and found Maverick at the creek waiting for us.  We loaded up with water and food and set off for the final ten miles and big climb followed by a spectacular ridge walk.  All of us were wiped from Parkview mountain but we needed to push to the next creek for water and that was 10.6 miles away.

We pushed up the first steep climb only to see another endless ridge in our future.  We climbed for a few hours through amazing meadows soaking in the scenery and enjoying the sunset which was aglow thanks to the nearby forest fires.  Right at dusk we made the creek, heated water and set up camp.  Tomorrow we have less elevation and we are only 31 miles to the Rabbit Ears Pass and Steamboat Springs.

CDT mile 1172.8, Miles hiked 16.8

The Neversummer Wilderness

I sent Cheesy on her way up the trail before I was to leave town.  To continue her continuous line of footsteps to Canada she had to hike the 7.5 miles alternate to Green Lake trailhead where I had hiked on the loop on Sunday.  Once she left I headed to the Post Office with Big John.  As we walked to the PO we saw Easy Rider, Nips and Soju as they were resupplying.  When I arrived at the post office my good friend Zorro was there on the porch, we hadn’t seen each other since I bailed down the Creede cutoff.  It was great to meet and catch up he said he was glad to hear Cheezy and I were hiking together and he would be trying to catch up to us.

Maverick showed up at the post office and the two of us walked out of town to highway 34 to hitch to the trailhead.  Now it was July 5th and we were on a highway to a National Park so you would think with all the traffic someone would stop to give a ride to the two nice heavily bearded guys one of which is cross-dressed in a skirt. Much to our surprise though it took 40 minutes for someone to stop.  Her name was Lia and got us to the park entrance and gave us a bunch of food. The next ride to the trailhead took some time too but we eventually found Cheezy waiting for us.

The many moose of Colorado

The three of us loaded up and walked towards the west and our destiny, the Never Summer Wilderness.  A short way up the trail and we cleared treeline only to be treated to 3 moose enjoying the fresh grass in a meadow.  After that, we trudged our way up and over Bowen Pass and there we met at the top to regroup.

The trail descended a nice valley and the three of us chatted on our way down.  We talked about how each of us was all that was left from the groups we had been in from NM to CO and beyond, but we laughed and agreed that we are the leftovers.  A huge laugh that our team name should be that was had and we all agreed that our similar paces suited us well.

We ended the day with a nice campsite near a creek.  Since it was early we made a small fire and got to know eachother better.  We miss our beloved Buttercup, but Maverick is a solid addition to our team and hell of great guy so we’ll see how it goes this next leg.

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Day 76 miles hiked 0Day 77 miles hiked 0

Day 78 miles hiked 24.5, Rocky Mountain National Park Loop

Day 79 miles hiked 0

Shadowcliff Lodge

After walking into Grand Lake with shattered feet we found ourselves at the spiritual and physical retreat spot of Shadowcliff Lodge an amazing oasis that sits perched upon cliffs overlooking the town of Grand Lake, CO.  Cheezy’s feet were a mess when we showed up and so were mine, each of us had developed some sort of ulcer on the last stretch and we need time to rest and heal up.  So with broken feet and much disdain for the snow, we decided to take some time off and enjoy Shadowcliff Lodge.

The staff at Shadowcliff were some of the friendliest and most hiker-friendly lodging I have ever experienced.  The young staff members made us feel welcome and part of the family, it was sad to leave there and have to say goodbye to them, I hope a few follow this blog and keep in touch as I felt so at home and at peace around them and the facility.

Cheezy with a nice ice cream to celebrate the 4th

The town of Grand Lake is very touristy and pure Americana.  They have 4 ice cream shops, plenty of small shops and a great outfitter called Never Summer Sports.  The Lariat Saloon saw us a fair amount, and the Fat Cat Cafe had one of the best brunch buffets ever.  We took our time to rest, soak our feet, and eat mass amounts of calories.

The town is notorious for their July 4th fireworks and since we needed the rest instead of hiking out as planned we opted to stay for the 4th.

On Saturday after doing our town chores we went to the saloon and watched the European Cup soccer quarterfinals which featured Germany against Italy.  The game was exciting and Buttercup was thrilled when his team won.  We celebrated the win and drank some beers and enjoyed pizza.

