2011 The 500 mile Colorado Trail

Tommorrow Sunday July 10th 2011 is the big day! I will back pack from Denver to Durango for a distance of 500 miles on the Colorado Trail. I walked the trail in 2008 and really enjoyed it, and with moisture from the heavy snow fall this past winter, the wild flowers should be "perfecto mundo baby".

The trail passes through seven national forests six wilderness areas and crosses over eight mountain ranges. Visit www.colorado trail.com

I hope to hike the trail in 26 days and have my food dropped at six different spots. Actually I have my food buried in six different spots at places where the trail crosses a road. I drove for 20 hours from Denver to Molas Pass last week with shovel and food buckets in hand. This way I won't have to carry more than a week's supply of food at any given time. MAMA DIDN'T RAISE NO FOOL!

Half way through the trip July 22nd I'll meet Pam, my wife, at Mt. Princeton Hot Springs Resort and that will be the first time I'll be able to add to the blog.

July 10th Section 1-2 19 miles Pam, my lovely wife dropped me off at the Indian creek trailhead without a hitch, She was so glad she didn't have to walk the 500 miles to Durango.

A fellow hiker named Phil was staring a hole in his map when we pulled up. He had plans on walking the 16.6 miles to the Platte river and returning by the same route. We hiked togethor for about an hour when I noticed Phil wasn't there any more, everybody has their own pace. He ended up doing over 25 miles which is great for the first time out.

I made it to the Platte River as my stomach said it was lunch time. A welcoming committe of fellow hikers were on the east side of the fast moving river.

Two younger fellas had hiked during the night from the trail head and had visions of doing 30 miles a day until they ran into Durango. One of the guys was swimming in the river before they had to hike up the mountain. I found out later that they did do their 30 miles and then headed back to Denver.

Two Aussie girls with the trail names of Pill Popper and Jet Lag, the names acquired after hiking for a few days have plans on going to Durango.

Forty year old Brian had a back pack so big it looked like the Leaning Tower of Piza. He was hiking to Copper Mountain. His mother looked at my 25 pound pack and said, "I guess you aren't going very far!"

I loaded up with water because the first water supply is 10 long miles away and I was going to camp before that.

I met Michael and Billie,a couple of old friends who were Catholic priests. Billie teaches theology at the University of St. Louis. They had the idea of walking for 7 days to Breckenridge. I met them during a lightning and rain storm.

I set up my camp in between storms and as I was sitting in my tent, a big storm blew through and toppled over my tent with me in it.

July 11th: Section 2-3 21 miles I meet up with Michael and Billie again and we walked together until lunch time, where they needed an R&R for their sore legs. I moved on with my pack cover on and boy did I need it. Lightning was bouncing off the tree tops all around me and then rain came down in buckets, besides that it was all right! I stayed down as low as I could get and pretty soon the storm passed.

I found the Aussie girls getting drinking water out of a trickle of a stream. When they left I filled my clear plastic container and noticed that a lot of small critters were staring back at me. I emptied all of the containers and used my hankerchief to filter out the larger bugs. M&B and I camped out close together and all of us had stories to tell about the storm.

July 12th: section 3-4 24 miles I left early and was able to get into Lost Creek Wilderness before the sun was high in the sky. My pack zipper had opened so I had lost some gear and had to go back like an Easter egg hunt and find all the goodies.

By 11:30a I reached Long Gulch, an area with out a bit of high cover which would help to protect a hiker from any developing storms. I ate a fast lunch with both eyes on the grey sky. The gulch is 6 miles long and I almost ran the whole distance. At 1:30 pm I was in the trees and set up my tent and within five seconds, hail and rain were bouncing off of my back. I thought I was at the trailhead with water near but I still had 2.5 miles to go. Everytime I thought of taking down my tent it would rain. I stayed in or around my tent for 14 hours with too many storms to count buzzing overhead. Then to add to the treat of wondering if you were going to get fried in my sleeping bag, cows appeared, hundreds of mooing pooping cows at 2:00 am! Someone had left open a gate and I was in the middle of a cattle drive.

July 13th:Section 5 15 miles I meet up with the rest of the gang and we headed towards Kenosha Pass. The weather was perfect. The flowers, especially the Colorado Columbines were unbelievable, and I appreciated the sheer beauty of them. We all set up in a forest service camp ground where I happened to have buried my resupply of food. We had running water but no bathrooms! A couple of hikers, Travis and Troy showed up dragging their back sides from the heat and miles under their shoes. The Aussies headed to Jefferson for showers and food. While M&B and I cleaned up a little, rain showers showed up right over Michael's head, like the Truman movie.

