000 Anneliese’s Continental Divide Trail Pages Page Five - Today’s Date is 31 May 2002

My CDT Hike 2002

May 22-25 - Once Again in Castle Rock 00 Curly and I stopped at City Market again (we did this every morning) to pick up a pastry to eat while driving home. While digressing to Cheyenne for a quick shopping stop at the Sierra Trading Post store, I walked out with no purchases while Curly went hog wild. We made a scenic detour through the Snowy Range of Medicine Bow National Park - there was lots of snow and it was freezing cold. We drove by Granite Peak and took in the views from varous points. We could see all the way to Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park. On Friday we went to Costco. And Campy arrived. He was there waiting for the action to begin. After dinner at Phil's, Curly, Campy, and I went to the final concert of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra which performed Mozart's Requiem. Campy is my ground man and Webmaster and is typing this journal even as we all are recounting these events while relaxing at a forest camp situated at the junction of Segments 30 and 31 in Southern Colorado. Curly and I have just finished the easy Segment 30 (to Saguache).

May 26 - On the Road Again 00 We left Castle Rock after loading Campy's truck with supplies for seven days. We drove via I-25, Hwy 115, then on Hwy 50 to Monarch Pass (just had to make a stop at the Wal-Mart in Salida). Campy dropped us off and Curly and I hiked south on the CDT for 13.4 miles at Marshall Pass. We started hiking at 2 PM and got to the truck at 6:30 PM. Campy had dinner and hot water ready - it was wonderful. The trail was pretty well marked and we encountered a number of snowdrifts, requiring us to post-hole in a few places. May27 - Bear Tracks in the Snow 00 Up early- at 6 AM - and then we were off to do a 35.8-mile segment. The trail was again fairly easy to follow with an assortment of snowdrifts to surmount. We saw some bear tracks both in the snow and on the dry trail. The weather varied from cloudy with even some snow flurries, to sunny and warm, which was most of the day. The terrain varies between open meadows and forest. The forests had lots of evidence of logging. We cooked dinner at about 3 PM near a water source and by two old cabins that were pretty much gone. We traveled about 18 miles today; Curly and I shared a single tent.

May 28 - In Touch with Our Bodies 00 Curly and I had a good night's rest and, for a change, Curly wasn't cold during the night. We woke up before 6 AM and broke camp. We had another 18 miles to go, and we didn't know the condition of the trail ahead. The sky was blue and it appeared that we had another beautiful Colorado day in store for us. The trail was generally easy to follow, but often it was rocky and treacherous on downhill portions. There were many blowdowns we had to maneuver around. One section had been cleared and fresh sawdust was in evidence. We only occasionally see some snowpatches. We took many breaks today because our bodies were letting us know that we were pushing at the upper limits of our strength and stamina. As we came out onto a 1 1/2-mile roadwalk and while taking a brief rest, Campy in his "Darth Vader" truck drove up the road. We were so glad to see him, particularly since we were very hungry and we knew he would have a great dinner for us. He is really going to spoil us, but we don't mind in the least (Campy: "ahem!").

00 May 29 - "An Idyllic Country Lane" 00 Once again I woke up at an early 5:45 AM, and started getting ready for a new day. Today's hike was to be Segment 30 and it promised to be as easy hike. We drove to the vehicle access road at the southern end of the segment and had planned to hike south to north. However, it turned out to be a much nicer area to camp for the night and we decided to change our initial plan. We instead returned to the northern trailhead at Hwy 114 and started to hike south. The CDT route first followed the highway, but not directly adjacent to it, since it was at the edge of a meadow next to the forest. Soon the trail veered off and then appeared to follow an old logging road, which was however very well graded. There were many pinyon pine seedlings of various sizes along the road and it was a very pleasant hike. Soon there appeared some very nice views of the mountains and, at one place, an elk suddenly darted off into the woods. The guidebook mentions at one point "an idyllic country lane", and I concur. The very end of our hike was a road walk, on gravel, and Campy appeared and met us shortly before the campsite. We were finished hiking at 2:30 PM and we relaxed the remainder of the afternoon. After dinner we watched at elk cow and calf in the meadow beyond our campsite. Once they noticed us they became alarmed, and finally they took off in the direction from which they came. We talked 'til almost dark and then retreated to our individual tents for the night. Campy sleeps in his truck and sets up a moving object detector next to the pile of stuff which can't go in the truck when he's inside.

