7.22.21 -

16 miles +2,600 -1775 ft

Segments: 1

Today started off bright and early as I woke up in Hot Mess & Butters apartment at 6:00 am and finished getting packed & applying preemptive leukotape to my feet. Butters had so nicely gotten up even earlier to get bagels before we left the house. I was slightly nervous, and kept thinking I was surely forgetting something. But once everything appeared to be in my backpack, we all took off to the trailhead in Littleton.

After taking pictures at the terminus, applying last minute sunscreen and other toiletries, and saying our goodbyes, I took off and hiked into Waterton Canyon. I had a 6.5 mile, mostly flat hike ahead of me, that I thought would be pretty monotonous. It was, but I kept myself busy by texting my mom for a bit, and counting the cyclists and runners that passed by. After 2 miles, I came across a herd of bighorn sheep, which are known to live in the canyon! It was so special to see them, and pretty close as well. A few decided to hop down and cross the trail and get some water. They are such cool creatures. After the sighting I just kept walking further into the canyon.

At one of the bathroom/ covered rest areas along the way, I saw my first backpackers, so I went over to say hi. Turns out one of them - Dustin - is attempting the trail and his siblings Amy and Brian were there with him for a few days hiking. Dustin is also a PCT alum from 2017, which we chatted about for a bit. He was a really friendly guy, and maybe I’ll see him down the trail. I met a few more hikers once we reached the dam at the back of the canyon, where the Colorado Trail finally leaves the large gravel path and goes into the forest.

Once the CT leaves the canyon, it starts climbing up and up. I met some more hikers here: Isabella/ Not Pit Stop and her dad Boyle, who are out for a week trip, and Jess who is also attempting the thru. All of us leap-frogged with each other as we hiked up and towards Bear Creek, our first water of the day since the trailhead water fountain. We ran into a teenage trail crew doing work on the trail, and we thanked them as we walked by.

The day was getting hotter, and the shortish climb was killing me. I was so looking forward to sitting down and taking a break at the creek. Once we arrived, we all sat around and chatted with each other for a while, before getting up and leaving one by one. The father-daughter duo has big mileage plans for their trip, as they’re trying to get to Copper Mountain in 7 days. I’m not sure how much I’ll see of them! I left the creek knowing there was a small stream a little ways up the climb, and it would be the last water for 6.5 miles, until the Platte River. I knew I would be dry camping tonight though, so I loaded up just to be safe. It had been hot and there was still climbing to do before the long descent to the river.

I found Jess up at one of the campsites near the top of the climb, and while it was tempting to stop, there was still a lot of day left and I didn’t feel like setting up camp yet. I did take a break there though, and texted mom, asking if she could mail me my other pack to swap out. My shoulders have been killing me with my current frameless pack, so maybe I’m just not cut out for wearing one of those. I climbed a little more and leap frogged with another hiker, alex/ splash. There’s a decent amount of hikers out on the trail, which is comforting.

After another mile, I reached a possible campsite, but after looking at the map and knowing that there is another 10 mile hot & exposed water carry after the river, I wanted to push on to get as many of those miles done in the early AM tomorrow. So, I pressed on. Things were going well, but I started to hear thunder rumbling in the distance. I almost beat the storm, but when I was a quarter mile from camp it starting raining and by the time I got to the first viable campsite, it was pouring. Setting up the tent was no fun, and a lot of my gear was getting soaked, and muddy.

I hurried as fast as possible, and finally jumped into the tent, trying to take stock of the situation. I was pretty wet, my pack was really wet, so now it was time to try to dry things off enough before bringing in the sleep clothing. This was a looong task and I was really hungry. But finally, around 7 the rain took a break so I could re-tighten the guylines and go pee, and then finally eat in the tent. Still, at 10 pm, it is raining, so for 3 hours. And I kind of need to pee again & poop!

Hopefully I’ve learned my lesson for next time, but it will be hard to predict the timing of storms sometimes, I think. Hopefully I get better at it, because I really don’t want to have to scramble like that again!