July 14th: Section 5 20 miles Georgia Pass at 12,800 feet high was in front of us. M&B decided to sleep in and take two days to get over the obstacle, since they didn't have to be off the trail until Saturday. I headed out early since I didn't want to be above tree line after 2:00 pm when the storms brew. At 10:30am I arrived in the open and grey clouds were forming but I moved faster than the weather and cleared the pass before the hail and rain. The rest of the gang had to fight the lack of oxygen and rain pounding their heads.

I made camp by 1:30 and sat on a log, and watched the river water rush by. A motorcycle rider tried to make it through the Swan river and fell in the middle. By 6:00 pm the whole gang was in camp and there were lots of stories and blisters on top of blisters.

July 15th: section 6-7 17 miles I was being motivated by the thoughts of the town of Breckenridge in my mind. BY 11:43 I was standing waiting for the free 11:45 bus to the promised town of Breck with sweet smelling people and food. I have to leave in a few minutes to get back on the trail.

The bus ride back to the trail head was uneventful except the bus driver wanted to go with me to Durango. The CT crossed the bike trail from Frisco to Breck and as I was walking along the path a tandom bike with a couple came to a screeching stop. Bobby and Monique, a friend of my son Matt was on vacation with his fam from Seattle. He happened to be in my son's wedding just this past May and we had a nice encounter.

I was ready to start the push up the mountain at Gold Hill when two mountain bikers stopped me for some last minute pointers about the Colorado Rockies. Lindal and Kyle had dropped their car in Salida and were ready to take on the CT. For the next week the two Okies and myself would come in contact and tell our stories of adventure and wonderment. They soon found out there was a lot more pushing the bikes then riding. I came to the conclusion that the mountain bikers are 33.3%-that's 33.3% pushing you're bike up the steep mountains, 33.3% going around the wilderness areas on paved roads and 33.3% just riding on the trails. I found so many frustrated mountain bikers, ready to throw down their bikes and jump on them.

After walking for 3.5 miles I came to a nice camp spot next to a creek. Charles, a fellow hiker was sitting along the creek with his back pack still on. A sleeping bag that he must have bought from a Civil War army surplus store sat on top. It looked like it was made out of fluffy cotton and lined with more cotton. During a rain storm it would turn into a giant sponge. Charles was trying to get by on just eating Roman noodles and little else, and his complection showed it. With his pack on it took all his strength to just get up. "My trail name is the Tortoise, because I move so slow!" he said. I thought it was because he looked like he was a turtle that was turned upside down and couldn't right itself. Charles crossed the creek and again sat down with his pack on. "I should walk maybe a half mile farther, so I have a good start mania." he said. I told him he was carrying to much weight. "That's it I am going to burn my sleeping bag and this jacket with a thousand pockets!" he said. "I think it's time for you to go back to Breckenridge!" I advised. He slowly got up with his pack on by slidding up along the side of a tree and walked up the trail.

July 16th Section 7-8 19 miles The 10th Mountain range was ahead of me with a lot of the snow from last winter still hanging on. During my coming hike I had meet more then a few hikers that had turned around after trying to walk across the 45% snow field with large sharp boulders below. Within a few minutes I came to Charles's tent covered with a blue tarp from Walmart and around the tent it looked like a yard sale with pots and pans. I continued and ran into my Okies friends who were camped with a couple from Houston, Texas. The woman said she was having a nice time and had only been crying a couple of times a day compared to the begining of the hike. As the the trail got steeper the snow got deeper, being knee deep in some spots. Around one of the bends in the trail there stood the famous snow slide area, with a narrow path leading across the snow field. I slowly walked across the field with one eye on the sharp rocks that would catch my slide. Half way across I looked down and there stood a big juicy apple, right in the middle of the path. Most people would have kicked it off, but it did look good. I ate it and slowly dropped the core over the edge of the snow field.

I continued and had to cross a few more snow fields but this time they where flat. I came to the top of the 10th Mountain range and could look down on Copper Mountain ski area. The CT connected with the Wheeler path and this is the path that was being used as a mountain bike race this morning. The dare devils had already zoomed down th rocky path and I found parts of bikes to prove it. I collected some of the gear that had rattled off the bike frames, when a race offical sweeper showed up and took my bootie.

