Getting back on the trail after our nice respite in Summit County was not as tough as I initially thought it might be. Mike’s parents picked us up early on Friday morning from Leah’s house and decided to join us for our hike that day, over Breckenridge ski area into Copper Mountain ski area on the other side. We all knew it was going to be a really tough hike that day with over 3600 feet in elevation gain and just less than that in elevation loss, but none of us (except maybe Mike because he is so experienced) could have anticipated exactly how hard a hike like that actually is. We did around 13 miles from HWY 9 at Gold Hill Trail Head in Breckenridge up and over the ski areas highest peaks (well above the chair lifts), then down down down south of the SKY shoots near Copper Mountain and then catching the Wheeler Trail all the way down to base of Copper Mountain’s parking lots. I think it took us around 11 hours to do this challenging hike, but the views and sense of accomplishment both physically and mentally was well worth it. And I’d like to think we have some pretty good stories for the future to look back on and chuckle at. For Mike spending such a hard day hiking with his folks was what he said was, “a career high point” for him. He helped each of us individually successfully get our butts up and over some tremendous mountains that day. I can only imagine his sense of pride and accomplishment when we all got to the bottom safe and sound that day. I know it moved him deeply and was an experience he nor I will ever forget.
My body felt strong after such a long hard day and it made me feel confident about this next 4 day push we were just beginning. While this was only a 4 day segment, the elevation was much higher and sustained for longer stretches than before. So just breathing was going to require more of an effort along with everything else trail living entails. Much of our last segment was above tree line, which you will see in many of our pics. For me this was by far the longest I had ever spent up this high, and the alpine tundra is a beautiful place, all I can say is, “I want more!”
So after parting with Mike’s folks we set up camp right off the river near Copper and I70 and some power lines, lucky for us the river masked the sounds of the highway, and we got a beautiful rainbow that evening under the crossing power lines, which made for a cool picture, again all worthwhile indeed. Needless to say we were happy waking up the next morning and getting a move on out of civilization yet again. We hiked four miles across the Copper ski area, they were holding a Tough Mudder event that day so it was a total zoo, we power hiked past all that crazy as fast as we could (tourists were taking pictures of us with our packs on). As we hiked past all these people doing the Tough Mudder, hurling themselves over lame ply board walls and crawling through a man-made mud pit and club music blasting across the mountain we couldn’t help but mention to one another that we in fact were the true Tough Mudders, self-satisfying I know, but also a good confidence booster when you are trying to walk 500 miles over high mountain passes. After getting through Copper we took a sharp turn into a gigantic mountain valley and suddenly all the geology and geography was different. We also commented on how much healthier the forest looked with every mile we hiked as we found ourselves getting further and further away from the areas devastated by beetle kill. We hiked up the valley all day long until Janet’s Cabin appeared on the horizon just at tree line. Due to storm clouds rapidly forming and wind really picking up we decided not to push over Searle Pass and then 4 miles to Kokomo Pass above tree line from there and set up camp in the last grouping of trees looking down onto Janet’s Cabin. It dumped buckets on us that night and early the next morning. But just before the storms came in the sun was super-hot and intense and I had my first chance to strip down and bathe in a Colorado mountain stream. It was so amazing and happened to be one of the main things I wanted to do while on the trail, so I can check that one off for sure! It may be my favorite trail activity yet. I let the hot hot sun dry my skin and I scooted back to camp less than an hour before the down pour.
The next morning we slept in an extra hour (well I slept in and Mike worked keeping everything dry I imagine) and let the rains pass over us and then began working our way up to Searle Pass, once there we met some other thru hikers who offered to take a photo of us which was nice. Then we continued above tree line for 3 or 4 miles up to Kokomo Pass and then down down down to Camp Hale. This section reminded me of a Lord of the Rings novel, something out of Mordor. The cloud inversions were epic making everything look like it was bathing in the steam of ancient volcanoes. It was other worldly. The down hills are what really kill my body, I’m still adjusting to carrying the weight of my pack day in and day out. We pushed as far as we could that day before I just had to call it, my feet were beyond swollen and my ankles and calves looked one in the same, I had “Cankles”. We camped in a stunning meadow just three miles shy of Tennessee Pass, where we hiked up to easily the next morning. We decided to put a thumb out on the pass to get to Leadville, cutting off some mileage but a smarter more trafficked area to be able to get a ride into town for our resupply and respite. While waiting for a ride we met some really nice Colorado shroomers, going to their secret chanterelle spot and then a retired couple training for an epic road cycle tour of all the mountain passes of the Rockies from Mexico to Canada. Their son had hiked the trail before so it was great chatting with them, they were so encouraging of us. Just another bright spot on this journey brought to us right from the direct kindness of perfect strangers. Eventually, after about an hour of thumbing a large 15 passenger van picked us and the dogs up. The driver was a soft spoken artist named David. He was a peaceful warrior. He lived in his van doing freelance nature photography and fall photo workshops and tours across the country. Mike and I were impressed with his lifestyle and his calm grounded demeanor and so grateful for the 10 mile ride all the way into town.
The hostel in Leadville is a perfect place to relax and take care of business for the next pack out. It has been a pleasure staying here and I hope to come back so I can climb Mt. Massive and stay again. Leadville has kinda stolen my heart, it is a true gritty mountain town and I really really like it here. We are adjusting to the altitude and are getting set to take on the epic Sawatch Range and all it has to offer us.
As always thanks for the love and thanks for reading!
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