Lake City to Silverton 412 miles traveled from Denver

Well friends we have made it to our last stop over in Silverton. The San Juan Mountains are just the most epic range we have ever explored in Colorado, everyday has been so rewarding. They are beyond gigantic, jagged and sharp, most often they are dark in color with very little vegetation above tree line. A range that looks almost uninviting, yet there is something about them that draws you in deeper and deeper, like a Siren calling out to a man at sea. The wildlife is truly “wild” out here and we are the ones who feel out of place; we encountered a Bull moose and a Cow on separate days, both a little closer than what felt comfortable but we admired and kept moving, we saw a migration of Elk at least 200 head which brought me to tears it was so astonishing and we heard the males in rut bugling to the females throughout the cold nights and early mornings around dawn. Another Cow moose slept just below our camp one night and we got to observe her all evening. The sightings have been bountiful, but sadly so have the hunters. I am not here to get political, I know hunting brings a lot to these small communities and hunters know how to spend money I tell you what. I am personally torn about the whole thing. Most local hunters we meet are sustenance hunting for the winter for them and their families, but the vast majority we meet are out of state trophy guys from Texas and Oklahoma… it just feels different somehow. We have fished along the way which was hard for us at first so I feel I have no room to get on a soap box. It just makes me feel deeply sad every time we hear a gun shot out there or see a beautiful herd in the distance knowing not all of them will get to see the snow fall this year. Bleeding heart I know I know!

Over the course of the last week we spent over 4 days above tree line in some of the harshest conditions we have experienced yet. No lightning, but a lot of wind and misty spit rain, the kind you don’t really realize is soaking you until it is too late. The dogs don’t seem to care much for the change in weather, but they are still truckin’ right along with us, every step of the way and wagging those adorable tail and nubbin’.

Out of Lake City we took a “short cut” via another trail that intersects with the CT, ideally this would have cut maybe 6 miles off our first day back out there, but the trails weren’t marked and we got a little turned around, only lost an hour or so over all, but I’d say due to the condition a steepness of the trail we didn’t save any time that day at all. It was nice because we hiked up to a yurt for CT and CDT thru hikers, Mike paid for us to stay a night. I think he was a little disappointed with the condition other hikers and the volunteers who manage it left the yurt in for us, but it was nice not sleeping in the tent and having the wood stove was fun too! We had been bunked up with a bunch of other people (dudes, bros, and hairy stinky men everywhere I look in these towns for the past three weeks) in Lake City at the hostel, so it was nice having the place just to ourselves, it was quiet and we watched the sunset from the rickety old deck. That night the stars were just gorgeous and I actually stayed up late enough to see them. I really appreciated that Mike took the time and the forethought to book it for us, it was a nice little change up. PS yurts are super cool!

The next day while hiking Joey and Lil Britches caught a lil chipmunk, he was scared and in shock, I think disoriented and in an attempt to find coverage he ran up my leg. I wish I would have just frozen on the spot, maybe he still would have had a chance, but no, my natural reaction was to shake my leg vigorously. I threw the poor thing right back to the wolves and it was Little Britches who went in for the final blow around its neck. I couldn’t believe my eyes, she killed a chipmunk, I never thought in a million years that would ever happen. Of course I cried about it as we continued down the trail. That same day we reached the highest point on the CT, something like 13,200 feet and some change. All the while making our way to Carson Saddle. So much of this section was high up and desolate with little mining ruins scattered throughout the landscapes. We saw a coyote the next day while taking a snack and water break, he was sneaking up on us. I really think at first he just saw Joey and Lil B and that his plan was to eat her. Lucky for us Mike saw his huge head a red back and so he stood up so the coyote could see us, it dashed away quickly. But I was paranoid the rest of the day that he was nearby just waiting for his chance to pounce and eat her up. We called it early that day and Mike fished at Cataract Lake and we feasted on Brook Trout both that evening and the next morning for breakfast, a real treat since all of our food is not as appetizing as it was on day one. The next day was seriously the longest 11 miles of my life. The trail was like a roller coaster just up and down and back up, up, up again. We met a large group of 10 mountain bikers that day and when we finally reached the top of Stony Pass that night we saw that they had left us two beers at our trail head. They were still cold, yum Modelo! That is what you call trail magic!

