Colorado, the middle bit
A lot happens in two weeks
Arriving in Grand Lake Colorado on Labor Day weekend gave us a chance to see this second home town vibrant with locals, summer residents and visitors from nearby Denver at its zenith.
Sally and I passed through though and made miles beyond the town camping for a night between Grand Lake and Meadow Creek reservoir. Clocking an additional 30 miles.
The reason for this was twofold. Firstly to catch good weather for a NOBO (Northbound) Slackpack (a light pack for a day’s hiking). And secondly to meet my nephew Josh and his girlfriend Leigh who live a couple of hours away in Boulder.
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| View from Flat Top Mountain |
After hitching back from Meadow Creek we stayed at Shadowcliff Mountain Lodge. A very relaxed vibe with wooden clad dorms and kitchens. We felt at home immediately and chatted with other guests about our adventures and upcoming plans as we sat in the pine wood scented lounge with beautiful town and lake views.
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| Special Agent Sally and Zig Zag |
In the morning we set off early for our slackpack into the Rocky Mountain National Park for a quick 25 miles. We followed a fir lined creek into the morning and had lunch as we crossed Flat Top Mountain. After our sandwiches (not Top Ramen!!) we went down a mirror image creek, (but with burnout) back into the now bustling town. Dizzy from going the wrong way, travelling NOBO felt almost treacherous and having the sun on the wrong side felt very disorienting.
Josh arrived the following morning and we had a lovely brunch, chat and introduction to the delightful Leigh, Josh’s girlfriend. But the time went by too quickly. It reminded me of how important family are and how much I missed mine.
It would be at least two months before I would see my European based family - a very expensive price to pay for this adventure.
Josh kindly took us back to Meadow Creek Reservoir but saying goodbye was bittersweet. It was so wonderful to see him and so sad to go.
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| Sally, Uncle John, Josh and Leigh |
That evening Sally and I climbed high into the twilight. Town lights twinkled several thousand feet below us as we made camp ready for tomorrow’s ridge line and an unexpected encounter.
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| Mr Moose |
Mr Moose. After all the warnings about moose encounters this one occurred in the dawn light as I trudged bleary eyed up towards the ridge line, maybe ten minutes above our camp spot.
Just twenty feet away I just happened to look up from my feet and the trail. The huge antler clad beast is almost blind but that morning I just wonder which of us was the most visually impaired. I turned and ran back to Sally, mainly out of excitement and a little because I was shit scared. The moose did nothing. He just posed for pictures, swapped numbers, and gave me a cheeky wink as Sally and I passed by high off the path.
And the days passed, ridge line after ridge line where we could continuously see the mountains we had crossed and those to come. Where the divide was at times between our legs, and at others gave us cliffs with thousand foot drops by our side.
We camped high at over 13,000’ in good weather and lower in the bad. Our Colorado routine was spot on.
Our rhythm broke just after climbing the highest peak of the trail - Gray’s Peak at 14,278’ - a good weather day that turned sour so quickly.
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| I’m sure Wikipedia says 14,278’ |
We continued off the well kept tourist track, back along the CDT and onto the Argentine Spine - a knife edge ridge that would have been uncomfortable in good weather.
The weather turned from glorious blue selfie sunshine to heavy snow in a heartbeat. This was the only high section where our exit plan was weak as the forecast had been so good. As the weather closed in we hastily decided to scale down the mountain via a steep cliff.
It took a while to recover from the shock of the quick decent off Gray’s / Argentine Spine. We had to figure out what went wrong, process it internally and chat it through. Those next 12 hours were a bit of a blur and the following afternoon we pitched the tent under the treeline and rested, watching the showers, storms and sunshine come and go from a safe distance. Our post review of the incident has lead Sally and I to develop a better way of communicating and acting in pressured situations.
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| Afternoon off! |
Vancouver
The following day could have been our last. As such we did everything that we could to make it perfect. We made the skies blue, the temperature mild and the mountain breeze light. Our hearts too sucked up the beauty of the Rockies as we left the ridge lines behind and the CDT joined the more popular and more pedestrian Colorado Trail.
Our 90 day visa had come to an end and the only way to renew it was to enter the revolving door in the sky by leaving the US, travelling to Canada and returning.
All quite questionable as immigration controls tighten in the US. But it gave us a great opportunity to see friends in Vancouver, even if for a short while.
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| Te Araroa friends Thomas and MJ |
Three days later our bodies were back on the trail. Things had changed, the break, the immigration anxiety, homesickness and the sights and sounds of autumn required a deep deep resolve in both of us to force out the miles, stay on trail and not return home.
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| Autumn Colours |
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| Strange creature |
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| Breakfast out of the rain |
Next time….will we make it across the San Juan Mountains and into New Mexico before the snows? And which colour ‘Melanzana’ of Leadville did I go for?
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| Unlikely |
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| Does my bum look big in this ? |
Signing off - Jugular 🩸
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