I crossed the road and within an hour I was sitting at the Copper Mountain restaurant eating my way through a burger. The waiter was very busy trying to wait on outside patrons as well as those inside, when it started to rain. It looked like he was just about to out his hair and he yelled,"what can happen next!" I ordered a turkey wrap to go and it proved to be a nice treat for dinner. I followed the Guller Creek trail and found a great camping spot.

Within an hour my Oklahoma friends showed up after having crossed the snow field with their plastic shoes and carrying their bikes. I told them ignorance is bliss. They didn't realize the danger of it all.

July 17th Section 8-9 14 miles The boys and I got up early, with Searle pass and Komomo pass ahead of us. The morning was clear and I had skied this area before, so it was fun to see it in green with so many flowers. The pass had some snow crossings but they where easy to maneuver. Then just as I stepped onto a snow field with the snow being only an inch thick, I went down! The void under the snow was 4 feet deep, but lucky for me I came crashing down on my chest on the other side and it stopped my fall. I did manage to break both my walking sticks. After crossing a half dozen more snow fields I made it down to the trees and found some sticks and with duct tape temporarily fixed my poles.

I was working on my poles when a major storm decided it was time to show who was really boss. A lightning flash hit the power pole down the valley and I knew it was time to find shelter. I took out my ground cover that goes under my tent and covered my raggety butt. I layed down among the aspen trees, trying to stay as close to the ground as possible. The hail hit first and I actually fell asleep under the tarp when the real storm showed itself.

After the fury of the weather passed I continued down the wet path, with the tall bushes along the path acting like a car wash, with the magic fingers sweeping my legs clean. When the trail came close to the road, I saw my Oklahoma buddies pedalling along the road. They had survived the storm. We stopped and told our stories of survival. They had broken bike parts and I had busted hiking poles.

When we got close to Tennessee Pass and the fact that it was a Sunday,there were lots more mountain bikers on the trail. A line of four came zooming down the trail and I was able to stop the last one to find out about a sporting goods store in Leadville that might have replacement hiking poles. The tail end biker stopped and I asked about the store. "Yes there is a store open and you're Vince Vogel!" said the biker. Five years ago I had cross country skied to a back country hut named Skinner, high above Leadville. Cameron and his father and then girlfriend had also skied in and after a couple of feet of new snow during the night they were looking for a new trail to come down. I guided them down along the Hagerman Pass road and then I skied back. Cameron took me to town and I was able to buy new poles and then he brought me back and made sure I was on the right trail.

I walked to the first camp site since it was late in the day after making my unplanned stop in Leadville.

July 18th Section 9-10 19 miles This section of the CT ends at Hagerman Road pass and that is where my second food was buried. All the sections of the trail have soemthing special but this one goes above and beyond with the beauty of the mountains and the lakes. I had to climb around a few snow banks after my last encounter with the killer snow field. I came down to the trail head and there lying along the trail were Farmer Boy and Moom Beam and their trusty dog. Farmer Boy had walked the trail before and knew what to expect but Moon Beam was worn down to the bone. The dog even looked tired! They couldn't decide whether to go to Leadville for some R&R or continue on. I walked on and I heard them come up behind me and we talked during the hour we walked together. He was an organic garlic farmer and she was a student in Boulder. We parted company when I reached my food cache and they continued on. I had hidden my food in the Home Depot bucket and had covered the whole thing with giant rocks. Someone or something had found the bucket and uncovered it, but all the food was intact. I sat along Hagerman road and ate my lunch and resupplied my pack.

I caught up with Farmer and Moonie during the afternoon and their condition wasn't any better. The skies looked like rain and it was getting late so I was on the look out for a campsite. I found a nice one on a bluff but an old rotten tree was guarding it and there was a strong wind blowing. I had visions of waking up dead with a tree laying across my tent. I found another site down lower in the aspen trees. After the storm passed I was able to get out of my tent and do a bit of exploring. The aspen trees had grown up around an old mining camp. I found an old foundation of a mining shack and some mining pans.

