Gunnison

Day 22

Miles hiked today: 13.1
Miles from Denver: 302.8
Elevation: 9,680 ft
Segment 17
Landmarks: Continental Divide, Continental Divide Trail, Razor Creek, Lujan Creek, Gunnison National Forest, Rio Grande National Forest, Gunnison

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Last night I contemplated making an escape off trail into Gunnison or back to Salida, on Rt. 50. I should have taken a zero in Salida, and my body is suffering for it. I have 40 miles to go to Creede, and not sure I can make it.

This morning I put all thoughts out of my head, as I was feeling better and figured the night's rest had fixed me up. I packed up and, stupidly, didn't fill my water bottles at the lake because the guidebook says there is water 3.5 miles ahead, at Razor Creek. I had about a 300 foot climb to get back to the trail, and didn't want to carry the weight. I planned on stopping for breakfast at the creek, but there wouldn't be another water source for another 9 miles after that.

Soon I encountered Thumbs Up, who had camped a little behind the turn for the lake and got going a little earlier than I did. I told him I would see him at breakfast, and pushed on.

Soon I passed a sign for the Razor Creek trail, and then a dry creek bed. Uh-oh. According to the map, this was Razor Creek, and it was dry. Thumbs Up arrived, and we put our two different maps together and determined that we were in the right spot, and there was no running creek. About a quarter mile back, uphill, there was a small little puddle where the creek crossed the trail. That was the only water for miles.

One of my all-time favorite pieces of gear has to be my Platypus water tank, which is a plastic water bag that holds 4 liters and has handles. I use it every time I filter water, putting the water first in the bag, then filtering out of the bag. This allows me to avoid putting my filter intake down in the mud, and also allows me to move the water to a comfortable sitting place so that I can pump the filter. This came in very handy just now, and before long I had two water bottles full of clear but slightly strange tasting water. It would have to do.

I told Thumbs Up about my thoughts about taking a break from the trail, and he had an overview map of Colorado and pointed out that the upcoming highway could take me to Rt. 50, and then to Gunnison. I was still feeling like I could make the next 40 miles into Creede, and told him it was just something I was thinking about.

The trail sticks pretty close to the Divide right here, which means that there is a lot of climbing and descending. Pretty soon it descended to a place called Lujan Pass, which looks like it was settled at one point, and has several spots that bear the evidence of long-ago standing buildings. The trail joins a forest road from there, and descends off the divide and down to the highway. It is also near the 300 mile mark.

As the road went down, it followed Lujan Creek which was not much more than a trickle in spots, an underground creek in others. There was thick brush or rocks in many spots preventing access, but finally I found a spot that had a nice resting spot and had access to a small flow of water. This would be the last water source for the next 20 miles of trail, potentially. I stopped and cooked my dinner as my lunch so that I wouldn't need water to cook later, and filled up my extra water bag for the long haul.

When I got going again, just a mile from the highway, I changed my mind. I was going to be suffering a lot over the next several days if I didn't take a rest, like I should have. Gunnison was about 40 miles away, but just a thumb on my part. I left Thumbs Up a note explaining my absence, and hitched into town. A very nice guy named George stopped, who commutes once a week on this road, every Friday, from San Louis to Montrose, which takes him through Gunnison. I was very fortunate he stopped, because this should be a near impossible hitch, on a road that isn't supposed to have any traffic. He said he had once picked up a thru hiker, which is why he stopped for me. He had a cooler with soda and peaches, and bid me to help myself. Hwy 114 travels for 33 miles through an unbelievable rocky red canyon, and George said there are over 500 Big Horn Sheep that live in it. Sure enough, we spotted some and we got out of the pickup to get a better look, and he had a pair of binoculars. Overall it was a nice bit of trail magic, to find such a ride in such a place, with someone who only comes that way once a week. Thanks George!

So I'm all set for a day off, and I will pick up where I left off on Sunday. Now I should be able to get all the way to Silverton without stopping in Creede or Lake City, a distance of 108 miles. I've hiked such a distance once before, in Maine's 100 Mile Wilderness, which has a great and famous sign at the start, warning hikers not to enter unless they are carrying at least 10 days of supplies. This is always a humorous photo stop for a thru hiker. I'll carry 5 days worth.

