As I wrote last year, I started the 500-mile Colorado Trail and am doing around 100 miles (160 km), or around 8-10 days, of it every year until I finish in Durango. I really like breaking up long tours into blocks that you can realistically accomplish without having to quit your job! I’ve done this now on the Great Divide Mountain Bike route, the Wild Atlantic Way, and I’ll probably do it on more until I retire and don’t care about having to quit my job any longer!
I started out where I left off last year in Breckenridge, Colorado. The first couple of days were incredibly challenging, due to steep and long climbs and generally terrible weather. I was prepared though for the weather and am proud to say I survived these first days, mostly unscathed.
My first big pass was called “Kokomo Pass.”
Anytime I hear the word: “Kokomo” I think of the Beach Boys song, which seemed a little out of place in this land of snow and howling wind way above tree line. But thinking back on the cheesy video of the song really made me appreciate the incongruity of the name of this pass. So that night when I was huddled and freezing in my tiny tent, just below the pass, amidst a raging thunderstorm, I was dreaming of this YouTube video, which I have included here for your edification (You may want to crank up the sound):
The next day, the sun was bright with no sign of the prior days’ traumatic weather. Yeah! Just like in the video (almost).
I hiked through the remains of Camp Hale, where the 10th Mountain Division trained to fight in the Apenines and Alps against the Axis Powers in the Second World War. Needless to say, that came out pretty well and the alumni of Camp Hale changed the face of the Intermountain West (of the USA) forever by founding numerous ski resorts, and other mountain-centric facilities in the decades after the war.
That night, I hitchhiked into Leadville, Colorado, a few miles away for some resupply and food/beer and a shower. It is one of the highest towns in the USA. Also, it has a recently discovered link to the Great Irish Potato Famine in its graveyard, which is the final resting place of many young people who fled from starvation to find death in the mines. Don’t forget how easy we have things today, which is a far cry from what our ancestors had to go through! I got supplies there and carried on my merry way in the morning, greatly appreciating that my hardships are nothing compared to theirs!
A few days later, I saw some scratchings on the path and this is how I deceifered them:
It was late in September and in Colorado, Elk hunting season. Over the next 6-8 hours while hiking, I worked out what I believe is a plausible explanation for these symbols:
The Elk communitites of three valleys got together and pooled their resources. They figured out collectively how to write in English that there were none of their species in the three valleys, so indicated. After every rain or snow, they need to reproduce their learning on the ground. This protects them and their future offspring. Ingenious! And I have to say, Brilliant!
The only thing bigger than an Elk is a Moose.
Well, I saw one of those too, and right in my camping area a few days later.
The moose is the large black object in the center of the photo above. He was plenty far out to not be too intimidating. But they are impressive animals at any distance!
After about 115 miles (184 km) I finally made it to Buena Vista, Colorado and ended this year’s trip there. It was a great trip and I have to say that I learned a lot on this expedition–about long-distance hiking, being at home in the wilderness, about the Beach Boys, and about myself. Next year, I plan to start where I left off and continue on my merry way!
