Category: Collegiate Loop

We started at Frenchman Creek bright and early. Rain is in the forecast so we wanted to get out climb out of the way before the rain started.

I immediately felt pain in my quad today. Same pain yesterday. I think I pulled the muscle.

Firefly gave me a gel she and her husband use and I took ibuprofen. I hope I don’t take too much out here. Still pain. Lesser though.

Again the views are just amazing out here. The AT was great but this is a different level. We hiked by Mount Yale today after a grueling 2700 foot climb. We started hiking in snow. Crazy.

Mr Ranger put messages in the snow as I struggled up and that was just so helpful.

Mount Yale is just amazing. I’d love to summit her but probably a bit out of my league.

After the climb, we had a 3000 foot decline over 3 miles. Hard on the knees but easier on the breathing.

It looked like some storms were heading in around 4. We had 2.5 miles left so we chilled to see if it would pass over. It didn’t so we went ahead. We got to our campground and setup camp before rain. No need to hurry though. It didn’t really start until bed time. 7 o’clock again. Wow.

We ended the day doing 15.86 miles at south cottonwood creek.

We woke up around 6 AM and packed up and started hiking. Some amazingly beautiful colors and views.

I can’t really believe I’m out here right now!

We started at a road junction and just walked our way up and down to a stream. That started the climb for us. We had a 2700 foot climb over 4-5 miles. It was so so tough. My ankle is holding up fine. It’s actually my hip on my left leg that has made every step painful. I’m hoping that some ibuprofen fixes it over night and I’m back tomorrow. After the 2700 climb we had a decent and then another 1100 climb.

It has not been fun. Some of the least fun hiking I’ve done. The altitude is killer. And these large gains.

We finished at Frenchman Creek. Ate some food and in bed at 7…

We started today. I went to the airport to meet with Turd. It’s like we never went two years without seeing each other. It was awesome to see him. A friend of his from the PCT, Mr Ranger, picked us up from the airport.

Mr Ranger is from Michigan but moving to Boulder. He just finished the PCT September 16.

We drove to Leadville, CO where we grabbed some Melanzana sweaters and subway and headed to the trail.

There we met with Firefly, a thru hiker Turd and I both met but at different times on the trail.

The colors out here are amazing. The aspens are turning yellow and it is just breathtaking. This is the reason Turd wanted to hike at this time.

We hiked around 4 miles including a small “approach” trail to the Colorado Trail. Some tough ups and downs and I’m really pushing my ankle but this trail, at least so far, is very doable!

I’m so excited to be back out here hiking. It’s obvious that I’m rough around the edges with my gear again but I know it’ll get better. I’m excited to take this time to relax and fall away from the screen for awhile.

Some odd feelings today while setting up camp. The ground is so different than it was on the east. I used rocks to hold my stakes. Also, I’m surprised the altitude hasn’t gotten to me as much as it could be. But we’ll see if that luck continues!

Also. Fun story. I’m using my same backpack from the Appalachian trail and clips on my hip belt broke in the parking lot. Thankfully Mr Ranger had some extra ones on an additional pack he has.

I arrived in Denver last night late. 11:30. My friend picked me up at the airport and we got to catch up a little bit. He makes me realize I need to read more because he’s wicked smart.

My trekking poles made it to Denver unscathed.

I’m using the same backpack that I used on the AT. It was weird cutting the tag off. I also forgot about some of the zippers being busted. Nothing major, just an inconvenience but that’s kind of what hiking is about. Minor inconveniences along a journey.

I went to Walmart this morning and grabbed some last bits of food and toiletries. I think my bag this time around is going to be a bit heavier than on the AT but c’est la vie. I may try to send some stuff home at a hostel 50 miles in depending on how the bugs are.

Looking at the weather, it should be a beautiful, brisk high 40s/low 50s all week and low 30s at night. I brought a zero degree quilt which may have been overkill. We’ll see.

At this point the highest percent chance of rain is 40% on Tuesday and Wednesday so hopefully it’s mild or just at night.

Head up to Denver bus station tomorrow to meet with Turd and head to Leadville. Excited for the hike, nervous about my ankle.