July 19th Section 10-11 22 miles The next morning walking along I met a fellow named Anthony who was half way through his hike-the 5400 mile stroll from Grand Canyon to the the Rocky Mountains and then north to British Coloumbia then back to the Grand Canyon. Tony seemed a bit weary which he should have been! The rest of my trip seemed like a walk in the park after talking with this hiker. I continued to the down hill stretch to the Clear Creek basin. The trail wove its' way back and forth, like a snake on a hot surface, until I was standing along side Clear Creek. The trail kind of disappeared after it entered the camping area. I had my CT data book in one hand and with the other I was swatting swarms of mosquitos. A camper came out of his portable shelter to inform me about the trail and tell me that this place was the breeding ground for the bug. "The mosquitos are so big here, when you kill them you can hear their bones break!" he said. I continued on the CT as I crossed the bridge over the creek and then straight up the hill again.

The Waverly Mountain trail was long and steep which made my pack seem heavier. At the top of the trail was a large plastic garbage bag full of purged clothing. A new fleece coat, fleece pants and gloves to match filled the bag.There was also a portable radio with batteries. A discarded book caught my attention, "What can the Bible do for me!" I thought it should have been what can my hiking boots do for me, or "Do I need a strong back and a weak mind to back pack?"

In the afternoon I met three hikers that had come from Durango, the first hiker seemed to be the gadget man with GPS, maps and compass tucked away in his hiking vest. The second hiker was fifteen minutes behind Captain Vito and was trying to keep up and eat a power bar while he stumbled along. The last fella stopped and talked and told me he had hiked from Denver in June and had reached the snow fields of the 10th Mountain and had turned back to Denver and got a ride to Durango, so he wouldn't have to cross the snow field. When I told him the snow field was still there, he looked like he wanted to cry.

I walked into the Harvard Lake area and the weather was holding. I set up my tent and had a great dinner looking onto the lakes. A father and his son with a few grandchildren thrown in for good measure were trying to catch some fish. They had walked into the site with tents, tables, and easy chairs from the trail head, which wasn't that far away.

July 20th Section 11-12 18 miles I would have a 26 mile day but then I would have extra time with Pam my wife, when she drove from Denver to Mount Princeton Hot Springs. I walked down into the North Cottonwood Creek drainage and then had to climb back out in order to then walk down into the Middle and then the final South Cottonwood Creek drainage.

When you have been back packing for more then just a few days the approach of a trail head is very apparent. For one thing the hikers that are walking towards you smell so fresh and clean and so do their clothes. I met a couple at the trail head, from St Louis, Missouri, "I was hiking with a priest named Billy that teaches at the university in St.Louis!" I said. He replied, "I graduated from that university, and took Billy's theology class." Come to find out this hiker was a devout Catholic and the girl sitting in front of him during their school days was a total atheist. This Catholic boy got a C, the only C of his whole college career and the girl that didn't believe got a A! After all these years he still couldn't figure out what happened.

Just before lunch as I walked along the trail I noticed a mountain biker coming my way. "How's it going Lance Armstrong Jr?" I asked, just kidding. As soon as he laughed I knew it was Mike my room mate from the CSU days, way back in 1969. He had retired from the forest service and had been living in Salida. I hadn't seen him since 1984 and we talked for about a hour.

I continued on the trail and then the trail turned into a dirt road and then I could see the hot springs below. As I walked up to the general store in front of the building I noticed my two Okie friends. Kyle's mountain bike was almost a toatl loss with broken derailer and a snapped chain. I suggested they coast down the hill to Chalk Creek Campground and then tommorow morning Pam and I would pick them up and take them to Salida where they had parked their car. Over a cold drink they told me about pushing their bikes up to Mount Albert the highest mountain in Colorado and then they came screeming back down. Kyle hit a small stump in the middle of the road, which stopped his bike. Kyle kept going and had a close encounter with a large pine tree.

Pam showed up and had brought down some of my hiking boots which I needed to replace as my existing pair had given up the ghost.

July 21 My hiking clothes needed to be cleaned in the worse way since they had been on my back for 12 days. One of the things I did find out on the trail, if you rub sage brush leaves in the really rotten smelling parts of your clothes, they are bearable to you and others. We picked up Lindal and dropped him off at his car in Salida and then did my laundry while we were down there.

July 22nd Section 12-13 23 miles After breakfast, I was burning sunlight so it was time to get a little closer to Durango. As I crossed the Brown Creek area a group of five campers were circled around like they where defending themselves against Indians. They all sat in lawn chairs with full paper plates full of sugary rolls and bacon.

