The Tenmile Range

Day 9

Miles hiked today: 13.3
Miles from Denver: 117.9
Elevation: 9,800 ft
Segment 7
Landmarks: Tenmile Range, Breckenridge, Copper Mountain

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Nothing before on this trail can prepare you for crossing the Tenmile Range in Segment 7. It was fun and exciting going above tree line to go over Georgia Pass a few days ago, but this was MUCH better.

The Tenmile Range stretches from Frisco to south of Breckenridge, and if you've ever been to Breckenridge the ski resort is built right on the side of it. But there is so much to it to the south, which of course can best be appreciated by walking atop it.

I got a little bit complacent about the hike today because its "only" 13 miles, and thanks to public transportation between ski resorts I was going to hike this segment which goes over the range and finishes at Copper Mountain, then catch the bus back to Breckenridge in time for a shower and some pizza at the Fireside Inn. It's kind of like slackpacking only better, because I'm only taking public transit, and also taking my pack. Why take my pack? It's a personal thing long debated among thru-hikers, but for myself I want to hike the entire thing with a full backpack.

Anyways I was in no hurry to leave this morning, the weather was beautiful and I stopped in a restaurant for some breakfast. I waited about 30 minutes on the bus to take me to the trailhead (it's going to be rough not having this bus the rest of the trail), and was finally hiking by 9:30 AM. There were quite a few things I didn't fully appreciate about this Segment at this time, but the numbers were right there in the datebook: 3,600 feet elevation gain to 12,440 feet, and 4 miles above tree line.

I may be a thruhiker, but I've only been on the trail for a week, and I'm not exactly in shape yet. In fact it may take more than 485 miles to make that happen. This climb up was very tough, and took much longer than I anticipated. When I got to tree line, I met a nice couple from the area named Roger and Joyce, who were going to Copper Mountain like I was. We chatted for a bit about my hike, and when it was time to go up, it turns out their pace is about the same as mine. Roger is in extremely good shape and barely paused for breath on the climbs, and Joyce is slower than I am but just barely. So I ended up hanging out with them for the entire afternoon, almost like having one-day hiking partners.



The hike was epic. Being on top of the Tenmile Range is like being in mountain heaven. There are mountains as far as you can see in all directions; jagged ones, flat ones, hooked ones and rounded ones. There are mountains piled on top of mountains, and some by themselves. The weather stayed beautiful the whole time, and I was giddy with excitement over all the views and photographs. As Roger said, "This is special." I couldn't agree more.

Roger and Joyce were kind enough to give me a ride into Frisco at the end of the day, which was one-half my bus transport. It was kind of relaxing to ride the bus, watching people get on and off coming home from work. When I finally pulled up in Breckenridge, I made a beeline for the Fireside Inn, who were pleased to see me, and very soon I had a shower, pizza and lots of good conversation with my fellow hostel mates. There was even an AT thru-hiker alumni staying there this night.

Breckenridge

Day 8

Miles hiked today: 3.4
Miles from Denver: 104.6
Elevation: 9,200 ft
Segment 6
Landmarks: Breckenridge, Breckenridge Ski Area, Fireside Inn

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Town day! My friends Keychain and Zen had a dance for this, but I can't remember it. All I know is I was going to have a shower very soon. And lots and lots of food. And laundry. And maybe some food.

I had called the hostel in Breckenridge yesterday to make sure they had space, and they said to come after 10:00 AM because of people checking out. Since I was only 3.4 miles from the road, I decided to sleep in and take my time. For once I let my tent stay up long past sunrise, letting the sun dry it out a bit from the dew. I ate a bland breakfast of oatmeal, knowing I would soon be eating much better. Finally I got rolling around 8:30, my latest start yet.

A friend had told me that the forest around Breckenridge is being decimated by some kind of beetle, but I was really shocked to see it. In any of the pictures, if you see reddish pine trees those are dead pine trees. From afar it has the effect of looking upon a deciduous forest that is going through fall colors. Up close, roughly half the trees to my eye are sick and dying, or already dead. Their trunks open up with gashes of bleeding sap, their needles turn brown or maroon and for the ones that have been dead for some time, they start to fall. They have started a cutting program here of the dead trees, and in some of the sections half the trees are lying on the forest floor, chopped down and aged into perfect, dry firewood. The entire forest floor is covered with these grey logs, a perfect tinderbox. It would not take much for this entire valley to go up, and Breckenridge with it.



The walk down into Breckenridge was interesting, because the trail comes in right above a big housing development, businesses, giant vacation mansions and tennis courts. It is kind of strange to look upon all of the activity of everyday life, that has been continuing like normal since I left civilization 8 days ago. All these people have access to a shower every day, running water, grocery stores. There is no change for them while I am in the woods. The world continues on.

The really nice thing about Breckenridge is it has a free bus service that services the trailhead. This, along with Copper Mountain in the next segment, are the only places on the whole trail you can catch a bus. So, no hitchhiking this time. Easy peasy. I was lucky that I got down to the bus stop at 9:50, to learn that the next bus is 9:55, the one after that 10:55.

Breckenridge is a hyped up ski town, with lots of boutique shops for folks with lots of money, lots of "mountain" motif going on with the architecture, signs, logos, business names, etc. Everything plays to the visitor, the tourist and the pocketbook. Even though Breckenridge has a long history going back to at least the 1860's (I did not look up how far it really goes back but I did see a photograph dated 1860's.) it still just doesn't quite feel real, like a town that has been built in the last 30 years. At least, that is my impression as I walk around the place until I came to the hostel/bed and breakfast I was staying at, the Fireside Inn.

The Fireside Inn is quite a unique experience, and ranks near the top of all the hostels I have been to. It is run by Andy and Niki, a British couple who seem to have just brought a little piece of England with them. There are British and American flags flying out front, and the sitting room is decorated with all kinds of British Military memorabilia from Andy's career in the military. The have two poodles, one named Gaspode who is the mascot on the t-shirts, one of which I was given to wear around town along with some purple flower swim trunks as my clothes were washed.

The shower, the laundry, and the food. Those are really the first 3 things any hiker worries about when first getting in to town, and I was no different. I asked for a recommendation on a burger joint and was directed to a place called Imperial Burger, where I managed to eat lunch. The waiter who brought out my giant burger, giant plate of cheese fries and two beers kind of shook his head and smirked, but I had him singing a different tune 10 minutes later when the burger was gone and I was halfway through the fries.

The hostel was filled with all kinds of interesting people, each of whom were doing their own unique thing. There was a guy named Bruce who was out here climbing fourteeners, (Colorado has 56 peaks over 14,000 ft, so people try to climb them all over a course of time) Charles who will be running the Leadville 100 next weekend, which is a 100 mile race in 30 hours over mountain terrain, I think some of it on the CT, two guys from Michigan who drove down to climb Mt. Elbert, Bill who was biking across America, and so on. It was a great experience staying here, and brought me back to the many hostels I stayed at on the AT. This is a part of trail life, and one that the CT will only have in very small doses, it seems.