Sargents Mesa

Day 21

Miles hiked today: 18.1
Miles from Denver: 289.7
Elevation: 11,480 ft
Segments 16, 17
Landmarks: Continental Divide, Continental Divide Trail, Tank Seven Creek, Cameron Park, Sargents Mesa, Baldy Lake, Gunnison National Forest, Rio Grande National Forest

VIEW MAP


I woke up early to a magnificent sunrise, the colors of which were already lighting up my tent in purple and pink hues. I got out of my tent, took in the sight, then went back to bed. It was still early. In what seemed like minutes later in the dream world, I awoke again with direct sunlight shining on my tent.

I had stopped just short of the water source last night, so I intended to walk about a quarter mile or however far it was and then stop and cook breakfast. Thumbs Up, who had camped somewhere behind me, came up just as I was rolling out. The two of us came upon Paul just as he was rolling out, a quarter of a mile later. It was like Thumbs Up was conducting the rolling wakeup call. They went on as I stopped for water and breakfast. Just as I was packing up, Gil came along, who is a thru-hiker of the Continental Divide Trail from Israel. He's done the Pacific Crest Trail as well, so is close to completing his second of the three big trails.

A couple of miles later, all three of them were stopped for a snack break, and I joined in, making four. This is more thru-hikers gathered in one place than I had seen this entire trail, and nearly as many as I have seen combined. Truly a rare moment on this hike. I would not see Gill again, as he is a very fast hiker, and is pushing big miles to get done.

The big water source today was Tank Seven Creek. Thumbs Up thinks Tank Seven is a reference to a water tank for a railroad's steam engines somewhere farther down. This was only seven and a half miles into the day, and already it was past noon. The miles today were not going very fast. Paul and Thumbs Up were at the water source, and soon Paul left and I stayed for a bit to grab some lunch. I hiked on just after one, leaving Thumbs Up stretched out on his mattress eating his meal. I turned right at the T junction, and started downhill. I had heard Paul mention something about how we follow Tank Seven Creek for about a half mile, but I was surprised that I was going downhill, and kept waiting for the turn away from the creek. After almost a mile I could see the trail was emptying into a valley ahead, and got a bad feeling about it. It is not unusual on this trail to not see trail markers- the Colorado Trail logo on plastic placards nailed to trees- for long stretches. But I had not seen a single marker since leaving the lunch spot, and I was losing elevation fast in a segment that was supposed to be following the Continental Divide. I got out my map, and sure enough I was following a side trail off the ridge to the north.

By the time I hiked uphill all the way to the spot where I had erred, I had wasted about an hour and a quarter, and Thumbs Up was gone. I had not looked at the sign at the T-junction. Finding the right way, I started uphill through Cameron Park, which is a meadow and used to pasture cows. These cows were not as quick to move out of my way as cows usually are, and showed a little more attitude.

Soon I found Thumbs Up stopped at a very murky mud puddle, fouled with cow poop. There was so little water in this segment that it was worth contemplating filtering the water, but ultimately both of us passed on it. He was surprised that I had gotten behind him, and I related my misadventure down the Tank Seven Creek trail.

It was almost 10 miles from Tank Seven Creek to the next water source, which was a lake called Baldy Lake, which was a half mile off trail and a 320 foot loss in elevation. Making this water source would be an 18 mile day, or I could go for Razor Creek which was another 3.5 miles. The miles were going so slow today that I decided to make for Baldy Lake.

Sargents Mesa is a very interesting place. Right now the trail is in a relatively low area, traversing between the big mountain ranges of the Sawatch Range to the north and the San Juans to the west. Sargents Mesa is a high plateau that is slightly slanted back to the east, a giant flat meadow at 11,600 feet that provides unlimited views in three directions; north, east and south. The mesa is used as pasture land, so there are a lot of cows up here enjoying the view as well.

The rest of the day went very slowly. I passed a sign that said 4.5 miles until Baldy Lake, and those 4.5 miles ended up feeling like six. I was tired and ready to stop, but the lake was the only water source. Finally I looked at the map and learned that the trail made a turn due west right before it got to the lake, which helped me stop hoping to see the sign for the side trail around every corner.

Finally the sign came, and the descent down to the lake. I was the only one there, and had this beautiful alpine lake all to myself, walled in on the far side by a steep mountain of rubble, and a well situated campsite with nice flat ground on the other. A few chipmunks officiated while I ate dinner, but other than that I didn't see or hear any wildlife.

When I laid down on my sleeping mat, I heard a loud tearing sound. This is Thermarest's Neoair, the latest and greatest new thing, but it has over the last week or so transformed from a flat sleeping pad to a giant round air filled pillow. The inner baffles near the head end are seperating on the inside, and each night it gets a little worse. The tearing I heard doubled the effected area, and I'm hoping this thing holds out to the end, or until I can get REI to replace it for me.