19.0 miles today
382.0 miles total
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Back on the trail after a zero in Lake City with my love ❤️
Grant dropped me off at the trailhead at 5am so that I could try to get all my miles in before the any thunderstorms that night occur in the afternoon. Thunderstorms on the top of a mountain range with little to no tree cover can be a very dangerous thing!
For my first hour it was completely dark except for my headlamp and the stars that glittered the sky. It was really cold, but absolutely beautiful.
As the sun came up I started to see the rolling mesa that I had been walking on. This eventually took me up to the highest point on the Colorado Trail at 13,271ft. This point was 15.5 miles into my hike so I was super proud to make it up there by noon ? The hike getting there was breathtaking! I’m currently in the San Juan mountains and I feel like every twist and turn is magical.
I also got my trail name today! I taught a fellow hiker my “hundred breaths” method for getting up the mountain the other day, and when I passed her today she said my trail name should be “Hundie” because it was totally working for her ?
I couldn’t stop smiling today… That is, until I saw the dark clouds forming during my descent and realized I need to get of this mountain and find my campsite quick!
I booked it down the mountain, but I still didn’t make it to my campsite before the rain. So I got to experience setting up camp in the wind and rain. It actually wasn’t that bad. It only took about 10 minutes to set up my tent and throw everything inside.
At that point it was about 1:30. I was exhausted from the climb and racing that storm, so I happily took a nap in my cozy tent.
After the storm passed I took my time with my afternoon chores and even got to meditate a bit. It was lovely. But now another storm is blowing through and this one might be a bit more intense. I think it’s going to be a cold, rainy night. ⛈️
