8.18.21 -

20 miles +3,800 -5,700 ft

Segments: 23-24

I woke up pretty reluctantly this morning. It was dark and cold, but I knew there were many miles to hike, so I had to get at it. I went pee, made my morning drink, and got ready with most of my layers on, and was hiking by 6. It was still pretty dark when I got started - I think I’m going to start waking up & hiking a little later, maybe by half an hour, just because of the light issues.

The sunrise though was pretty spectacular as I watched it light up the sky while walking. There were so many clouds in the sky still, so the colors were beautiful! The whole morning I leapfrogged with Janet & Ilana (they are segment hiking) as we walked ridgeline after ridgeline, going up and down along the Continental Divide. It was absolutely breathtaking. By far, the best views on the trail. And the super moody clouds with wind actually made it more stunning, with seemingly more textures and layers in the mountains. I have just never seen mountains like the San Juans before. It’s so incredible to me to be at 12-13k feet and still have greenery around! I stopped frequently to take pictures of all the beauty around me.

Eventually, we dipped down a little further and the sun was shining nicely by a creek, so I decided to dry out my tent from last night and take a lunch break. This creek in particular was apparently the headwaters of the Rio Grande river! So cool. I definitely took water from that creek and it was delicious!

Like most afternoons, the trail seemed to drag on a little bit. After lunch, the trail merged with a popular Jeep road and we actually witnessed truck traffic on the narrow road, all while waiting off to the side so we could have our turn and walk the road until the trail picked back up again. That road was the start of segment 24 - there’s only 28 segments of the CT - it’s so close to being finished!

Then I had to find a place to poop, which is pretty difficult to do above treeline. But I eventually found some shrubs I could hide behind. The trail undulated up and down a bit until finally the last bigger climb of the day began. It wasn’t too steep, but being towards the end of the day always makes things harder. Once I was close to the top, I sat down to have a snack, and I finally saw Squid, Berry, and Stretch. We chatted for a bit about our ideas on camping and then continued on. I met another SOBO hiker named Redbird up here as well, who had a very tiny pack and was definitely crushing the miles. Further up the climb, we saw a sheep herder’s large tent set up basically in the middle of nowhere with a horse. As I climbed the next ridge, while the wind started whipping around, we departed from the CDT, and I saw the herder with a huge flock of sheep and his border collie.

By this point, the clouds were finally turning ominous, and it was time to hike down. This ridge was the final bit of trail that was purely above treeline, and now the super steep descent down Elk Creek would bring us back to the trees. I ended up getting separated from the other three as I made my way down the sometimes sketchy descent. It was a pretty long slog that seemed to take forever, and it would drizzle on and off. Of course, it actually did start really raining when I had about half a mile to go until my desired camp. I hit the gas and sped, happy to have kept my rain jacket on and to have dried my tent out earlier: at least the inside would be dry. I got to camp and someone else (Bunker) was there, so I quickly pitched next to them, and hurled myself and my pack into the dry inside. It rained for an hour as I dried myself off and set up camp, and eventually made dinner inside as well since it wouldn’t quit. When it finally let up, I went to get more water and go pee. Of course, it started raining again almost instantly, and it was back to the tent to go to sleep.