By 4:00pm I had arrived at the Angel of Shavano campground. An Okie family was cutting dried firewood, since the open fire ban had been relaxed. I walked through the campsite and then came to a outhouse being cleaned by Rick the camp host. Rick told me if I wanted to cross the North Fork creek I wouldn't have to pay the $15.00 camp fee. I found the bridge and then settled into my wooded campsite. After dinner I walked back towards the offical camping grounds and noticed two German girls unloading their mountain bikes. They had started at Leadville and were going to Durango. When I entered their camping spot they looked like they had just seen a combination of Big Foot and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. I didn't stay long and walked over the bridge to the offical campsite. A couple were playing a game of Beano, where you throw bean bags into a hole cut into a plywood platform about 10 feet away. it's like horse shoes with out the weight.

Rick the camp host came by and told about his life as a camp host. Rick and his wife lived in Susanville California. Rick's wife didn't like camping life but their neighbor's wife did. So the two couples decided to switch partners for the summer, and it seems to be working for them.

July 23rd Section 13-14 18 miles This morning I crossed highway 50 that leads to Salida and a new food cache buried by me a few weeks ago. I found the cache and continued on my journey towards Marshall Pass. When I walked this trail in 2004 the trail wasn't marked very well and I got lost for a few hours. This time there was a large sign and I was on my way. This being a Sunday and a very popular mountaion bike trail, I had to dodge a few riders but they were very well mannered. My handy dandy date book said there wasn't much water to drink after coming out of the creek drainage. The book mentioned a steel pipe sticking out of the hillside as the last water source. With all the moisture that Colorado's been receiving there was a great seasonal spring running just about the same place I wanted to stop for the night.

July 24th Section 14-15 18 miles I climbed over Marshall Pass and this trail head can be very confusing, but not now. A CT marker guided me in the right direction. As I sat and took a break I noticed a fellow hiker getting her pack on her back. Jennie was a vet with the forest service out of Fort Collins, Colo. Her dream was to finish the CT in 40 days and with luck she should be able to do it. Both of us wanted to be camped at Baldy Lake tonight, since that was the next water many miles away. She told me about a family of a father and 3 younger boys aged eight, nine, and ten who were walking the trail and they were ahead of me.

By lunch time I caught up with the fam and they where doing very well for a group of hikers with such short legs and all carrying packs. They too wanted to camp at Baldy Lake. The afternoon rains made the trail a slippery muddy mess as I approched the steep trail down to Baldy Lake. Gary a thru hiker was coming up out of the lake when he stopped and talked. For some reason he didn't want to camp along side the beautiful lake, so he was walking back up with a load of water. Gary seemed kind of our of sorts, pissed off, not a happy camper. Gary had stayed in the hostel in Leadville and swore he got a bad case of kennel cough. Which can't be fun when we are all gasping for air in the thin air of the rockies.

I set up my tent and hung out over looking the lake as a few rain showers moved through. After dinner the father with his three sons showed up. They were form Littleton Colo, and had walked 18 miles today, which is a very big deal for such a group! The father was making dinner over a stovie that was powered by little wooden sticks. A fan powdered by a double AA turns the stovie into an inferno, as long as the little sticks last. The three boys were watching their father turn bags of freeze dried ingredients into eatable food. I found out there is one more son who is 14 years old but he broke his ankle and is on the mends with mom at home.

July 25th Section 15-16-17 23 miles I climbed out of the Baldy Lake area and noticed Gary's tent was already gone. I caught up with him in a hour and he wasn't feeling much better. I was taking a break when a thin hiker with a very thin pack showed up and stopped to chat. Mouse had hiked and ran to Durango from Denver in fifteen days and now was on his way back. His pack weighted 7.5 pounds, which makes for a lite carry but an uncomfortable camp out. A thin tarp without a bug netting was his shelter, which signals every bug for three counties "IT'S DINNER TIME!" all night long.

The path led down to the trailhead along highway 114. Apple, a friend of the CT had set up his tent and was handing out trail wisdom and snack food. T Bone a doc from Frisco was there, so was Blue Bird a girl that was having her sore foot examined by T Bone. We all sat around and talked about the next section that was known for its' lack of water.

