Day 6
Miles hiked today: 10.1
Miles from Denver: 78.2
Elevation: 10,000 ft
Segments 5,6
Landmarks: Kenosha Pass, Jefferson, Mt. Guyot, Jefferson Creek
VIEW MAP
I rose early after the first rainless day and night so far. There was not even a dew covering my tent, and it was nice to put it away dry. I ate a light breakfast because I was headed in to town, and packed up quickly. My camp site had a view of the Continental Divide, and the peaks were already lit up when I set out at 6:30 AM.
It was chilly but just the right temperature for a brisk walk. I wanted to get down to the road early because who knew how long it would take to catch a ride. It is one of those experiences that every thru-hiker knows well: the suddenly hyper-attuned ear for the sound of the highway on a town day. In this case I could actually see the tiny hamlet of Jefferson from far away as early as yesterday; it looked to have maybe a dozen buildings with ranches spread out in all directions, and a huge snow fence striking a tan line to the northwest of town. I could see tiny cars zipping in and out of town on US 285, which would soon take me there as well. But this was only what I could see from the vistas from far away, as I got closer I was enveloped by woods but my ear picked up the sound easily of the busy highway of trucks and cars, drawing steadily closer.
Kenosha Pass has seen generations of travelers use it to access the interior mountain ranges of the Colorado Rockies. There are still some railroad tracks preserved from the Denver, South Park and Pacific line that ran here from Denver until the 1920's. The switchyard was actually right at the crest of the pass, utilizing the flat ground there. You could catch a train from Denver to Breckenridge in just 6 hours, and there were 3 competing rail companies that ran to different parts of the Rockies. All 3 went under due to a combination of the silver market dissipating, the trucking industry and the great depression. It is strange that building something like that seems so out of reach to us today.
Hitch hiking is simply a part of life on a long distance trail. I don't really know anybody who truly enjoys it, and it is always an anxiety filled experience for both hiker and driver. For me it is the prospect of standing by the road for hours as car after car whiz by that gives me the most anxiety. Some of them actually wave as they drive past! It is harder to do if you are male, and have a scraggy beard. Being alone doesn't help either. If there are two people I think you are better off, but 3 might be too many for most seating situations. What helps most of all is if one of the party is female. Here, let's play multiple choice: 1. scraggy beard guy alone, 2. two scraggy beard guys, 3. scraggy beard guy with non-bearded female, or 4. two non-bearded females. Now which of the above combinations would you put in your Subaru Outback? The amazing thing to me was that this is Colorado, and therefore half of all vehicles are pickup trucks, yet they still weren't stopping. Pickup beds are the PERFECT place to throw dirty hikers. You don't even have to talk to them or worry if they're going to mug you for ramen. Just pull over at the destination and give one of those waves out the open window. I saw one pickup that had three tough looking cowboys inside. Comon, what's to be afraid of boys? Think I'm going to steal your fence post digger? I will say that us hikers have an advantage over our homeless or otherwise drifter type hitch-hiking brethren: the trail. That is, there is a completely legitimate reason that I am standing by the side of the road with my thumb out, and that is that I'm hiking to freakin Durango and my car is otherwise inaccessible at the moment. This means that in theory, there are people who understand that the Colorado Trail exists, crosses where I am standing, and that hikers often need rides might put all of those clues together when they see I am dressed the part, plus make a split second decision on whether I look too creepy or too dirty, all within enough time to slam on the brakes before the 50 yard pull over area runs out. It's a great theory, but it works a whole lot better in Vermont. I even stood by the "Colorado Trail Parking" sign and gave a whole lot of room for cars to pull over, and still saw probably 100 cars go by in a half hour. I got plenty of shocked looks, especially from older people. Some of the faces were priceless. Some people pointed. Several were texting or on their phones and didn't even see me. One woman who was standing in the parking lot behind me took a picture. I'm sure I strike a cutting figure with my pack on and thumb out against that Colorado blue sky. And one guy waved. Please, don't be THAT guy.
Finally a semi pulled over, and I was thrilled to ride in my first semi truck. As I sprinted the 50 yards or so to the cab, I found it locked. I walked around, only to find the driver checking his brakes for the descent down the pass. He can't take riders. Ok. Ultimately a local guy I was chatting with earlier as he was gearing up his mountain bike came back from his ride. He was about my age and seemed like a pretty normal guy. I asked if he wouldn't mind giving me a ride, and he was nice enough to do so, even though it was out of his way. Bo was his name I think, and he had even done some long distance hiking himself. So, score one for trail magic today!
The town of Jefferson is quite nice. It is probably even smaller than Stratton, Maine, and has all trail towns I've ever been to beat; you only need to go to one place. Jefferson Market it's called, and inside is made to order food, groceries, homemade cinnamon rolls, and tucked in one corner behind a window is the post office. The people there were super friendly, and there were 5 locals sitting down chatting over coffee. This was my kind of place. There was just one problem however, that is on Tuesdays and Wednesdays the kitchen is closed because they are making fudge. Just my luck. All was well however when one of the ladies (really wish I could remember names better) brought me to the back deep freezer, which was full of all kinds of frozen burritos, frozen chimichangas, frozen hot pockets, frozen egg sandwiches, etc. I grabbed several of those, and one of those cinnamon rolls and all was right with my world. My mail drop had arrived, which was the whole point anyways and I was now set for the next several days until Breckenridge. I caught a ride back to the trail by asking a local guy (they said he runs the bake shop across the street). He didn't look too thrilled, but it's just a 10 minute round trip and I think that people, when asked, find kindness in their hearts. Or pity.
Back to the trail. I was very excited to run into two actual thru-hikers, going towards Denver. They weren't just any thru-hikers either, they were Appalachian Trail thru-hiker alumni. They were a couple, it sounded like they met on the AT several years ago. I know for sure the guy's name was Six Two, and the girl's was E-something. Dang. Names! (guys if you want to sign into my guestbook and set me straight on this I'll edit this post) Anyways it was a lot of fun to stop and chat with them, and we passed a lot of time talking about gear we used in the 90's, how to hike with an umbrella, and the fact that Six Two carries all of their food in a battleship of a pack. It was fun to reminisce, and made me wish there were at least a few hikers going my way that weren't hiking twice my speed, or half my speed. Ah well. A few miles later I ran into another thru-hiker who had come from Durango in about 3 weeks time. She confirmed that there were waves of 15-20 thru-hikers per day several weeks ago.
I pulled up way short today because I am about to cross the Continental Divide, which is 6 miles from the last place I could camp. The next camping spot on the other side is another 7 miles beyond that. So, a 10 mile day or a 23 mile day. I'll be ready for those 23 and 25 mile days soon, just not this day.
