000 Anneliese’s Continental Divide Trail Pages Page Eight - Today’s Date is 8 July 2002

My CDT Hike 2002

June 16 - 26 - Catching up with Things at Home 00 Since June 16 I spent time at my home in Castle Rock. The place needed a good cleaning and I had some catching up to do on correspondence and other chores. June 27 - Northbound to Close the Gap 00 It's 20:13 as I am writing this in my tent. I am surrounded by fabulous mountain scenery but the sky is gray and temperature has already dropped to 60 degrees. This morning my former husband Jeff and his wife Susan picked me up in Castle Rock. They are driving their 34-foot Winnebago and have been spending every summer in the West relaxing and enjoying the easy life. Jeff and Susan are accompanied by two white small dogs named Harry and Annie. We detoured to Costco and filled up the RV with gas. It takes a lot of gas to do that. The drive to Silverthorne was uneventful and we were there before noon. We decided to have lunch at the Sunlight Cafe and now I was ready to start hiking. The intent is to hike from Interstate 70 North to Colorado Route 401 in Wyoming and close up the gap between Colorado and Wyoming. My pack was loaded with five days of food and it was a bit heavier than I was accustomed to. It had been ten days since I got off the trail at Monarch Pass. I said farewell to Jeff and Susan and wished them a safe summer.

00 From where I was dropped off was several miles of walking on dirt road to the Ptarmigan trailhead. There was a construction crew laying pipe and I was concerned for my safety walking among those big machines. The trailhead had a register and I noticed that two CDT hikers had signed in on that day. I also saw that Annie and the Salesman signed in the day before, Izhmiel (Ishmael) on the 21st, and there were a few other familiar names. This route is shown on the map as a CDT alternate so the trail is not marked. The trail climbed pretty steadily and the views were tremendous. Also now a lot more wildflowers were out, including columbine, which is Colorado's State Flower. Just as I got out of the trees it started to rain a little and I donned my rain jacket and pants. In the open alpine meadow, route finding became a bit of a challenge. There were many animal trails and the trail itself was often non-existing. At one point I really had to study my map thoroughly as there was no trail description at that point. I now feel comfortable that I am on the right track (I sincerely hope so) and, as it is getting dark now, I'll sign off for today. The birds are still singing and there is an occasional light breeze. No photos taken today - too dark and gray.

June 28 - Antanas is Very Hospitable 00 I woke up to another beautiful Colorado day. The birds were singing and I don't know if they were ptarmigan or quail, but there was this one distinct sound as well which puzzled me - oh well... The trail today was through some spectacular scenery. Wildflowers were everywhere, the terrain was diverse. If it hadn't been for the cairns today I surely would not have known where to go. Even with the cairns it wasn't so easy sometimes. I have no idea how many miles I hiked today. I got to the end of the trail and the road which I thought went to the top of the pass wasn't the right one. In the meantime the sky started making serious noises and I debated finding a place to pitch my tent. As I sort of investigated I noticed this house and went to the front door and knocked. A young man answered and it turns out he lives in the house from May through the end of October. He is employed by the Denver Water Department and checks the dams, creek water flow and tunnel flow. He is from Lithuania and drives a bus in Winter Park during the winter. His name is 'Antanas' and he fixed me tea; he brought out cookies and we talked. It's a pretty lonely life for him all by himself. I am the fifth person he has seen since May. I'm also the first hiker. Antanas offered to drive me in his truck to the pass. He also offered for me to stay and spend the night. There are a total of six bedrooms and they have bunks and a closet and dresser. Sometimes other water department personnel need to stay to repair equipment and work. I made a Kielbasa and potato and carrots one-pot dinner for us, and now I plan to go to bed because it's been a long day. I was hoping to be at Berthoud Pass today but it will now be tomorrow. During my lunch break I saw and heard 75 to 100 elk grazing below me in the distance. I also saw a mule deer pair, a black squirrel, and a beige something that ran off being startled by my appearance. I don't know if it was a deer or perhaps a mountain lion because I only got a glimpse of it. I took many wildflower photos today.