On Sunday morning Buttercup and I set out at 5:30 to hike the 24.5mile CDT loop through Rocky Mountain National Park.  The weather was damp and gray and we spent most of the day in the fog but we saw plenty of big Elk, Moose, and deer.  As we hiked we talked and we discussed our future hiking together and what he wanted to do.  The European Cup finals were in 7 days so he wanted to make Encampment Wyoming and watch it.  That meant hiking a 27 MPD average with no trip to Steamboat.  With that, we agreed it was time for him to leave Cheezy and I and hike mom his own for as long as he liked or until we saw him again.

Buttercup atop Flat Top Mountain

As we descend Flat Top Mountain on the loop we turned a corner and there was Maverick and John the warrior hiker.  I hadn’t seen Maverick since kick off back on April but was so happy to see him.  We caught up and he said I’ll hike out with you on the 5th.  So with that Buttercup was on his own and Cheezy and I would pick up a new hiking partner.

Kelly at shadowcliff giving us a history tour

The 4th was fun with full Americana in effect.  The lodge had a family style BBQ with amazing food, some of the best potato salad ever! And tons of pie.  I ate until I was stuffed.  To help digest dinner I took the history walk of Shadowcliff where Kelly the program director gave us some great background.  We watched fireworks and then turned in late for the night.

CDT mile 1132, miles hiked 27.5

Crossing a beaver damn to get to town

My alarm went off at 5, I hit the snooze button and laid in bed for 15 minutes drifting in and out of sleep.  I finally rolled over, lit my stove and got in gear for the day’s marathon of 26.2 miles to Grand Lake.  Cheezy and I had slept close to a marsh and my bag and tent were soaking from condensation but being town day I shoved them in the pack and we were off.
The terrain was gentle up and down through marshlands.  We finally were getting lower, and the elevation was no longer an issue. We made some great time moving at 3.5 mph the fastest we had hiked in weeks.  We passed an old cabin at the Junco Lake and given it had a picnic table, a privy and a porch we assumed that Buttercup spent the night (later I learned he did, in fact, stay there).

Aparaho Valley Ranch

The next 8 miles took us through Indian peaks wilderness and to the famous monarch lake.  I was treated to some great wildlife, a large herd of female we and their babies were enjoying the morning dew and eating grass.  A few miles later I spotted a mother moose and 1-year-old calf, the wildlife was healthy and large in the area and it made me smile to see so many mommas and their young offspring enjoying the same areas as me.

The trail climbed up a bit and then joined an old road before heading back into the woods.  The trail took a deep descent towards monarch lake and then it started, the crowds of people.  No sooner did I leave the wilderness boundary and was immediately met by a group of 12 people and 3 dogs. For the next 2 miles I would see numerous groups of kids, retires, dog lovers and one unfortunate couple that had a wife limping to the trailhead with a sprained ankle.  I offered them pain killers and that was about it, I have nothing else in my kit for such and issue but I told them I would send help if any was around.

The High Lonesome

When I made monarch lake there was ranger station, I told the guy on duty about the couple and he shrugged and said do I need to call search and rescue?  Seeing he was not going to do much I figured why should I, so I sat at a picnic table, fired up my stove and made the lst food I had a Mac and cheese for cheesy and I to eat when she arrived.

When Cheezy arrived she had no poles, she had lent them to the lady I passed with the ankle and her husband was there arranging to get his truck up trail to get her.  By the time we were eating our Mac and cheese the woman was safe In her truck going to town for proper first aid.  We left Monarch Lake and .8 miles later came to Arapaho Valley Ranch and amazing place to visit with colorado’s smallest bar and tepees for the glampers.  I met the owner, enjoyed a soda and chatted with them for an hour before lamenting that I couldn’t stay and off we went.

The next section of trail went by granby lake and the infamous Knight Ridge.  Knight Ridge had over 1000 blowdowns for years, last year the crew I met the previous day had spent a summer cutting over 700 blowdowns.  The area is a wilderness area so each and every blowdowns was cut by hand with an axe or a cross cut.  The work they did was amazing and the last few miles had some fresh blowdowns that slowed us down but made us appreciate the work of the crew even more.

We made it to Rocky Mountain National Park

As I left the wilderness area I came to the lake shore and there I waited for Cheesy at the Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) border,  I ate a snack and watched the sky darkens the wind increase and the storm blow in.  We donned our goretex and set off in a storm with rain and thunder to make the last 8 miles to town.

