CDT + GDT: Grand Lake to Steamboat Springs - Follow a Trail, Any Trail
Resupply 13 | Grand Lake to Steamboat Springs
Day 53, 17.8 miles.
This morning I had such a big breakfast at Sagebrush this morning that I didn’t eat again until 2:30pm. I asked the manager how much snow Grand Lake gets, and he said: 3 to 5. Feet? I asked. No, hundreds of inches. That’s 25 to 41 feet or 8-14 meters of snow. No wonder the area is called the Never Summer wilderness. Gary took me back to trail and I did a cut off through a burn area skipping 20 miles in Rocky Mountains National Park because with the snow and elevation, I’m not likely to make it through in one day and I’d need a bear cam to camp overnight. This is the log and creek where I slipped, and all I have left of my poles. I’ll be looking for walking sticks again. The bigger damage might have been to my electronics: one battery pack died and only one port is working on the other. Once again I need to get to stable dry trail and get to town. There was hail and thunder as I ascended to Bowen Pass, so I hid in some trees under my tarp for a bit. Then I heard some human voices. I called out but no one answered. Later on the ridge I saw three undeniably human figures and my motivation went through the roof. I had to find them. I followed their tracks along an overgrown dirt road off the trail, then lost them and eventually set up camp. I felt pretty deflated so when a drizzle started I just pulled my tarp over myself and didn’t bother to set it up. Hopefully I can get things to charge tomorrow or I’ll have to bail at the next road.
Day 54, 21.9 miles.
Normally I like hiking cross country without a trail. There’s a certain freedom to it, like you’ve erased the last boundary between yourself and nature. But lately I’ve spent a lot of time bushwhacking and climbing over deadfall off trail. It seems like even when I try to take the main CDT redline, I can’t actually walk on trail. I spent the morning fighting my way through a traverse along a very overgrown dirt road I was using to avoid snow up high. I decided to cut down to the remainder of Slide’s alternate. If I’m not going to be walking on the CDT, I might as well take a route I can actually follow. I did find the three hikers from yesterday, but they said they’ve been road walking a lot which is why I hadn’t seen their tracks before, and they were getting out of the snow and taking county roads all the way to Steamboat Springs. So I’m still alone. Slide’s alternate followed a dirt road and then took a trail along a creek through a burn area to reconnect with the CDT at Haystack Mtn. There was a lot of deadfall to navigate, but I’m glad to have ended back on a dirt trail.
Day 55, 19.6 miles.
I’ve been mobbed by clouds of mosquitos for the last several days. As soon as I stop they start nibbling on whatever skin is accessible: the edge of my ear or the part of my hair. I can’t shake them. The snowmelt left standing water all over so they’re everywhere. I spent most of the day walking on the ridge amongst patches of snow. Slide’s track in the snow is super melted out so you know the snow is disappearing fast. But for now it’s still here. At one point the trail dipped into the valley and climb back up. I could see snow in the valley so I decided I’d try to walk the ridge. But the ridge was covered in trees so there was still plenty of snow on the ridge, and I had to navigate miles of deadfall. It was very slow going, and I started to run out of water on the ridge and had to melt snow in my water bladder in the sun. I got about half a liter this way. Finally I reconnected with the CDT at the saddle and walked through snow patches on a dirt road along the ridge until it descended out of the pines and into the aspens. The snow disappeared and the mosquitos came back. It’s at the point now where if I stop for any reason I have to march in place so they can’t land on my legs and bite. I should have shipped my bug protection to myself earlier, but I’ll have to survive until then.
Day 56, 19.9 miles into Steamboat Springs.
I spent the entire day walking on roads as the trail left Colorado’s Front Range. First I walked on a dirt road, then on highways. There was a hiker log on the road and the first page I opened to was the page where my friend Lookout signed last year! I was definitely glad to be out of snow, although by my tenth mile on the road I was hungry for some new scenery. I spent a lot of the day walking along a marshy creek below the road and eyeing the barbed wire fence to try to see where I could cut through to access the water. The marsh was home to a lot of birds, many of which I had never seen before. Eventually I did find a place I could hop the fence for water. There were a lot of dead bees along the highway. I found one that was still struggling and had one leg missing. I moved him to the grass. I think he’s still gonna die, but at least he can have the dignity of dying among the flowers and not on the road. I hitched down from Rabbit Ears trailhead straight to the grocery store where I gave myself a paper towel shower and washed a few things and bought dinner. I had most of a rotisserie chicken and a salad, then walked to the edge of town to camp after dark because a site at the campground was $68!
Above: a great blue heron in flight, seen from the road
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