Speaking of trail magic and trial culture, some of you may have been wondering if we have trail names out here, all of the folks on the long hikes (CDT, PCT, AT) use them to help keep track of one another because there are lots of Johns and Mikes out there. The trail names are richly ingrained in the AT thru hiking culture and that is where I am told it all started. So we began this journey as Wook and Dimples and will continue using those names in registries along the way, but those names were chosen prematurely because we thought we had to have them, before the trail really had a chance to name us… This section the true trail names found us and in the future we will be known out on the trail as Pack Wolf (Mike) and Lights Out (Erika). Little Britches is Carhart and Joey is Culture Shock. I like this part of the thru hiking culture and want to adopt it in to my personal backpacking lifestyle. Other parts of thru hiking culture I can live without. They are all so hardcore, I guess if you have 3100 miles to cover you’d have to be. But they are up at dawn and will often hike well into the night, they rarely use tents and go as ultra-light as they can with gear and food, lots of cold oatmeal and cold Ramen out of a Nalgene bottles...no thanks!!! They do at least 20 miles a day and because they are all on such rigid schedules they end up hiking together a lot of the time. Groups will band together and it seems it gets really clique-ish, people will join in and get kicked out of different groups along the way and lots of talk seems to go around and around. Love blooms and goes down in flames out there. Plus many of them know each other from previous long hikes so stories a rumors follow people from trail to trail.  In Lake City we met a couple (they gave all the inside info I just mentioned) getting ready to Triple Crown, that is when you complete the CDT, AT, and the PCT. It is a huge accomplishment, but not really one Mike or myself are looking for personally. It is just like any other sub or counter culture, thru hiking is a lifestyle that many people are drawn to, but I just don’t see myself getting too sucked in.

The last couple days to Silverton were slow going, we didn’t have a ton of miles to cover but the terrain and the weather was tough and both Mike and I are starting to get bored with the trail life routine. Don’t get me wrong, we love it out here and everyday there are new surprises and beauties that we look forward to, it is just that hiking these miles day in and day out and being on a tighter and tighter schedule as Durango approaches makes the hiking feel more and more like a job. And camp life is hard too, setting up, cooking, cleaning, and then tearing down… day after day after day. Let’s just say this is no day hike and we are really excited to finish this trail!

In our last days we continued and climbed over a mountain through a gigantic rain cloud that we rode to the precipice of Elk Creek Canyon, the most beautiful place I have ever been in Colorado. We began hiking down into the canyon just as the cloud we had been riding lifted, and before us was the most gorgeous red quartzite and green limestone rock out cropping’s as far as the eye could see. Against the grey sky and the inverted clouds still lingering among us, there were just the most beautiful red and pink and every shade of turquoise shiny rocks towering above us and resting below us. The rocks are so smooth and you could see the rain gliding off of them giving them and extra sheen in the emerging sunlight. We dropped down further and further and the canyon walls grew taller all around us. The streams were so clear and pristine running off from all sides of the canyon walls all joining Elk Creek at the bottom. The exposed geology was a billion year old timeline just laid out before our eyes. It was almost too much beauty to fully take in. I have never seen anything like it. That night we camped just near the train tracks for the Durango to Silverton rail and it was fun to see the trains pass that afternoon as we settled ourselves at camp. People loved it, waving at us and taking pictures. The next day was just a 5 mile hike out to Molas Pass but it was a doozy. Miles of switchbacks and when you get to the top of them you can see and hear the cars, but you are still 1.5 miles from the top and it is mentally tough getting up there. It is like, “really, I’m not there yet?” But I made it up eventually and within 15 minutes of thumbing it a nice older couple from Indiana picked us up and took us into town, and boy do they just love Silverton we heard about it the whole way down the pass. The hostel here is weird, it is really nice and inviting but the people working here leave something to be desired and it could be a little cleaner feeling. Let’s just say this place could be a lot better than it is, but we are grateful for the hot shower, the kitchen, and a private room with a really good sized bed for the four of us to share. Tomorrow we will head back out and are set to arrive in Durango on Thursday the 24^th. Mike’s other awesome auntie is gonna meet us here tomorrow to have lunch and then take us back up to the trail head.

7 more days!!!! 

We didn’t have time to upload our pics from this epic section so you will just have to wait until next week for those.

As always thanks for reading and thanks for the love and support.