RAIN ON MY PARADE

Did I Mention We Saw a Moose?

Friday, June 15

We hiked out of Creede on two different dirt roads; I took one that was longer and less steep and the rest of the group took a shorter but steeper road. The roads meet after several miles, and we arrived at the junction at exactly the same time... how cool is that?

On the road walk, we met a car going the opposite direction carrying a CDT hiker who decided to leave the trail. We had hiked together in northern New Mexico and the first section of Colorado. We camped together in a hail storm, were similar in age and also have something else in common...we started the CDT on the same day! It was sad to see him leave the trail, but as someone who has left the CDT several times in previous years, I respect and support his decision. I’ll be thinking about him as I continue my hike. I hope we'll have the chance to hike together again someday!

Our goal was to hike 18 miles, which seemed like a reasonable goal since we had over 3,800 feet of climbing to do in the first 14 miles. We ended up hiking over 20 miles and found a very nice group campsite. I set up my tent with the rain fly because I expected rain overnight and in the morning. We enjoyed eating dinner together and were in bed by hiker midnight.

Saturday, June 16

We woke to clouds, but it didn’t rain until 11 AM and then continued sporadically for most of the day. The hiking today was relatively easy after so much climbing yesterday. By 5:00 PM and 21 miles our little band of 5 hikers had grown to 11 and we camped at Los Creek crossing because there was enough room to accommodate us all. We enjoyed dinner together and then dispersed to our tent quickly around 7:00 PM when it started raining again. I used the time to read and write and stayed in my tent until 6:00 AM the next morning.

I Crossed The River On These Logs

Sunday, June 17

It was another cloudy morning and I hoped one with less rain than yesterday. It rained sporadically from 10:00 AM until 2:00 PM and then it began pouring. The trail turned into puddles and then a river, and after hiking only 18 miles, I decided to call it quits. 5 Star, Medic, and Bourbon were behind me and I wasn’t sure where they would stop, but I was still relatively dry, except for my feet, and wanted to see if I could keep it that way.

I set up my tent in the rain, trying my best to keep the inside dry. I tossed my pack inside and quickly followed. Everything is a little damp, but nothing I can’t deal with tonight. It will all dry out tomorrow if I get a couple hours of sun. Around 5:00 PM my hiking partners caught up and let me know they would hike for another hour or two. They told me where they planned to camp tomorrow night, so hopefully I will catch up to them tomorrow. It would be nice to hitch into Salida together on Tuesday.

For additional content, check out Flickr for images, YouTube for video, SoundCloud for audio, and the Postholer Map with my most recent location.

Thanks for following along!