The Dago Diaries

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

Miles hiked 0

A mural in town

We have been enjoying our time in Creede the folks at the Mountain Views RV Resort have been wonderful to us and we have been able to yogi rides in and out-of-town easily and have really embraced our time off trail.  I honestly feel like I am car camping back home with friends.

As usual, we did our chores but since we didn’t plan to come here we had few extra to do’s which included figuring out some way to get to Lake City and get our resupply boxes.  We visited San Juan Sports a top-notch outfitter in town, beside getting a few dollars from each of us they also were kind enough to let me use their computer for some much-needed banking.

One of the many displays in the mining museum

Zippy, Buttercup and I visited the mining museum in town, it’s a cool place blasted into the side of the gorge above downtown.  The fire station and community hall are all there too right in the mountainside.

The pooh car

We also ran into our friend Mulhe who we last saw as we all dropped down the Creede cut off to come to town.  She told us her tale of being rescued by two Cowboys the other night.  After reaching Goose Creek she couldn’t find where to cross the creek and she couldn’t go higher because of the snow, so she hit her Spot.  4 hours later two Cowboys with a third horse in tow arrived at her camp to rescue hers. They got her loaded up and by the end of the night she was delivered safely in town.
We went back to the resort and hung around then went by a few folks we had met and borrowed some fishing gear to have our hand at catching dinner.  Our new RV friend Holger said he would cook our potatoes on his BBQ while we went and fished.  A few hours later and I had landed two trout, one a nice dandy German Brown Trout.  We stopped back at camp and who should arrive but Snorkel and Cheezy.  Big John was a bit behind but by the time the dish was done all six of us were feasting at Holger’s patio enjoying beer and fish.  We retired to bear lodge for the evening where we were to watch some DVDs we rented only to find thy only had a VCR instead…

My catch of the day

The next day was a bit of long haul for me.  Trail angel extraordinaire Karla Roqumore arrived at 7:30 to pick me up to take me to South Fork so that I could borrow her car to go to Lake City to retire my boxes and Big Johns.  As always she was too much and paid for my amazing breakfast and then gave me her car for the day.

I picked up John the Warrior Hiker who I had not seen really since Pie Town, his feet were a mess and he was headed to Lake City to rest for a week.  We swung by and got the crew and headed to town for breakfast.  We enjoyed some food and then Big John and I headed to Lake City.  The drive was nice through the mountains but it’s still weird to drive these days.
We arrived at the famous Raven’s Rest Hostel run by Lucky.  He met us there to make sure we got our boxes, then went to the PO to help me get a box for Spirit aka Hiker Box who I had first traveled to NM to start our hike from Oregon.  Big John and I rushed back in time to see PPD who was at the resort picking up Snorkel and also graciously proving a ride for Mulhe and Spontaneous who are both taking some time off.

We gave her piles of our stuff and laid plans to make it to see her next week on the 15th I time for my birthday.  I hope we can do it as she promised a homemade pie and cold frosty IPAs.

We ran to town and picked up steaks, corn and potatoes for a feast this evening.  After the final run I raced to South Fork to return Karla’s car and have her run me back.

I arrived in time for the afternoon storm and then sorted my food.  As the sky cleared we went to the bear lodge and cooked our feast of meat and potatoes.  We enjoyed a salad and Buttercup with his charming smile yogied us a homemade lemon cake, and it’s the bomb.

We are keeping our tradition of cooking in town going

We plan to hike out in the morning so it’s time to make some final preparations and get some rest.

Our delicious dessert courtesy of some lovely RV retirees 

CDT Mile 742, miles hiked 17.5

Blowdowns can mean a serious injury sometimes

The CDT is a fickle gal who is not afraid to give you a good slapping any chance she gets.  Today was supposed to be an easy day, descend to a forest service road, walk a few dirt roads and then descend a gentle valley along Deep Creek.

Buttercup gives the snowmelt the sniff test to ensure it is good

We woke up to frozen socks, tents and gear.  Zippy informed me that the temp had dropped down to 30 and after the previous night’s warmth, none of us were surprised that our gear would had frozen solid once more.  We slept in some as we are all exhausted from the San Juans, so after a leisurely pack up we hit the trail headed to Creede.

The tail was pretty nice and we made decent time walking through the aspen forest, and then the road.  Being back on a USFS road walking 3 abreast made us feel like we were back in New Mexico.