It was T Bone's first major hike and he had many questions for me. In fact most people I meet along the trail claim that this was their first major hike and they had many questions. Like the Aussie girls at the beginning. "If you know about the lightning and rain everyday. why are you doing the trail again?" T Bone had questions about gear, water filters, tick prevention and West Nile. I told T Bone I usually filter my water through my teeth, it takes out the toilet paper. Apple thought I was 30 years old and we were both born in 1950. Yipee

I had another food cache buried along Highway 114 and it was a race to beat the storm and find my food. The hail and rain won the race with waves of hail, being followed by heavy rain. The whole mess was over in ten minutes but it produced lots of small creeks. One of the new creeks found my buried bucket of food and the bucket was floating in a small puddle. The food was perfectly dry and I put the supplies in my pack. T Bone's wife had showed up with his food and she took my bucket home for a car wash bucket.

Blue Bird was collecting water as I passed her and noticed a cooler full of pop from a friend of the CT. I decide to drink another pop the third one today. As I crossed the Lost Creek, my stomach was having problems with all the fizz and sugar.

I set up my camp after moving more then a few dried cow pies when Blue Bird showed up. She wasn't very excited about all the cow pies but I told her she could use one as a pillow.

July 26th Section 17-18 23 milesThis morning I made damn sure that I followed the CT trail and didn't head into the wildnerness, like I did last time. In 2004 I had made a major mistake and followed the trail that led me in the opposite direction of where I wanted to be for a whole day and a half. It was nice to come back to the scene of the crime and realize what I had done wrong.

The right trail was a breeze compared to the one where I had been lost for hours. the correct trail was mostly level compared to the one which had me going over a mountain. The trail worked its' way through open spaces with distant mountains in view. By 10:00 am I had crossed a dirt road and met up with a resupplier from Durango. This fella was resuppying three younger girls from Durango. I was low on water and he filled up my containers and passed on three power bars. He told me that the three girls where ahead of me and I might catch up with them today.

By lunch time I ran into two guys and a girl who had met up on the CT and seemed to be liking each others company. They also appeared to be a little bit on the weary side. A trail like this that's 500 miles can play on your mind with the never ending cycles of mountain crossings,afternoon lightning and rain showers that occur after dinner everyday and I mean everyday. This group told of meeting a section hiker who knew me from denver. In a short time I came to a group of younger hikers all dressed alike and all carrying the same canvas back packs. It was a Boy Scout group from Germany walking the CT for a week.

The skies where getting dark towards the San Luis Pass and the height of my step seemed to increase as the skies got more threatening looking. At the Eddiesville trail head I met up with Jerry, the section hiker that I know from Denver. Jerry just has a few more sections to do and he will have done the whole 500 mile CT. I left Jerry at the campsite at the Eddiesville trail head since I wanted to get a few more miles under my back pack today.

I was able to find a campsite in the protection of some pine trees and wash up a bit when the storm hit. I was lying in my tent when the wind and hail started followed by ligthning and pounding rain.

July 27th Section 18-19-20 23 miles It rained most of the night while I slept in my tent. The closer I walked towards the pass the more I noticed the damage done from the storm on the hikers camped along the trail. The three girls from Durango had camped out at tree line and had inches of hail dropped on their tent. I left all my fellow hikers behind me as I walked towards the pass because it looked like another storm could develop around at the usual time 11:00 am.

I cleared the pass and walked towards the road that leads to Creede Colo. As I was walking up the next mountain I noticed three hikers walking towards me. The three didn't look like they needed any kind of medical attention but mentally they looked fried. The three had been caught on top of the mountain during the storm last night. The mountain was so steep that they couldn't put up their tent, so their only protection was a tarp. They were lying under the tarp with hail and lightning pounding down on their bodies. The three told me they rolled back and forth under the tarp, all night to keep from getting struck by lightning, but I think you should do that if you're on fire. They also told me that they had purged their 2 weeks worth of food and would be back in three or four days after soaking their bodies in beer in Creede. I told them the mice would eat it all up if they left it along the trail. "You take it then, we don't want it!" they said. I found a large bag filled with 30 pounds of cheeses, packaged meats and bags of trail mix. I took 5 pounds of the food and left the rest for who or what ever might come along, I couldn't carry anymore. The food was so much better then mine, that I felt like I had hit the lottery at Whole Foods!

I met a nice couple that were walking from Marshall Pass to Durango. Andy and Nutmeg seemed to really enjoy the trail. They had fresh legs as they called them and I seemed to be just a few steps behind them. The approach to Snow Mesa is a series of climbs over mountains and walking in a treeless terrain. On a saddle where a series of trails come together a group of us happened to meet up. One couple had a pony and a horse that carried their packs. The husband and wife had also been caught in last night's lightning-hail storm and they had a severe case of shell shock. Just the sound of a airplane going over sent these hikers into the closest ditch. They asked my opinion about the Snow Mesa area. I told them it was wide open and it was anybody's guess if the afternoon storms would show up, but if they did you wouldn't want to be in the open on Snow Mesa. Within seconds they turned around and led their animals back down the mountain away from Snow Mesa.

