Tennessee Pass

Day 12


Miles hiked today: 6.2
Miles from Denver: 143.3
Elevation: 10,424 ft
Segment 8
Landmarks: Camp Hale, 10th Mountain Division, Ski Cooper, Tennessee Pass, Leadville

VIEW MAP

My Dad is having it rough because he hasn't been able to keep any food down. He ate one oatmeal packet this morning, and put some Propel packets into his water for sugar. We slept in and broke camp in the full sunlight. The day dawned clear and bright, with not a cloud in the sky. I am really glad we camped at Camp Hale; it was pretty cool to wake up and look across at the empty stares of a hundred gaping bunker doorways.

It was time to make for the car at the top of the pass, which was six miles away and a thousand feet up. It was cool as we walked through the thick forest, although there was a sign as we left Camp Hale that said to beware of tree cutting operations. This was the beetle blight again, and they are aggressively trying to cut down the affected trees to save the rest. The forest floor was littered with the shattered remains of about half of its trees. It was like walking though a logging operation where they didn't actually haul away the logs. This went on for several miles.

At one point, the trail crosses US 24, then continues for another 3 miles to the top of Tennessee Pass. My dad had had enough. He hadn't been able to eat anything the entire trip, and it just didn't make any sense to try to go any further. I knew I could move at 3 miles an hour, so I took the keys and told him I would be back in an hour and a half.

He didn't miss out on much. There was a beautiful meadow for a bit, then the trail joined some logging road all the way into the parking lot. The most interesting thing was a coking furnace that was in ruins, and several spots that to me looked like old lime kilns. I made it to the car in record time, and in the meantime my dad had dried out my tent, so it was a pretty good deal both ways. We were soon on our way to civilization in the form of Leadville, Colorado, an old mining boom town that was once the most wealthy part of the state, but no longer. The town sits above 10,000 feet, and prides itself on being the "2 mile high city." There is a lot of great western history here, a lot of great 1880s architecture and a lot of character, rounded out by a slightly depressed economy, plenty of low rent housing and cheap diners and dollar stores. In other words, this is a spectacular hiker town. Anchoring its reputation to the trail is the Leadville Hostel, which is legendary on the CDT and CT, run by a guy named Wild Bill.

We first stopped at the Golden Burro, which fittingly elevated the humble burro to its proper place as the animal that made all those gold and silver rushes possible. Inside the restaurant is the "Brass Ass" Saloon. You can probably imagine the place already. I smashed a giant plate of chili cheese fries along with a bacon cheeseburger. It was a battle hard fought, but I won in the end. More importantly, my Dad was able to put down some food for the first time in 3 days. We did some errands and he dropped me off at the hostel, on his way to see family upstate. It was great to spend a couple of days with you on the trail dad! And thanks for all the food..





The hostel indeed lives up to expectations, and I enjoyed great company as the hostel is filled with long distance runners, gearing up for Saturday's 100 mile race from Leadville up and over Hope Pass and back, all within 30 hours. This is a huge event, and there are some really talented runners in town to see if they can win the event. It will be interesting to see, and it looks like I might even be in that exact area on Saturday.