June 29 - Berthoud Pass 00 Got to Berthoud Pass about 3 PM. It is supposed to be ten miles from Jones Pass to here. Some of the trail is directly on the divide and the scenery has been extraordinary. The ground above tree line is a carpet of wildflowers. I was attacked by a very protective mama ptarmigan. There were three chicks and I didn't take a picture because she was so upset. There were many big snow banks but luckily they didn't cover the trail. I don't know how many miles I've hiked since Silverthorne but it feels like a lot. I had gotten up at 5:30 AM and Antanas showed me the special built vehicle that he has been driving through the water tunnel to pick up his supplies at the other end of the tunnel. There is no other access to him because Jones Pass still has a more than 20-foot snow bank blocking the road on the East side of the pass. Normally, that road is not open until Labor Day, but this year because of the light snow year it will be open earlier. Antanas FAXes his grocery list and someone does the shopping and meets him at the end of the tunnel. Before driving through the tunnel he has to shut off the water flow and then maneuver this golf cart-looking vehicle down this hole to get to the tunnel. It looked really eerie and he said it was rather spooky the first time he drove through the tunnel. 00 I spent about an hour at Berthoud Pass. There is a small store that sells drinks, snacks, souvenirs, etc. The store owner provided me with envelopes and I was able to mail maps I didn't need any longer home, and mail my log to Campy. That is, the store owner is going to mail the envelopes when he gets to the Post Office. After a rest and a 36-oz. Dr. Pepper I put my pack on and was off. It was mostly up and I hiked on trail I helped construct last year. The trail crew has since continued work on the trail. When I saw two white buckets filled with large rock I stopped and wrote a thank you on a tiny piece of paper with my Web address inserted in a film container. I hope someone finds it before they use the buckets. Where the new trail ended there was flagging until good trail appeared again. At about 6:30 PM I decided to set up camp in an exposed saddle. I used rock to tighten down the tent and actually built a little bit of a wall for wind protection on one side. No thunderstorm today, but hazy sky and it was windy. I am almost directly on the Divide and at 12,000+ feet elevation. Once I was settled in my tent I heard a ptarmigan in the vicinity making her clucking noise. Occasionally during the night there was a strong gust of wind, but it wasn't too bad.

June 30 - Jeep Roads = Hikers' Nightmares 00 Up at the crack of dawn and catching a calm moment while packing up the tent. The trail continued a while longer on the ridge before following the fall line and dropping down toward the Bill Moore Lake Jeep Road. The trail had apparently been flagged some time ago because frequently most of the flag part was missing and all flags still intact were very faded. Often I stopped to find the next flag. A good bit of the trail also involved boulder hopping. Once I was near Bill Moore Lake there were several vehicles, tents, and people. I was looking for CDT markers and/or trail. My map indicated "Trail under Construction" but even my extensive search near the lake outlet and along the west side of Mill Creek didn't reveal any trail. The campers I talked to didn't know of a trail and even a youth group out on a wilderness adventure was unable to give me better info. Finally, I just bushwhacked, staying relatively close to the stream. After awhile I saw a faint trail and that trail then became a road of sorts. Just before the road reached a crossing of mill Creek, a jeep road identified as FR 171.3 went steeply uphill to the left. Again I consulted my map along with a person riding a motorized roadbike and we decided the jeep road to the left was the CDT route. After filtering water at the creek I trekked up the hill. I think I mentioned previously that these jeep roads are a hiker's nightmare. It was hot and I kept going uphill 'til the road just ended! Well, that definitely was a dead end. I checked around a bit but I would either have to bushwhack uphill or do a very steep sidehill to a large drainage. Neither option seemed a smart choice so I went back down the hill. 00 Now there was a road to the left as I came down, and I decided to check it out. As I later found out that was the trail to a point where I saw mine tailings. Again I met dirt bike riders and they knew nothing about the CDT, but they had seen two hikers. I decided to go back to the top where the road had ended and check that area again. It proved again that there was no trail there. Disgusted, I went back down the hill and at that initial junction were the two hikers. They were hiking south and from their information the trail going north to James Peak was non-existing. They had bushwhacked uphill to where the mine tailings were. I gave them info of what was ahead of them and they chose to take the route to Bill Moore Lake that I described rather than follow the Guidebook. I went back up the jeep road but took the road to the right. Instead of turning left at the mine tailings I continued down the hill on the jeep road. The Guidebook indicated 1 1/2 miles from the T-junction and the mine tailings were too early from that junction. Also, there were footprints I was following. Eventually, I reached Mill Creek again. I had to cross it and was able to precisely identify where I was on my map. There was a trail along the east side of Mill Creek and it went to a parking lot and to Mill Creek Road. As I walked along the road I saw a person in his yard and asked if he could tell me where I was. He produced a more detailed topo map and confirmed my location. I decided to call Robert and since he was home I asked him to come and get me. It only took him an hour and I wanted to gather additional info before continuing with my hike.

July 1 - In Castle Rock 00 Back in Castle Rock I called CDTA but Kirsten was not in that day. I also called the Clear Creek Ranger District and the Sulphur Ranger District for trail information.

July 2 - I Have a Chat with Kirsten 00 Drove to Pine and met with Kirsten to go over maps and relay information about trail conditions to Jim Cuthbertson of the Clear Creek Ranger District. It seems they won't get to the flagging 'til later this season.

July 3 - Plans For Grand Lake 00 Rob wants to do some hiking so we plan to do a car shuttle and hike from Grand Lake to where I left off on the 30th. What I have learned is that sometimes the Guidebook is incorrect and sometimes the map doesn't show everything. I had done pretty well with instinct and common sense and will have to continue relying more on these than Guidebooks and maps.

Gallery page: More Pictures Next Page ||| Return to Index