If you are following along you will notice a pattern, when Cheezy and I are on our way to town we often get in the pooh of weather and today was no exception.  We walked along the lake shore getting wet but enjoying the shoreline walk.  We stopped at the Colorado River to take a photo and then walked the east shore alternate towards town.

Finally in Grand Lake

The trail disappeared in a muddy marsh so we crossed countries over to the Colorado River and nearly at its source we wadded the river to get to Shadow Lake Dam and the walk to town.  The East Shore trail was overgrown, full of blowdowns and marshy.  The good old CDT was given us one more good slap on the way there.  We finally made the parking lot and the road to town, we walked it’s the bridge and finally arrived in Grand Lake.  Our marathon was over but we had to hike an extra mile to the hostel.  As we walked Main Street a couple from the lake we had met saw us and invited us over for a burger.  In minutes I was eating cheeseburgers, drinking beer and enjoying the hospitality of Colorado’s fine residents.

Town style trail magic was awesome

The rest of the night is a blur of margarita pitchers, cold beers and hanging with the Grand Lake locals until 2am at the local watering hole.

Cheesy was stoked to see the Colorado River

CDT mile 1104.5, miles hiked 23.4

James Peak summit

After yesterday’s brutal 27 miles and not arriving in camp until after 9 pm we slept for an hour and woke at 6 am.  I was quicker than usual packing up and wait he’s for the others to get it in gear before we took off.

We started off with a nice decent down to the river.  The trail was a series of switchbacks but it was nice to walk through a forest for a brief moment.  We stopped at the river to fill up on water and take a few minutes to clean ourselves and our socks.  After that we started what would be the last large climb for awhile up JAMES Peaks a 13’er which required 320 of climbing.  Buttercup took off and cheesy and I assumed our roles pacing one another up the climb.  3 miles up and we made tree line and the last stream.  We took a ten minute snack break and chatted about where I went to college.

James Peak

As we started back up two day hikers came down towards us, one was wearing a VA Tech hat and low and behold we went to school together and even hung with the same crowd, what a small world.  We continued our climb and eventually made the summit.  Buttercup was waiting for us and we talked about the rest of the day.  Cheezy and I pointed to the stream where we are now camped it was 23.4 miles in total but he wanted to do a 30-mile day.  We had a discussion about the fact we physically couldn’t do that, so he decided to push on his own and meet us at Grand Lake on Thrusday.

Coming down some snow on the ridge

With him gone we started on what we thought would be an easy ridge walks and then a descent.  The tail was stunning with wildflowers galore, but the trail is a loose term as we found ourselves walking cross country on a steep ridge.  It took us a while to make it to the next pass, Rollins Pass, and even though we were slow and the walking was tough we both agreed the views and the flowers made it worth it.

The next stretch of trail was up over Devils Thumb.  We had a threatening sky but decent trail.  The two of us do our best to move strong and we made the best time we could at that elevation yet, maybe we knew after it was done we got to go low for a couple of days.  We took in the last high alpine views and flowers and then started the deep descent to the valley below.

We made decent time getting down from Devil’s Thumb, the forest was thick with pines and luck with summer growth.  As we worked our way up a trail and young moose came out of the woods in front of me and then trotted up the trail.  I met a trail crew in their Camp that is building the trail for us to hike on, they were super cool and I was tempted to plop down for the night with them but I knew each mile I made today is one less towards Grand Lake tomorrow.

On our way to Devils Thumb via the High Lonesome Trail

So now I sit 26.2 miles from Grand Lake, I know I’ll make it for dinner in town, but it’s been nice to be out this long again.  Since NM we haven’t had a six-day stretch on the trail and it feels good to be out in the wilderness, and it will make that cheeseburger taste that much better tomorrow.

CDT mile 1081.1Miles hiked 27.3

Wildflowers galore

Let’s just today was a love-hate relationship with the trail.  I loved the high country, wildflowers, sweeping views and wonderful scenery.  I hated the altitude, the long endless climbs, rocky slow downhills and crossing steep snow as the day turned to night.

We started out the day knowing we had to go at least 25 miles to make our arrival in Grand Lake by Thursday night.  We worked our way up through Herman Gulch it was stunning with columbines and other wildflower displays.  The surrounding peaks were wonderful and stunning.  We ground up to a ridge and then walked along it on our way to Jones Pass.  There was a lower road option on our maps but when we arrived the road was buried under snow, so Cheesy and I stayed true to the CDT and kept on up the next ridge.

