CDT + GDT: Lake City to Monarch Pass - Leaving the San Juans for the Collegiates
Resupply 9 | Lake City to Monarch Pass
Day 36, 5.6 miles.
Right outside where we stayed overnight there’s an amazing bakery where we had breakfast twice. The owners of Lake City Bakery, Steve and Stacy, said the opening hours were until 5pm or “whenever they decided to go for a hike.” I love that. We packed our resupply and hitched out to trail with a local father and daughter who actually went home to drop things off so they could fit us in their van. We climbed back up to a snowy mesa. The good thing about snow on the mesa is there’s probably water available. The bad thing about snow on the mesa is there’s probably icy water when you posthole. We walked through icy slush and watched a storm roll in. The hail came down in big chunks so we wrapped ourselves in my tarp until it passed, but then I was so cold I had to get moving or get in my sleeping bag. It was already 5:30pm so we made camp and I immediately tried to get warm. So Slide set up my tarp around me. So nice not to have to do everything yourself. We camped early so we can try to start at 4:30am tomorrow. Hope it freezes.
Day 37, 21 miles.
Another day, another predawn departure wearing cold wet socks. I always try to put them on last and do everything from inside my sleeping bag. This morning it didn’t quite freeze well. We were breaking through the thin crust. And the snow in these woods formed lumps that we had to navigate with snowshoes. One thing about thru hiking is you can’t bring anything that you’d be sad about if it got destroyed. Today I managed to rip up my rain jacket and wind pants when I slipped at the end of a steep traverse that was too icy to kick steps into but too soft to grip well on. I slid maybe 5 feet on the snow and 15 feet on the rocks. I wasn’t hurt, but my body was very stressed and I didn’t have an appetite for a while. We did a lot of postholing, mostly with Slide leading. When I set my own track I got my snowshoe stuck 4x in a row and even broke my trekking pole trying to get out. The problem is Slide has about 8 inches or 20 cm on me, so I’m doing little lunges to follow him. The man is all legs. Once I lunged into his next posthole and banged up my shin against the ice crust that he had broken through. He’s very kindly shortened his stride for me which is hard because your natural stride length is your most efficient movement. Luckily today we descended out of the San Juans and out of the snow. We hope to do a big day on dirt tomorrow.
Day 38, 36.8 miles.
I love hiking in the early morning. The frost and dew conspiring to make the whole land shimmer as the sun wakes up. The robins standing sentinel in their red uniforms as I pass. We spent the whole day hiking in dirt and it was such a relief. It just feels good for the body and brain to be able to turn off and cruise. Except I carried my snowshoes for most of the day and those four extra pounds really make a difference on the climbs. After the climb we did after lunch, Slide napped and waited 50 minutes for me. I just couldn't get my legs to a higher cadence with all that extra weight on the climb. I really missed having a hip belt on my pack. Once he took the shoes, I was able to crank out another 11 miles in four hours and we racked up a 37 mile day for the first time in a long time. We are crossing the low valleys between the San Juans mountain range and the Collegiates. We'll be back in snow again soon, but for now, this is really refreshing. I don't have to worry about my filter or wet shoes and socks freezing overnight and I can leave them outside my sleeping bag. Hope it continues like this tomorrow.
Day 39, 29.7 miles.
We did some big climbs today in dirt and Slide always stalks just a few lengths behind me and then stops to stretch when he catches me. There are many things Slide is good at, and one of them is stretching regularly, whenever he has a few moments. I said he should feel free to climb ahead at his own pace, but he said he prefers to know where I am and how I’m doing. I’ve always hiked with the sweetest most considerate partners. All my PCT hiking partners were the same way. Today I tried a savory fried chicken meal bar made by my friend Jenna out of her home bakery Wababaland. I’ve been craving savory things but bars are always sweet so this was huge. We only had 36 miles to the pass, so we were hopeful we could get it done by dinner time and get into town to eat. I made plans to stay with a local friend. But the patchy snow at elevation would have been a warning: less than 9 miles to Monarch Pass, where we would have met my friend, we hit continuous fields of snow with deep postholing. We had to call it less than 7 miles to the pass. Luckily there’s a lean to shelter here. There were already two hikers camped here so we squeezed in the corner, but it’s drizzling tonight and I’m glad to be here.
Day 40, 6.9 miles into Monarch Pass, 14 miles out. 20.9 miles total.
I knew this day was coming but it’s still sad. This was my last morning hiking with Slide. I cut him loose south of Monarch Pass, and now we’re each hiking our own hikes. He has a big objective and a tight timeline and we’re through the worst of the CDT in snow, we think, so it’s time for him to crank out bigger miles. He plans to finish the CDT a month before I will and he needs to get going. We've spent two weeks hiking together through the San Juans.
It’s always hard to say goodbye to a hiking partner, especially when you’ve been through a tough remote section with them. You depend on each other. Hiking friendships are weird: once you meet someone you might never leave them until they’re gone. You camp with them, you start and end your day with them, you have every meal with them. You may have to get very comfortable discussing bowel movements. You may have to support each other through extreme fear or frustration. You may not always hike in lockstep or be within earshot, but you’re always aware of where they are. It’s a commitment every day to keep making the same choices on trail. So I'm grateful for the time we had together when our timelines and priorities did line up. I couldn’t have found a better hiking partner for the last two weeks. I couldn’t have planned it better if I’d tried.
Early on in our time together, I noticed that when I couldn't find Slide's track, I would just set my own track and end up finding we went the same way. When I told Slide this, he said, great minds think alike. You know the Germans have a similar saying, I said. Two idiots, one idea. He grinned. We're the two idiots. Yeah we are, I agreed. Stumbling around in the snow. Thanks for 280 miles, Slide. Good luck with your 10,000 mile year. Glad I could be a small part of it.
After Slide left the Monarch Pass restaurant and hiker center, I hitched to the Butterfly House to grab my packages and handwash a few things before heading out. I got on trail a few hours behind Slide and it was comforting to see his tracks. It feels like I’m still hiking with him. I recognize his pole print and his gait and I know his navigation choices so I always find him. Out of habit I keep expecting to see the flash of orange that is his sleeping pad strapped to his pack or I’ll crest a ridge and expect to see a glimpse of his hat as he waits for me, but he’s definitely ahead now. I’m glad for him.
xx
stitches