Monday, July 16
It's 5:30 AM and 14 miles to Highway 40, where we will hitch into Steamboat Springs. It's a cold dewy morning and all my gear is very wet, especially my sleeping bag and tent. I hate to pack them up wet, but I'm too impatient to wait for the sun to dry them out. I quickly eat a breakfast of granola and hot chocolate and am on trail at 6:20 AM. Most of today's miles are a paved road walk, but there is a "short cut" noted on my maps that will cut the mileage by two miles, but there are unknowns...
1) On the map it's not clear that the short cut is on public land. A local in a pickup truck met me on the road and assured me that as long as I stay on the east side of the fence line, I'll be on public land.
2) The map shows a creek crossing at the end of the short cut and there are conflicting comments about how easy it is to cross. I found a creative way to cross the creek...thank you Mr. Beaver. See the pictures below.
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| Beaver Dam! |
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| Can I Walk Across A Beaver Dam? |
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| Yes I Can! |
After practically walking on water, I began a 10 mile paved road walk. I found a carpenter's level on the side of the road and took the opportunity to take some official measurements...yep, we are hiking uphill...ever so slightly. I turned on my MP3 Player, found some music, and pounded out the miles!
5 Star and I reached a bend in the road where the CDT leaves Highway 40 near Rabbit Ears Pass and began our hitch into town.
Tuesday, July 17
We are taking a zero day in Steamboat Springs, so along with sitting at the library writing this blog post, I plan to resupply for 166 miles to Rawlins, Wyoming, dry and clean my gear, and get some well earned rest. Tomorrow, we'll be hiking again, but without our backpacks for the day...more on this creative and exciting development in my next post!
It's only 63 miles to the border of Wyoming!
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!
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