Berthoud Pass

We descended and forest and saw a giant mine in the valley below.  It’s amazing how much mining exists out here in the Rockies, I can say I would rather see logging than mining when I hike, trees grow back and are renewable but the scars left by mining last forever and the ore is not replenishing itself.

As we approached the last stream for 8 miles we spotted buttercup on the ridge above us, we gave a holler and he gave a wave.  It would be a few hours later when I would find him sitting at Berthoud Pass waiting for us.  When we arrived it was 6 pm and we had gone about 22 miles, Buttercup said let’s go to this lake in 6 miles on the north side of Mt Flora.  Cheezy and I asked to try to camp earlier but Buttercup really wanted to make the lake.

A distant storm motivated us to get moving downhill

We all set off up Mt Flora, buttercup quickly got ahead and left cheesy and I to the climb at our pace.  The twining us created the summit at 8 pm and saw the rocky descent that lay ahead.  We picked our way down the rock field wondering where camp would be.  As we descended we watched a spectacular lightning display on the next mountain ridge to our north and we knew we had no choice but to keep on dropping down.

As the sun set and the day was turning to night time we were side hilling across scree and then snow. We followed Buttercup’s tracks and we cursed him for pushing so far.  The two of us were tired and hungry and the last thing we wanted to do was cross snow.  We finally spotted a fire below in the distance and heard Buttercup yell for us.

Ridge walks and flowers

We finally made camp and filled our water.  Dinner was a lovely treat of mass calories.  I crawled into my tent and prepared to go to bed, we all agreed to sleep in an hour at Cheezy’s request.  It took only minutes to fall fast asleep and try to recover from one of the toughest yet most beautiful days of hiking I have ever had.

CDT mile 1053.8, miles hiked 18.8

The highest point on the CDT is finally done time to get to Canada

We awoke to a calm breeze and cold air, I tried to ignore my alarm but Buttercup was only feet away sleeping in the lee of my tent and when I rustled he said good morning and it was time to get up.  After our standard routine of eating, packing, pooping, and getting ready for the day we were off.

coming down from Argentine Peak

We could see what lay before us, a ridge of 6 miles up and down various peaks that would then connect us back to the CDT and over more peaks on our way to Gray’s peak the highest point on the CDT, at 14,270′.  The first climb was a good wake up, we worked our way across Argentine spine which was that a spine and a knife edge.  Each climb was a bit hairier than the previous one but we took our time and picked our way through the rocks.  We did have some fun passing old mines and exploring what was left of the buildings and the old mine shafts.

The miner’s hut along Argentine Spine

Buttercup got ahead of us and eventually, we saw him in the saddle below Argentine Mountain.  We met him there for a snack and he said he wanted  to push on today on his own do both Grays and Torres peaks and would meet us later at the parking lot.  He took off and left Cheezy and me to our own devices.

The two of us climbed and it seemed like all we did was climb.  We knew we had to climb Mt Edwards on our way but neither of us realized it was 13,905′.  When we reached the top we ran into two mountaineers who told us about seeing Buttercup and how Mt Edwards was the centennial 13’er of Colorado.  We said our goodbyes and started along a knife edge towards Gray’s Peak.

Cheezy making her way along the knife edge

As we worked our way along the knife edge which was as scary as anything I did on the Sierra High Route last year, we came to the end of one ridge to start the other and we met two-day hikers who were lost.  We told them where they were and they asked if we could lead them, we agreed to.  The one guy was starting out on his own adventure to climb all 75 14’ers in the lower US in 75 days, not a good  way to start being lost on day one, but I think he learned from his mistakes.
We grinded our way along the ridge line and finally reached an actual trail on Gray’s peak.  We worked our way up slowly and finally at 2:30 after only hiking 9 miles since 6am we reached the summit.  Photos were taken and snacks were chewed before we started our descent.

Cheezy and I chatted on our way down and then found Buttercup waiting for us in the parking lot.  The three of us kept going after catching up and walked the road to I-70.  When we reached the road Teresa was there waiting for us with our resupply of food and cheeseburgers from McDonald’s.  We told her of our hike, ate some great burgers and loaded up food and fuel for the next 77 miles to Grand Lake.

a CDTC resupply thanks to Chad and Teresa

We walked the paved path that parallels the highway and finally made camp a hair short of the underpass.  Here I lay now enjoying the serenity.  Nothing says wilderness like a power line and highway.