Buttercup and Zippy Morroco enjoy a yard sale to dry out wet gear

Everything was going fine we were making good time and had started down the Deep Creek trail.  There were some blowdowns along the trail and that is what would be my slapping.  I scrambled up a double layered blowdown and I stepped down I slipped, fell backward and crashed into the logs hearing some branches break along the way.  I laid there in pain, my left ass cheek was throbbing.  Zippy helped me up and we did a quick evaluation to see how bad I was torn up.
My skirt was shredded along with my boxer shorts and a deep 8″-10″ scrape went from my butt cheek to my hip bone.  I also had a pretty good bruise on my side but thankfully my pack protected the rest of me.

After finally getting back going we walked about another mile or so and there was Buttercup with his foot in Deep Creek.  He had rolled his ankle pretty bad and was trying to cool it down to reduce the swelling. So there you go in less than a 2-mile span the CDT gave a slapping to two of us.

We finally worked our way down to the trailhead and the road.  As we stood atop the hill we saw a large RV park and what appeared to be a gas station.  Wanting cold sodas as always, we headed down the hill hoping for treats at the store.  We crossed the Rio Grande and headed to the store, turns out it was a car wash, so we walked to the next group of buildings but they were closed, we saw a sign for the RV park office and a guy watering the flowers, “do they sell sodas in there?” I inquired and we were told “yes.”

The three of us walked down to the office and were greeted by the very nice ladies in the office.  After answering questions about our hike they informed us they had cabins for $50, but they are a mile out of town.  After making calls and getting quoted $130 everywhere else in town we decided to stay and the owner Helen had her husband take us to town later in the day.

The mighty Rio Grande

We feasted on ribs and amber beer.  We met up with Easyrider who told us his tale of the knife edge and then bailing down to Creede, once again reassuring us we made the right move.  We walked down the main street and I yogied us a ride back to the park.

Tommy Knockers has some amazing ribs on Tuesday

With full bellies, we settled in for some rest and relaxation.  I did our laundry and caught up with some folks on the phone before crashing hard for the night.

Creede, CO so far my favorite of trail towns for maxing and relaxing

CDT mile 724.5, Miles hiked 17

Rare snow-free sections

We awoke in the marshy meadow and began the morning rituals, cook our breakfast and pack up to tackle the day.  We climbed from the valley into the snow and trudged our way up to the ridge.  We stopped by a lake to grab some water before moving on.  The snow was soft and deep, the warm temps last night prevented refreezing and we had to slog our way through deep snow post-holing at times to our waist or crotch.

The six of us worked our way along the ridge at 9 am we took a 20-minute break to dry our gear from the previous nights’ condensation.  It was cool and windy and our gear dried fast in the sun.  We saw Mulhe a retired doctor who had skipped ahead on her hike avoiding the South San Juan Mountains and was working her way to the Creede cutoff.  The last time I saw her was in Lordsburg the morning I was going to the border.  She looked at me and said, my Allgood you have lost a lot of weight.  It is true, I am down over 25lbs and looking very healthy these days.

After our break we continued on the trail here, following a ridge line for the day and we worked our way up and down, we all put on snowshoes to help with the post-holing.  A few miles later and we arrived at the Sawtooth Trail and the Creede cut off.  The cut off bisects the mountains and cuts off 80 miles of high country.  When I arrived and sat down a new discussion led by Buttercup started.  Should we take the cutoff or not?  At best we were making 1mph, and with 6 days of food we had to average 15 mpd to make it to our next resupply, some quick math said that today we walk until 9pm and have to hike 15 hours per days to make it in time.  I had never really consider the cut off as an option but Buttercup said, “my gut says I need to take it,” I told him, “if you want to go that route I’ll go with you.”

Until we meet again our boy Bandit king of trail food

Ever since we left Chama the last leg did a number on my feet.  I have a deep open wound on my heel but worse yet is my right metersal is still sore and red. After some discussion it was decided that Zippy Morocco, Buttercup and I would take the cut off as it felt like the right move for the 3 of us.  Zorro, Bandit and Wilderness wanted to carry on the official route, it was a sad parting for sure.  We gave them extra food and they decided to push 9 days to make it to Lake City.  It was hard to say goodbye, especially to Bandit.

Riders on the storm, one of the factors we choose the low route

Bandit has hiked with me since my 6th day on trail and has been like a little brother to me.  We each gave each other a long hug and knew it might be the last we see of each other on the hike.  All the laughs and experiences flowed up and I had to fight back some tears and let him go on his own.  I know he’ll be good and with his new romantic interest maybe some alone time will be good for him.  The three of them packed up and started up the ridge right as the daily thunder began.  The forecast is calling for afternoon thunderstorms daily and the weather along with our slow speed played a big factor in deciding to go down.

