Day 115 - Continental Divide Trail - Goldstone Pass to Miner Creek

Day: 115

Date: Thursday, 29 August 2024

Start:  Goldstone Pass

Finish:  Miner Creek

Daily Kilometres:  37.8

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  3343.1

Weather:  Cold early then mild to warm and mostly sunny.

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Pop tarts

  Lunch:  Snacks/Trail mix 

  Dinner:  Rehydrated meals 

Aches:  Dave - the usual niggles; Julie - nothing reported.

Highlight:  After a fairly windy night, we woke to a calm and very cold morning and the first couple of hours hiking were magic as we climbed over some rocky knolls and followed a cliff edge as the sun gradually rose.

Lowlight:  Nothing in particular.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

Strangely, three motorcycles roared by on the remote forest road near to where we were camped at around 10:30pm.  What were they doing?  Anyway, apart from the noise, they didn't disturb us and we woke at 5:30am after a windy night.

It was perfectly calm as we packed up and we were hiking by 6:45am on a beautiful, if cold, morning.  The first hours, though they involved a couple of solid climbs and descents were fantastic.  Great views up high and lovely peaceful forest in the valleys.

After those first few hours, the rest of the day was spent hiking on undulating single-track trail through mostly pine forest at a lower altitude, between 7000’ and 8000’.  There were occasional meadows and pretty little streams but mostly we were in the “green tunnel”.

It was warmer and calmer than yesterday and, by afternoon, we were both hiking in shorts and t-shirts

We didn't see anybody at all until after we had set up camp around 7:20pm, when, about an hour later, two northbound CDT thru-hikers turned up, one of whom we have met before, and camped nearby.  We thought we were the last of the northbounders, but apparently not.

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