We decided to slack pack 14 miles today from junction 50 to junction 50 at monarch pass.
We grabbed breakfast at the lodge at the local hotel and hitched to the trailhead. We were happy to hike with light packs because we had a 9 mile climb of 3000 feet. The first 7 miles were okay with low grade and some higher grade sporadically through the miles. The last 2 were brutal. Near straight up for the last half mile.
We reached the top to complete the Collegiate Loop East portion and hopped on the CDT.
As we climbed elevation, it started to snow on us. It was really pretty. Then we kept getting higher and colder. We reached 12,548 in elevation today. The clouds rolled in and out during our last 5 miles making for some amazing scenes when they rolled out.
We ended the day of hiking with a hitch from a guy originally from South Africa, moved to America after high school, and went to college in Denver. He worked for ten years and decided to sell everything and live on a sailboat in the Caribbean. Now he’s remodeling an ambulance for van dwelling. Really interesting guy!
We chilled the rest of the day and ate late. The town has a car race of some sort tomorrow and we are zeroing so it should make for an interesting and fun day! We also learned of a game called Gravitas from the owner of the hostel. It’s a simple rock stacking game but so much fun!
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