As we descended I started to doubt if I was making the right decision.  Would my hiker friends that I respect think less of me because I took the cutoff, was I being a wuss?  It is never easy to know when to call it and when you do the emotions that come with it are tougher than the decision itself.  As we descend down the valley we had a few tricky river crossings.  One in particular was so bad I decided to put on my micro spikes to make it across the log, when I pulled my spike on the rubber that hold it around your foot tore on half, I guess the universe was sending  me a message that I made the right call.

The rivers and creeks swollen by snow melt

The three of us hiked together talking about what we had decided and how we would go on once in Creede.  The freedom the CDT provides is great and I know I made the right decision for me now based on the conditions and the terrain in front of me.  Buttercup and I are already planning a visit once we are done our hike on the CDT to come back through the San Juans  when the weather is nice and the snow is gone.

The burned out forest

Nothing ventured nothing gained is how I view my call and trip into the San Juans, I will hike another day and be thankful I had the fortitude to set my ego aside and make the smart call for myself.

CDT mile 707.5, miles hiked 8.7

Left to right Snorkel, Let It Be, and Allgood or the current VP of ALDHA-West, the first President of ALDHA-West and current President of ALDHA-West

We got up at Karla and Mark’s and took some time to work on my blog and eat Karla’s amazing biscuits and gravy.  Karla had arranged for her friend’s rafting company to take us over the pass to Pagosa in a large van.  The van picked us up and we said our goodbyes.  The ride over Wolf Creek Pass is something else and the winding road made me a bit queasy as I sat in the back of the van.

The driver delivered us to my friend of 20 years Let It Be, who I hiked some of the Appalachian Trail with back in 1996. Hliveses outside of town and has a nice little hiker bunk room and a few acres to spread out on.  Once there I caught a ride to town with Bug John, Cheezy and Snorkel.  A final trip to the outfitter, then we enjoyed eating yak burgers and drinking flights of beers at Riff Raff Brewing.

Bad lighting for this picture, but the beer was good at least

We wrapped up the day with a trip to Springs Resort a lovely hot springs resort with multiple pools from 94-117 degrees.  We soaked our weary bones and watched the storm brew on top of the pass.  Afterwards we stopped by the worlds deepest hot spring right there in town and then went back for a family dinner at Let It Be’s.  After dinner we talked about what to do as far as hiking the groups split.  In the morning Big John, Snorkel and Cheezy would stay an extra day and then take the Creede Cut off on Monday.  The rest of us decided to try the high route to Stoney Pass where we arranged a shuttle to pick us up in 6 days to resupply in Lake City.

We went to sleep and awoke in the morning to a final group breakfast, a quick resupply at Walmart and then back to the house to pack up.  Let it Be had a scale and we all weighed our packs and then had a chance to rework things.  With 6 days of food, snow gear and what not my pack weighed 40lbs a beast!

Winter gear is heavy

We loaded all 6 of us into his little Toyota and he whisked up the road to Wolf Creek Pass to start back on the trail.  At 2:30 the sky got dark and the thunder started we waited for an hour for the storm to pass and then started our climb up.  The trail was not too bad until about 5 miles in when we hit the snow line and trudged through it with our micro spikes.  At 7pm we found a melted out spot and set up camp.

The ground was moist from recent snowmelt but we were able to get a small fire going to warm out cold feet and then we ate dinner and turned in for  the night.  All of us were wiped out from the last section and couple of busy days in town, and the warmth of my quilt was a welcome reprieve as I fell fast to sleep.

Leaving for round two in the San Juan Mountains

Miles hiked 0

Artwork of the man cave

After our heck of a time making it through the southern San Juan Mountains we decided to much-needed rest to recovery sore feet and muscles, refuel our bodies and make gear changes as we needed. We we’re so fortunate to have two of the most wonderful trail angles take us under their wing and care for us.  The trail angels in South Fork are Karla and Mark.
Karla and Mark arranged for us to stay at their house so Zorro, Buttercup, Snorkel, Cheezy and myself stayed with them and the rest of the crew stayed at the hotel down the road.

Trail angel extrodinare Karla and her world-famous bread pudding

The group met for breakfast in town, I had to leave to go help this Korean gentleman named Thermometer who was trying to flip-up to Yellowstone National Park to avoid the snow.  After a big breakfast I borrowed Karla’s car and Sketchy, Veg, Big John, Zippy Moroco and I took a trip over the pass to Pagosa Springs to get their boxes at the post office and then we hit the outfitter.

