It was nice walking up in a familiar bed in a familiar place knowing a good friend was upstairs - it was so nice that the thought of leaving made me sad.
We ate leftover shepherds pie for breakfast (delicious) and drank some cold brew crack coffee that Candice had thoughtfully picked up on her way to Grand Lake. Then Candice drove us to the post office so we could mail back things we no longer need, like micro spikes and rocks one of us had been carrying around. Its crazy that someone would be carrying around rocks, so I’m not going to say who had them - it could have been either one of us. ;)
After the post office, Candice took us to Mountain Grocery (so we could ensure our continuous footpath remains intact) and we started off down US 34 into Rocky Mountain National Park. A section of the CDT redline is still closed from a previous fire, so the only option was a 5 mile road walk. The closure actually worked out in our benefit because it saved us 18 miles. Since our resupply included those 18 miles and since my issue still isn’t great, we decided to simply hike fewer miles per day (~16 instead of ~21) in the hopes that I’ll have more time to recover. Anyway, the road walk was fine for the most part. I took it very slow and was passed by several hikers.
another selfie with one of the best trail angels ever, Candice
Nick waited for me at the park gate so I wouldn’t have to pay a fee to enter (he has a military pass) and then I continued my slow, solitary walk to the trail.
Since the road was mostly flat and since I wasn’t experiencing too much pain, I opted to stay on the road to get to Bowen Gulch Trailhead (where Nick and I planned to meet). Nick decided to hike the trail, which was slightly longer.
I arrived to the Bowen Gulch trailhead first and was sitting on a bridge, eating a snack and waiting for Nick, when the two hikers who had passed me during the road walk walked up. One of them had a Kalalau patch on her backpack, so I commented on it (the Kalalau trail is on Kauai). It turns out that she (Sonic) and her partner, Mud Puddle, are from Oahu. It was fun to chat with them.
As we were talking, Mud Puddle told me I should turn around. When I did, I saw a moose with her baby calf grazing next to the river. The baby was adorable. The best part was when the baby tried to follow the mom across the river - it stepped into a deep part of the river and ended up completely submerged for a bit. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to start filming until just after it popped up again, but trust me, it was too cute.
taken just after the baby found its way out of the deep part
I filmed this from behind a gate. I stopped and walked away when I realized I made the baby nervous - no need to piss off mom
After the entertainment of the moose family, Sonic and Mud Puddle went on their way and I sat back on the bridge with one eye to the sky, which looked like a storm was on its way.
the bridge where I waited for Nick and watched the baby moose (and the threatening clouds)
I wasn’t wrong - soon it started to rain and thunder. It wouldn’t have been a big deal if I was hiking, but I was still waiting for Nick to show up. I ended up huddled under a pine tree while it rained, briefly hailed, and thundered. It wasn’t a serious storm and, since it wasn’t too cold, I wasn’t bothered by the rain or the hail. I WAS bothered by the fact that Nick still hadn’t shown up yet, though.
Just as I was about to check the Bivy for a message, Nick walked up. He had gone off-trail and added 2 miles to his day. Poor guy, I know how much that sucks.
We hiked on in the dwindling storm, planning to meet in another 5 miles to see how my issue was feeling. It wasn’t too long before we came upon some people doing trail maintenance, removing some blowdowns on the trail. Since some parts of the CDT definitely need this service, we decided they deserved some of Theresa’s figures. They were very happy to have their work acknowledged and were excited about picking out a figure. (I let one guy take two because he wanted to give Groot to his girlfriend and I couldn’t say no)
When we finally made it to the planned meeting spot, Nick said, “I can be done for the day”. We had only hiked 12 miles at that point (well, he had hiked 14) and it was very early. Plus, I wasn’t in too much pain. Yes, ok, my lack of pain was likely because I had taken some Ranger Candy after watching the baby moose take a dip in the river, but still - I had a few more miles in me.
Nick tried to fight me, saying we should stop for the day, but I wouldn’t have it. I told him I could easily do another 2 miles. He grumbled a bit but eventually relented. Sure, it took me a long time to hike those 2 miles, but that was more from me being overly cautious than from me being in a lot of pain.
The last few miles were beautiful and I enjoyed them immensely. We had been in a green tunnel most of the day and those last two miles took us out of it a bit, so of course I was happy.
Nick was still a little upset with me when I finally made it to camp, but I don’t regret hiking on. I feel ok and we didn’t waste too much daylight. Besides, we only hiked 14 miles today, which is completely within the ‘easy’ range. I figure that as long as I’m feeling good we should hike as far as we can (within reason, of course - I still don’t think my issue is ready for 20+ mile days yet).
Along the way:
Camp:
Misc:
