Day 053 - Continental Divide Trail - Sanford Creek to Granite Mountain

Day: 053

Date: Friday, 28 June 2024

Start:  Sanford Creek 

Finish:  Granite Mountain

Daily Kilometres:  32.1

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

Total Kilometres:  1557.7

Weather:  Cold early, then mild and mostly sunny.

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Pop tarts 

  Lunch:  Snacks

  Dinner:  Rehydrated meals 

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

Highlight:  Crossing over Lake Ann Pass (12595’) was both terrifying and exhilarating.  The ascent was long and steep in places, but the views from above the treeline were spectacular.  At the top, however, was a huge snow cornice blocking our descent.  From the edge of the cornice, the snow wall descended near vertically for more than a hundred feet and steeply for hundreds of feet after that. We dared not go too close to the edge for fear it might break off.  Instead, we followed the footsteps of other hikers to a seemingly impossibly-steep rockface and saw how they had carefully stepped their way down the very steep snow slope to a rocky outcrop and then, from the base of the outcrop, slid on their butts down to the bottom of the snow slope.  We did the same, but the first part was very scary, with one false move possibly leading to a very long fast slide onto some rocks below.  We were very pleased with ourselves when we made it to the bottom, despite very wet and cold butts.

Lowlight:  None in particular.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

It rained intermittently overnight and everything was damp in the very cold morning.  It seems to take longer to pack up on such mornings and it was 6:20am before we began hiking in our wet shoes and socks from yesterday.

We planned to continue following the Mirror Lake Alternate, but to take a short-cut to save about 5km by going cross-country at one point and fording several streams.  We were increasingly apprehensive about the fords because every stream we crossed seemed to be in flood and we had to ford several early on which we should have been able to rock-hop across in normal circumstances.  As it turned out, the shortcut was fine with the crossings safe enough, though the water was flowing fast.

Soon after that, in a lovely alpine valley, we turned onto the old CDT route and followed that for 13km.  There was a lot of climbing through lovely pine forest near rushing streams with occasional views, but we knew this was just a precursor climb to the final ascent to Lake Ann Pass, from which, we had heard, the descent was difficult.  Our apprehension was building, and rightly so.  The final part of the climb was strenuous, but the descent was downright scary (see above).

We made it down safely and it will be one of the memorable experiences of the hike.  We passed Lake Ann, sitting pristinely at the base of the pass, as we followed the official CDT northwards.  By this time it was late in the day and we found a lovely tent site by a roaring creek soon after 7pm on a nice evening after a satisfying day.  Not raining for a change, either.

Day 052 - Continental Divide Trail - Hancock Ghost Town to Sanford Creek

Day: 052

Date: Thursday, 27 June 2024

Start:  Hancock Ghost Town 

Finish:  Sanford Creek

Daily Kilometres:  32.5

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

Total Kilometres:  1525.6

Weather:  Cold to mild, overcast with showers and a thunderstorm in the late afternoon.

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Pop tarts

  Lunch:  Snacks

  Dinner:  Rehydrated meals 

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

Highlight:  Nothing in particular.

Lowlight:  Trying to find our way around Mirror Lake was a nightmare.  The lake had burst its banks and the 4WD track we were following, which borders one side of the lake, was under water, reputedly up to 4’ deep.  First we tried to follow a faint track around the other side of the lake through the dense forest but gave up because of the number of trees down.  We then tried, after fording the flooding inlet stream, bush-bashing around the other side above the flooded road through thick tangles of willows which took forever.  All up, we spent over an hour covering less than a mile and patience was running thin.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

The day's walking started OK, with us following an old railway bed up a valley towards a rail tunnel which we never saw and may no longer be accessible.  There was lots of snowmelt running across and along the track and it was hard to keep your feet dry.

After a while, our trail left the old railway bed and climbed steeply, traversing a snow field which we found challenging, but not so two trail runners going the other way who bounded down through the snow whooping and hollering.

The pattern of our day became climbing through passes at 12000+’, crossing snow on the way and then descending to a valley before steeply climbing to the next pass.  It was overcast and some of the peaks were in cloud, but the scenery was still awesome.  The trail, however, throughout the day, was not awesome.  We were following the Mirror Lake Alternate, and most of it was along  steep, rocky, wet and muddy 4WD tracks.  Our hopes of making good time evaporated, especially when we encountered the flooding Mirror Lake (see above).

We did see some ATV and quad-bike riders and also met three mountain bike riders pushing their bikes up a neverending hill, who seemed to be having as much fun as us on the trail.

A thunderstorm rolled in towards the end of the day and we again ended up setting up camp in light rain around 6:30pm, disappointed with how far we had travelled given the effort expended.

Day 051 - Continental Divide Trail - Monarch Pass to Hancock Ghost Town

Day: 051

Date: Wednesday, 26 June 2024

Start:  Monarch Pass

Finish:  Hancock Ghost Town

Daily Kilometres:  29.9

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

Total Kilometres:  1493.1

Weather:  Mild and sunny in the morning then overcast with occasional light rain in the afternoon.