I had been post holing with my snowshoes on the San Juans and the bindings were killing my feet, so I jumped at a used pair of 36″ snowshoes for $80.  I also bought some new hiking poles suited for snow, extra sock liners and new headlamp.  My 7-year-old Petzl e/lite has seen so much action that it constantly flipped down and blinded me when I used it.  We wrapped up our visit with some burgers, milkshakes and visit to the local dispencery where I picked up some CBD salve for me aches and pains.

Once back in South Fork I went with Karla to take pictures of the 4 new mountain bikes the town has bought for hikers to get around town with.  South Fork is a great trail stop and not to be missed.  We ended the evening with a BBQ at Karlas’ place there were 14 hikers and we all discussed plans for the next leg.

Buttercup and I had a long talk about our future as partners.  He is faster than me and I told him I didn’t want to hold him back, he assured me he loved hiking with me and we would carry on as a team.  A call home made me miss Suzy even more but it was nice to hear her voice and catch up on the happenings at home.

I just want to give one giant thank you to Karla and Mark, these two trail angels are amazing.  Their dedication to helping us on our journey is second to none and the fact they open their home to strangers is amazing.  If you are on the CDT I can not recommend a visit to South Fork enough as it has all the resources for a resupply and is a nice laid back and relaxed place to feast and recover.

Day 42 CDT Mile 650.75, miles hiked 15      Day 43 CDT Mile 667.86, miles hiked 17.11

Day 44 CDT Mile 678.06, miles hiked 10.2

Day 45 CDT Mile 691.06, miles hiked 13

Day 46 CDT Mile 699.66, miles hiked 8.6

Snow was our main terrain for the week

Due to the nature of this past section, I was unable to blog at night as I usually do.  The following is a snapshot of some of what I went through in this last section.  Most evenings when I came into camp I was so exhausted that all I could do was put up my tent, cook a meal or melt snow for water, eat, rub my sore feet and then pass out…..

Background- As a northbound thru-hiker nothing strikes fear more and causes a ruckus on the interwebs of CDT hikers than the snow of the San Juan Mountains.  Adding fuel to this fear fire is the constant talk of how avalanches have will take you out, post-holing with snowshoes up to your crotch and many hikers leaving town only to return once they saw the snow.
I myself have spent many years in the snow from my youth in New Hampshire to my adult life in the PNW.  I have a good friend at home named Jock and when I moved to Oregon he took me under his wing and taught me about mountaineering and climbing peaks.  He spent time teaching me how to use my ice ax, walk-in crampons, avoid avalanches, and navigate my way through deep snow in high mountains.  From there I spent years backcountry skiing, snowshoeing, climbing peaks and being an all around powder hound during the winter months.  Going into the San Juans I knew I would have to use all my experience and skills to stay safe and keep moving north.

my first winter mountaineering trip on Mt st Helens in 2001

The Trip- We started our trip off with a unique ride back to Cumbres Pass on a historic steam engine.  the Cumbres-Toltec Narrow Gauge Rail Road is the longest Rail Road of it’s kind and has been around since the late 1800’s.  The cars and steam engine are all maintained by volunteers and the trip is something everyone should experience in life.  The 6 of us that sprung the $25 for the ride all said it was one of the coolest things on the trip so far.  The railroad wound it’s way up the mountain and the folks on the train told us the history of the area and the rail road.  I met a wonderful couple on the train and we chatted about life, family, and living a life of adventure and loving the outdoors.  They gave me their card and the gentleman specializes in land sales in the region so he said when I was ready to leave Portland to call him and he could help me find the perfect spot to build my earth ship, he himself built a hay bail home and lives off the grid- a great connection to be made.

CDT snow club getting ready to go hike

The train stopped at the top of the pass and dropped us off.  The folks on the train all waved goodbye and wished us well.  Zorro and Cheezy were waiting for us at the pass with Greg in Wild.  It was a bittersweet moment as we were excited to enter the San Juans yet parting with Greg in Wild was sad as we knew a 5-day head start might mean we will not see him for a long time if at all the rest of the trip.  We got to the trailhead and there in the register was a note from POD that read “take only pictures, leave only footprints and your blood and broken spirits”. I love that a woman, she is like a sister to me took the time to leave a note on her way back home to make us laugh and bring some levity to our situation.

The hike started with a large climb out of town, nothing says fun like 7 days of food, snow gear and extra clothes all strapped to your back as you climb a few thousand feet up.  The crew heading up included Bandit, Buttercup, Zorro, Cheezy, Wilderness, Snorkel, Big John and Myself.  As we got about 10,500′ we hit snow on the broad planes, this would be the first taste of what was to come.  I took a step and instantly sunk to my crotch, I lifted my leg and made some steps about every 3rd one sunk back to my crotch.  I put on my snowshoes and started across the plain.  Even with the snowshoes I still post-holed some but not as deep.  I kept walking and eventually found the crew setting up on a patch of grass amongst the snow. We saw Big John and right before him, we saw Zippy Morroco.   Zippy set up with us and asked if he could hike with us through this section, of course, we said yes.

