THE PLURAL OF MOOSE IS NOT MEESE

Friday, July 13

5 Star, Patches, and I hiked out of Grand Lake today at 9:00 AM. We were excited to be hiking again after taking a zero on Thursday. We are planning 4 days for the 80 miles to Steamboat Springs, Colorado which is the final resupply stop before reaching the border of Wyoming. Our goal today is to hike over Bowen Pass (11,470 feet) if weather allows. It is 16 miles to the pass with 4,300 feet of climbing.

Just after eating lunch at a roadside trail head with trash cans and a pit toilet, we saw two moose grazing in a meadow. The afternoon thunderstorm never materialized, so we continued the climb to the pass. Just before the final push to the pass, we saw EIGHT moose grazing together very close to the trail. As I approached, they seemed to move away from the trail, allowing me to pass. After several pictures, we climbed the pass and and rested for a few minutes to eat a snack and catch our breath.

We agreed to hike two more miles to a spring where we planned to eat dinner and possibly camp. Along the way, we passed a dead moose and the smell was overwhelming. The bugs near the spring were so bad, I just grabbed three liters of water and continued on, hoping to find something better for both dinner and camping. I wasn't sure what the other hikers would do, but I was sure the mosquitoes would drive me crazy.

I was thankful to find a good campsite less than a half mile beyond the spring and 5 Star joined me. The bugs were not as bad and the campsites were flat. We had a great view of the sunset and I slept well for the first night back on trail.

Saturday, July 14

Patches stopped by our campsite around 6:10 AM and then continued hiking. 5 Star and I were hiking by 6:30 AM. The goal today was to summit Parkview Mountain (12,296 feet) and descend a long exposed ridge after the summit. We pushed hard in the morning to give us a better chance of avoiding afternoon thunderstorms.

It was a tough climb for me and I felt like other hikers flew by me as if I was standing still. For a few minutes I was discouraged, but I turned on my MP3 player and began listening to some of my favorite sermons and soon enough, I was finishing the exposed ridge line to the summit.

After snapping a few pics and calling Eva and my brother, 5 Star and I were descending the ridge with the goal of getting water, cooking dinner, and finding a campsite before dark. There was lots of "blow down"(trees fallen across the trail)  in this section which slowed down our progress, but eventually we did find water, ate dinner, and found a good campsite. Patches and another hiker, Sprinkler, caught us for dinner and we all camped together about 40 miles from where the trail meets Highway 40-where we will hitch 25 miles into Steamboat Springs, Colorado!

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!