Rocky Mountain high continued...
Range after range of mountains as far as the eye can see - for the last 60 or so miles the trail has been bouncing between 9500' and 13500' - so its been gorgeous hiking, but also a lot of hard work. Grassy alpine ridges, cliffy summits, marmots whistling, deep valleys with trickling silver creeks far below - roaring wind - surprisingly cold already, frosts at night - and huge blue-bellied thunderstorms to dodge during the day. The trail has reached its highest and most difficult stretch, with the most up and down per mile from Grand Lake to Silverthorne. I don't know how many thousand feet we've gained and lost in the last few days - too much to keep track of I guess.
From Grand Lake we've been hiking with Eric, a lanky 25-year old Tennessee hillbilly whose plan is to sell all his stuff, hop on a bicycle, and ride to Patagonia just as soon as he gets done with the CDT. So its been novel having someone else to talk to, as B and I have covered just about everything we need to discuss for the next 10 years. I'm guessing that its been nice for Eric too, as you can hear his southern drawl most all day long, except on the steep climbs. At Berthoud pass we also met up with his CDT hiking partner Doug, who had to hurry ahead to make a lunchtime interview at the pass with a guy from the Denver Post. Doug is doing the whole trail on a raw, vegan diet - we sampled some of his fare at the pass - actually delicious stuff. And judging by the way Doug zips up the peaks, it must be pretty potent as well. You can learn more at his webpage: www.rawhike.com
We are staying now in Silverthorne with friends Tyler and Cindy, living the good old frontcountry life, feasting and laying around inside, and watching the wind-driven rain pound the mountains out the windows. I think we are going to try and to the 21 miles to Copper mountain today without packs, and have Cindy pick us up there this evening, and enjoy another night with friends food hot showers etc. Which means I should get done with this post and get ready to get hiking....
From Grand Lake we've been hiking with Eric, a lanky 25-year old Tennessee hillbilly whose plan is to sell all his stuff, hop on a bicycle, and ride to Patagonia just as soon as he gets done with the CDT. So its been novel having someone else to talk to, as B and I have covered just about everything we need to discuss for the next 10 years. I'm guessing that its been nice for Eric too, as you can hear his southern drawl most all day long, except on the steep climbs. At Berthoud pass we also met up with his CDT hiking partner Doug, who had to hurry ahead to make a lunchtime interview at the pass with a guy from the Denver Post. Doug is doing the whole trail on a raw, vegan diet - we sampled some of his fare at the pass - actually delicious stuff. And judging by the way Doug zips up the peaks, it must be pretty potent as well. You can learn more at his webpage: www.rawhike.com
We are staying now in Silverthorne with friends Tyler and Cindy, living the good old frontcountry life, feasting and laying around inside, and watching the wind-driven rain pound the mountains out the windows. I think we are going to try and to the 21 miles to Copper mountain today without packs, and have Cindy pick us up there this evening, and enjoy another night with friends food hot showers etc. Which means I should get done with this post and get ready to get hiking....
posted by coop at 7:51 AM
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