Allgood, Snorkel, and Buttercup showing our love for Mont-bell

The next day was toughie we started out. Across the snow in the morning it was firm.  And held well under our weight but given the snowshoe walking we only made about 1mph.   Around 2 pm we came to a rest stop and looked at the maps, there was asleep and gnarly section coming up that we didn’t really want to tackle so instead we dropped down to the alternate which took us through a drainage and back up the other side.  We post-holed down the steep slopes watching for blowdowns under the snow.  We arrived at the river around dusk, it. Was high and cold from the snow runoff, after some debate, we decided to wait until the morning and cross than when the flow should be lower.  Bandit made a campfire and we sat around talking into the dark hours and then we turned in for the night.

The next morning we crossed the river it was lower but still cold as heck,,. we all felt a chill run through our feet and even though it was cold it was still not as bad as a glacial river back home.  We started up the drainage, it was steep, we worked our way up and eventually made the snow line again, we stopped on a broad snowy plain and took in the view.  We kept going and then regrouped at the saddle where the two trails meet up, we saw where Knotts had come down the steep slope and he said that Veg and Sketchy were still up top.  We continued on after taking time to dry our bags and tents.  We came to the top of a saddle and had to descend down to the river valley,  we debated which way to go, the way down was very steep and we had to use our ice axes and kick steps to make it safely down.  Bandit did a great job of leading the way down and we all enjoyed a little glissading to save our knees.

Crossing slopes that scared the living heck out of us

After walking up the river valley Sketchy and Veg caught up to us and we all chugged along.  We came to a drainage and after looking at our maps decided to make our own way up the mountain, a shortcut that would shave off a few miles.    We got atop the plateau and there we had to traverse around Summit Mountain, this was by far one of the scariest areas of the trip, as we walked under the steep slopes there was recent evidence of wet slide avalanches, this is the type of spot where if I was home I would turn around and head for my car as the risk was not worth it, on a thru-hike though you have to push on, luckily it was getting cold and the snow was reconsolidating.  When we came to camp the group was set up on a patch of grass, there was another grassy spot below so Big John and I set up there.  We had very little water so I took out my alcohol stove and started to melt snow for Big John and I, two hours later we had enough water, so I cooked dinner and sat about until 10 pm when I laid my head down and fell fast to sleep.

The next day was a long hard one, it began with an early sunny morning traverse around Montezuma Mountain.  Then we walked ridges until a slight descent through a river valley covered in Snow and a climb to Elwood Pass.  After taking time to dry out gear we started up from Elwood Pass towards Silver Pass.

Tiny friends unite and keep us entertained

As the storm rolled in bringing some snow and thunder, we had to cross a ridge to continue on which was very stressful but luckily it was all thunder but no lightning.  After we made the ridge we pushed on up a snowy mountain and then made one of the toughest traverses I have ever made across steep rocky and snowy slopes on our way down to Silver Pass.

The next morning was the final push to Wolf Creek Pass and the highway.  The day was pretty straight forward except for the traverse above Alberta Lake.  The traverse was super steep and we had to kick steps and post-hole through the snow.  Finally we climbed and reached the ski area once there we started to follow a cat track and the firm snow was a great way to make progress.

The walk along the ridge was pleasent we stopped for photos and were able to follow a ski road down to the highway.  As we hit the pavement we all felt elated and I felt more accomplished than any other hike I have ever done.

The CDT snow team finds a new ride through the mountains Bottom Row Left to Right Zorro, Zippy Morocco, Veg, Sketchy, Cheezy, and Big John Middle Row Left to Right Wilderness and Bandit Top Row left to right Snorkel and Buttercup

As we sat at the kiosk celebrating our accomplishment and trying to hitch to South Fork, a nice guy on a motorcycle pulled up and offered to get his wife to arrange rides.  One person needed to ride on the motorcycle to town so I jumped on the back and 20 curvy miles later I was dropped at the Mexican restaurants and sipped margaritas waiting for the trail angel extraordinaire Karla to come get us for our stay in South Fork.

And we are done! Wolf Creek Pass, CO Left to Right Big John, Zippy Morocco, Veg, Sketchy, Snorkel, WIlderness, Allgood, Buttercup, Bandit, Cheezy, and Zorro

my best ride and scariest ride yet to town while hiking