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Breakfast burritos 

  Lunch:  Ham & cheese subs

  Dinner:  Protein bar, brownies.

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

Highlight:  None in particular.

Lowlight:  Disappointingly, it started to rain lightly as we set up camp.  Since we were very late already, and had eaten well during the day, we got into the tent as fast as we could and just had some snacks for dinner and wet-wipes for a wash.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

Our kindly volunteer shuttle driver (we gave her money for gas, anyway), picked us up from the motel around 8:15am, a little later than scheduled and we didn't start hiking until just before 9am at Monarch Pass.

For the first couple of hours we were mostly above the treeline following a ridge that marked the back of the Monarch Ski Area, but also climbing, sometimes steeply, to 12500’ on the shoulder of Bald Mt.  The trail was mostly good and the views of the surrounding mountains spectacular, though it was a little more hazy than previous days.

From there we found ourselves descending steeply to a series of lakes and a reservoir, losing about 2000’ in elevation and encountering some difficult trail.  We had snowfields, rocks, mud, flooded trail, bogs and slippery mud.  Progress was slow, but the lake and forest scenery was very pretty.

Having descended so far, we then climbed steadily following the middle fork of the South Arkansas River to Chalk Creek Pass (12146’) on similarly challenging trail.  This took us above the tree line again and we had wonderful views over reflecting alpine lakes and to the high peaks around us.

By this time it was nearing 7pm, later than we usually hike, but we had a target in mind and, given our late start, pushed on to 8:15pm before stopping to camp not far from the old mining/ghost town of Hancock which we didn't visit, having heard there was not much left.

It began to rain lightly as we set up camp and we quickly got into our tent, satisfied with the miles we had covered on difficult trail.

Day 050 - Continental Divide Trail - Salida

Day: 050

Date: Tuesday, 25 June 2024

Start:  Monarch Pass (but staying in Salida, CO)

Finish:  Monarch Pass (but staying in Salida, CO)

Daily Kilometres:  0

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos from her run around Salida today.

Total Kilometres:  1463.2

Weather:  Warm and sunny.

Accommodation:  Motel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Breakfast burritos

  Lunch:  Ham & cheese subs

  Dinner:  Enchiladas, rice & beans, icecream.

Aches:  Dave - left calf still a little sore; Julie - nothing reported.

Highlight:  Nothing in particular.

Lowlight:  Nothing in particular.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

Julie went for an exploratory 10km run around Salida at 7am and came back glowing.  She wouldn't mind living here.  Surrounded by mountains, an emphasis on outdoor activities, bike paths and river trails, deer roaming the streets, historic town centre …. what's not to like?  Of course, it would be cold in winter and she wouldn't like that.

Later we walked the 2km into the historic town centre, calling in at the Post Office and picking up a package of winter/snow gear we had mailed ahead to ourselves.  We're going to carry it for the next four days in the high mountains and, if we don't use it, will retire it.  We then enjoyed recommended breakfast burritos at a local restaurant.  They were good, and cheap, and we bought two more to microwave for breakfast tomorrow.

Next stop was the local outdoor store where Julie exchanged, for free, her worn out Darn Tough socks for a new pair as per their guarantee.  Dave also bought a new T-shirt having worn big holes in his existing one in just seven weeks.

We grocery-shopped on our way back to the motel and Julie then walked down to the town Walmart to buy some other things we needed.

After lunch at the motel, Julie walked to the local laundromat to do our washing, while Dave did some admin and planning.

For dinner, we again visited the Mexican restaurant across the road and followed that with an early night.  Back on the trail tomorrow.

Day 049 - Continental Divide Trail - Marshall Pass to Monarch Pass

Day: 049

Date: Monday, 24 June 2024

Start:  Marshall Pass

Finish:  Monarch Pass (but staying at Salida)

Daily Kilometres:  20.4

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

Total Kilometres:  1463.2

Weather:  Cold early, then a calm sunny morning and partly cloudy afternoon with a bit of rain.

Accommodation:  Motel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Pop tarts

  Lunch:  Enchiladas Rancheros

  Dinner:  Burgers & fries, ice cream.

Aches:  Dave - the usual niggles plus a lower left calf strain; Julie - nothing reported.

Highlight:  The hiking today was magic.  It was sunny, still and crystal clear as we followed a beautiful trail around the side of Peel Point and Mt Peck at an altitude of about 12000’ with dress circle views of magnificent alpine scenery in many directions.  This is why we are here!

Lowlight:  Nothing in particular.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We were hiking by 6:10am, hoping that the 20km of trail we had left to Monarch Pass and Hwy 50 would be kind to us.  We weren't disappointed (see above) with magnificent scenery in perfect conditions on relatively benign trail.

The time seemed to pass quickly as each corner revealed another scenic wonder.  Mostly we were above the tree line with views and wildflowers, but occasionally dipped down into some conifer forest.  In a couple of places there was snow across the trail which provided a challenge, but nothing too dangerous.