I kept walking and walking faster as I worked my way across the open mesa.A large group of sheep with a shepperd sitting on his horse was between me and a small mountain. I thought with all of these sheep the lightning would surely hit one of these fuzzy critters first. The lightning gods where kind to me today and I made it to Spring Creek Pass without becoming a Colorado Crispy Critter. My two new friends Nutmeg and Andy where already there and we shared dinner together at one of the picnic tables. I had my resupply buried here but with my new approved food, I gave most of my food to a passing motorist.

July 28th Section 20-21 23 miles My new friends wanted to sleep in so I walked past their tent at my usual hour of 6:00 am. I have never been disappointed starting early. I came up on the open area of willows and there must have been a hundred elk and their calves. The whole group started to move away in a organized riotous manner.

The highest point on the CT was directly ahead of me at Coney Summit. A group of back packers from a university in Grand Junction were scattered along the trail just like the elk earlier. i stopped and talked with them. This was designed as a field trip and was part of their school program.

Two mountain bikers came up from behind and informed me that another biker was just behind them. An hour later a lone tired biker came from behind and made an immediate stop. "This trail is just somthing else!" he said. "My friends keep leaving me behind, and I don't blame them!" he said. I found out that the group was from Austin Texas and were trying to do the whole CT but had skipped many parts because of broken parts and sore butts.

The trail along this rocky steep part made it necessary for my biker friend to carry his bike up the mountain. I told him when he made Molas Pass he should head the bike downhill on the paved road and coast into Durango.

At Carson Saddle sat two hikers that had seen better days along the trail. they had been out for 30 days and had just been wondering with no particular place to go. One heavy set fella ate three candy bars while we sat and talked for five minutes. A pass with the name of No Name Pass lay ahead of us and before we could possibly find a level camping spot. The pass was 4 miles away and the weather was not looking that great and what a surprise that was! I mentioned to the candy eaters that they had better put the Snickers away and get moving.

I kept one eye on the skies as I worked my way up and over the pass and then the weather turned for the worse with lightning hail and then rain. We have a new name for the pass, "Vince crapped his pants pass!" After a half hour of the rain the skies cleared and I found a camping spot among some other hikers above a small lake. We had a great viewing spot to see storm after storm develop along side the pass. Lightning and hail were being mixed into a witches brew.

Occasionally the storm clouds would be blown towards us and then you could hear tent zippers being open and shut as we jumped in our tents for shelter. After an hour of steady rain we witnessed the two candy eaters appearing out of the witchy brew and they were soaked to their undies. The heavey set hiker couldn't have moved any slower if he wanted to and it was painful just to watch him slowly walking along the muddy trail in the distance with lightning and rain as his companions.

The water soaked hikers made it to our camp and then we heard a small airplane engine coming up the valley. The pilot looked like he wanted to head the small plane over the unnamed pass like he had done countless times before, but now there was a major storm in the way. The plane banked hard to the left and we could see the pilot and the passengers hanging onto their seat belts for dear life. The plane worked its' way up the next valley and we didn't hear any loud explosion, so I guess they made it.

July 29th Section 21-22-23 miles The next morning the skies were clear and it was like the nasty storm hadn't even existed. I met a couple from Arizonia that had been walking sections of the CT and they had many questions for me. This part of the CT is brand new and it's completely in the open for hours on end. The upside is the views encompase a 360 degree panarama. The down side is that when you're walking and the skies turn grey, flashing with lightning you're the tallest object.

Before Stony Pass I met a mountain biker who had left his wife off and she was hiking towards Molas Pass. He told me I might meet her along the path. I ended up meeting him but two more times before the day was over.

The wild flowers along Stone Pass were the best along the whole CT with fields of fusia colored Indian Paint Brush.

I wanted to make the Elk Creek drainage before the skies went to crazy and as I approached the descent the wind and rain picked up. The trail snakes down, twisting and turning for maybe fifty times. With each step I got farther down into the Elk Creek drainage and out of the open tundra. This is one of the best part of the whole trail with Hanging Lake and a few waterfalls that look like Yosemite National Park.