May 30 - All in All, a Very Special Day 00 It seems my body has adopted a pattern of waking up by 5:30 AM. So today again I got up by 5:45 AM. Campy too was already up and I believe Curly stirred in her tent. The routine is to go to the bathroom in the woods and then get a hot cup of tea and then we break camp. Curly and I started hiking at 7:15 AM. It was another blue-sky Colorado day. The trail followed a two track road up and down through meadows, with isolated islands of trees. There were meandering creeks hidden by willows. The bright, fresh green of the aspen next to the dark green conifer-forested areas was lovely. As we ascended through a drainage, Curly spotted a silver fox. I saw him sprint off into the woods. What a treat! Later, Curly saw the first blooming iris which both of us photographed. Then we entered a tunnel of aspen and later an incredible meadow with Cochetopa Creek snaking through it. What to our wandering eyes should appear but three fishermen, a truck and a monster tent. We conversed with the fishermen; the senior is named Kurt Graham, from eastern Colorado. This was a very special place for Kurt; during this trip he had his son along who had just graduated high school, and his son also brought a friend. They were planning on doing some fly fishing for a few days. Evidently the fish were biting, and we probably could have talked ourselves into a trout or two for lunch. With miles yet to go, we continued hiking. After hiking a steep downhill stretch we had to ford Cochetopa Creek. We did this at a place where there was a very impressive volcanic rock outcropping. On the other side it wasn't quite clear where the trail continued. Some of the well-defined trails that were present were probably animal trails. According to the map, the CDT stayed near the creek and so did we. The funny thing was, after a half mile or so we began to notice Colorado Trail markers across the creek at an almost impossible place for a crossing, because there was a pond there created by a beaver dam. I hope northbounders don't heed the signs and, instead, cross farther north. At times now the trail was a bit hazardous because of the fine granular soil which sloped toward the outside. Our stops always had a view of the creek and we saw fish jump, some of the largest beaver lodges I have ever seen, a snake slithering off the path and into the blueberry bushes, and we saw a shedded snake skin. It was a pretty awesome day. The sky darkened just before we got to the end of the segment and we saw Campy sitting in Darth Vader working with his laptop. Curly and I quickly put up our tents as it was looking like it could rain. As usual, the clouds disappeared and so did the wind. Campy prepared vegetable snacks and fried up some tortilla chips made from flour tortillas, and then we had a Chinese dinner. Since Curly and I now had hiker apetites we also heated a can of chili. Then it was time to catch up on this journal which I now am writing in the passenger seat of the truck. While doing this, Curly spotted the beaver down below at the creek and I ran over to have a look. All in all, a very special day.

May 31 - Uphill Climbs and Bugling Elk 00 Got up at our usual time and Campy had hot water ready. Curly and I put on our backpacks and said our Good Bye to Campy. Today's hike was planned as an over-nighter with a contingency bailout plan at the 12.5-mile point. The trail still followed the creek and we saw many more beaver dams and lodges. The scenery was magnificent. Mountains were on both sides of us. The trail gained elevation. We saw a herd of elk grazing in the distance. Our first saddle was at a little over 11,000 feet and as we approached the saddle we experienced a very brief cold rain. To an Easterner it wasn't really rain; it just spit a few drops from a dark cloud directly above us. We crossed two more saddles at a little more elevation than the first. On the second saddle we took a break and watched some bighorn sheep grazing on the slope near us. We had to negotiate several snowfields and some of them we skirted around. The elevation gain and loss made for interesting but tiring hiking. At the junction where we might have hiked out because of too much snow we continued hiking the CDT. It mean't another laborious climb but down on the other side we saw a large herd of elk where we planned to camp. While on the earlier up-hill I heard this strange sound and when I stopped to find out what it was it turned out to be a ptarmigan. We also saw marmots and heard the elk bugle and even the high whistling of the picas. Our campsite was lovely, surrounded by big fir trees and a nice grassy area with numerous logs to sit on. Curly and I shared my tent. After dinner we pumped water at a nearby stream. As we enjoyed the last rays of the sun we looked forward to a good night's rest for our weary bodies.

June 1-4 - Home 00 Curly had a return flight arranged for 4 June, Denver to Maine. We arrived at midnight after stopping in Buena Vista to pick up some equipment that Curly had stored with friends. There was the usual line-up at the shower, but Campy was so beat he just crashed in his sleeping bag on the floor. Campy got right to work on updating this Webpage and Curly and Anneliese washed clothes and generally cleaned up for our next foray out in the wilderness. We had a storm. We caught the news on Denver TV that "hailstones like walnuts" had fallen in various parts. We experienced heavy rain all night and the next day June 2nd. When Anneliese drove Curly to the airport on the 4th of June we had already decided not to head out to the area of Dillon and Breakenridge until the following day.

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