We saw a few hikers, including two CDT hikers we had also seen yesterday, as well as some mountain bikers, but generally had the trail to ourselves.  We reached Monarch Pass, with a large parking area, a store, and a gondola to the top of an adjacent mountain (much lower than the ones we had just descended from), around 12:15pm.

We quickly stationed ourselves on the edge of Hwy 50 at the exit from the carpark and began hitching towards the town of Salida, about 35km east down from the pass.

We had only been there for about ten minutes when a car pulled up and four CDT hikers piled out.  One of them was “Beaver”, who we had last seen 6.5 weeks ago in Lordsburg soon after we all started hiking, and he greeted us like long lost friends, as we did him.  He is a regular contributor about water sources on the crowd-sourced navigation app we use, and partly because we knew him, and partly because his posts were informative and accurate, we have grown to trust his reports.  We told him so and he promised to continue.  He hikes faster than us, but had just taken six days off the trail to attend the wedding of a friend in New York.

Laura, the shuttle driver who had just brought the hikers up to the pass was happy to take us down to Salida and dropped us off at our motel at 1pm where we were grateful to be given an early check-in.

Keen for some lunch, we soon crossed the road to a Mexican restaurant where we had the best Mexican food (to our palates) of the trip so far, and at a reasonable price.

The rest of the afternoon was spent showering, sorting out and drying gear, hand washing some gear we don't want to launder in a machine and catching up on email and social media.  We have had only fleeting Internet access in the last five days.

The Mexican restaurant also sold burgers and we bought some takeout from there for dinner, satisfied with a great day and looking forward to a day off tomorrow.

Day 048 - Continental Divide Trail - Razor Creek to Marshall Pass

Day: 048

Date: Sunday, 23 June 2024

Start:  Razor Creek

Finish:  Marshall Pass

Daily Kilometres:  38.2

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

Total Kilometres:  1442.8

Weather:  Cold early then mostly sunny and warm.

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Pop tarts/Snacks

  Lunch:  Trail mix

  Dinner:  Rehydrated meals.

Aches:  Dave - the usual niggles, only more so; Julie - nothing reported.

Highlight:  Nothing in particular.

Lowlight:  Nothing in particular.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We were hiking by 6:10am on another very cold morning, but not surprising given we were camping at 11000+’.

For most of the morning we were hiking on difficult and very rocky trail through forest, following a ridge with lots of sharp ascents and descents.  It was hard work and slow going, which was exasperating as we hoped to cover a lot of kilometres today so that we have a relatively short day tomorrow to get to Monarch Pass from where we will hitch to Salida for a day off.

Late morning, after a long climb to cross Sargents Mesa, the trail emerged into a high grassy meadow with fantastic views to the partly snow covered mountains ahead.  The trail improved for a while and we had lunch by a stream in the sun.

The afternoon involved another huge climb up very difficult trail to 11700’ on the shoulder of Windy Peak from where there were frustratingly no views.  But, only a little further on, we emerged into another meadow with stunning vistas.

There had been no water on the trail since lunch and, rather than carry extra litres until we camped late in the day, we had decided that we would hike until the next water, no matter how long it took.  It was 7pm by the time we reached that water and started to set up camp nearby, so a late night for us.

We saw a number of hikers on the trail today, including Geoff, the CDT hiker we had last seen way back in Pie Town, weeks ago.  It was good to see him and he seemed pleased to see us, and we had a good chat.

Day 047 - Continental Divide Trail - Monchego Creek to Razor Creek

Day: 047

Date: Saturday, 22 June 2024

Start:  Monchego Creek

Finish:  Razor Creek

Daily Kilometres:  34.4

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

Total Kilometres:  1404.6

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

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Pop tarts/Snacks

  Lunch:  Trail mix

  Dinner:  Rehydrated meals 

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

Highlight:  None really.

Lowlight:  Maybe the mosquitoes as we set up camp and ate our dinner.  We both wore all our rain gear as protection.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

Last night's rain stopped around 8:30pm, but everything was still damp in the morning, including the tent.  We didn't start hiking until 6:20am, and the first part of today's journey climbed out of the high plains and into the forest.

After that, we spent most of our day hiking through conifer forest with the occasional aspen glade.  The CDT has been following the route of the Colorado Trail (CT) for the last few days, and we have seen a few more hikers, though none today, although we did see a mountain bike tourer camping.

For the latter part of the day, when we climbed up to over 11000’, the trail reminded us of the Appalachian Trail - hiking through forest and enduring some tough climbs for filtered views of more mountains and forest through the trees.

Our timing was good for the last part of the day.  One month ago, the 20km of trail we are currently hiking was under feet of snow with hikers having to “post hole” the whole way.  We saw a couple of snow patches.  They also had to deal with a huge number of blow downs (trees across the trail) but, in the last few weeks, a trail crew has been in and cleared them.  One estimate was over 200 trees but, based on what we saw today, probably more than that.  It made our lives much easier.

Around 5:50pm, we found a tent site at the top of a climb and set up camp amidst the trees.  The mosquitoes were bad, and we were very pleased to finally get in the tent, and we did have the occasional drop of rain, but nothing significant.