I found a campsite that I shared with some weekend hikers and was in my tent before the skies let loose and soaked everything and everybody with moisture.

July 30th Section 23-24 19 miles I followed the Elk drainage until the Animas River and then started up towards Molas Pass. I met a couple of girls hiking the trail and they had been blown off the trail and had rented a condo in Gunnsion for 4 days. Next to them was a hiker who had started in Denver with two lamas. He was hiking 10 miles a day and was tired of finding grass for the lamas and setting up camp over forty times. It was the weekend so I met a few more hikers then usual. At Molas Pass I had my last food buried and the mountain biker and his wife whom I had met at Stony Pass were there and I gave them my trash and my resupply bucket.

As I ate my lunch over looking Molas Lake I met a thru hiker by the name of Mantis. He was having a rough time of it and wanted the whole CT to just go away. A few weeks ago, he had to walk into Leadville and buy out the local sporting goods store. His starting tent, hiking boots and sleeping bag were all trash and he had to buy all new.

When I hiked the trail in 2004, I had been caught on the pass by Engineer Mountain and the weather gods punished me very severly. This time I was going to cross the range early in the morning so I was looking for a camp site on this side tonight. A mountain biking girl who had won the mountain bike race from Molas Pass to Durango suggested a place a few miles ahead on the trail. The site was perfect for a early start tommorrow.

July 31st Section 24-25 18 miles It had rained last night so all the underbrush was soaked but the skies where clear, in the morning. I passed Mantis's campsite and kept on hiking. I met a section hiker that had a huge pack that had a bit of a slant to it. I suggested that maybe he needed to repack the gear in his pack. "Oh this is the most comfortable pack I have ever owned!" he said. I tried to adjust the pack for him as I walked and made a slight bit of an improvement to the angle.

The skies where getting darker and I could hear thunder in the distance as the lunch hour came near. I stopped under a tree and had the fastest lunch in the history of the CT. As I was wiping the trail mix off my mouth the storm arrived. It was an hour of steady rain. The moisture at Hotel Draw made the trail a muddy mess. A large herd of cows didn't help the trail condition with mushy cow pies decorating the path. One really nice shaped and colored pie that I took for a rock almost ate my whole leg as I stepped onto the movement. I continued with an idea of getting closer to Durango for my final push.

After dinner on the trail I came to a group of hikers, three brothers and some of their friends who had started in Denver and were headed to Durango.I setup camp and we had a nice visit around a campfire until the rains came.

Aug 1st Section 25-26-27 29 miles I got up early and had a 34 mile hike to Durango or until the weather got in my way which ever comes first. I hiked by a pair of travelers who where still tucked away in their sleeping bags. They had started at Stony pass and were going to Durango. Joel and Jeanie were from Boston and were getting a little tired of all the rain.

I had Kennebec Mountain range to cross and then it was all down hill until Durango. The weather wanted to show me who was boss for the last time. The skies got grey but I made it over the mountains without much lightning. At Kennebec Pass the skies opned up and I walked in a rain storm for a hour. At the Flagler Creek crossing I set up camp and it was the right hour just before the next storm. A fella from Durango was already in his tent and I was soon in mine with rain pelting the top. Joey and Jeanie showed up and were glad to find a spot.

Aug 2nd.Section 28 14 miles Woke to clear skies but that doesn't mean anything in the this country. Bill had offered me a ride to Durango with his wife when we reached the trailhead. By lunch time Joey, Bill, Jeanie and myself where all under a pine tree dodging the hail and rain.

At 1:30 Bill and I walked out of the CT and into the real world. Bill and his wife gave me a ride to the Adobe Inn located in Durango and a hot shower.

Aug 3rd I took a bus to Grand Junction with the idea of taking the train from here to Denver. I didn't get into Grand Junction until 1:00 am and the hotel I had reserved got my name mixed up with another resident and sent me up to their room. I don't know who was more surprised me or the people in the room when I walked into their room at 1:00 am

Aug 4th I boarded the train for Denver and was able to enjoy all the scenery along the Colorado River. I met a nice couple form Calif. I had promised to give them a ride to the airport in Denver when the train arrived. I didn't realize that the train station had moved and I couldn't find Pam my wife and by the time I did I couldn't find Jim or Deb SORRY !

The trip was perfect and it seemed like I had hiked for just 2 days instead of 22. I lost 25 pounds which is about a a pound a day.