Salida

Day 19

Miles hiked today: 10.4
Miles from Denver: 253.3
Elevation: 8,840 ft
Segment 14
Landmarks: San Isabel National Forest, Mt. Shavano, Angel of Shavano, Salida

VIEW MAP

It rained all night, and my tent was on an incline, slanting from left to right. This meant that to prevent sliding completely into the opposite wall of the tent, I was sleeping on the edge of my sleeping pad, balanced precariously in that spot where I wouldn't roll into the wet tent wall. As always when there is any moisture on my tent however, the foot of my sleeping bag soaked it up because I've found it inevitable that my feet touch the wall.

So I got up, packed up a wet sleeping bag and a wet tent, and joined The Professor and Crash for some breakfast. Once again they had boiled a lot of water, so there was a pot ready for my oatmeal and coffee. These guys pack heavy, and have large cook pots and large stoves and large food canisters. They were headed in the opposite direction and planned to stay at Mt. Princeton Hot Springs Resort, so I'm sure they didn't mind burning a little extra fuel.

Bidding them goodbye and thanks, I started south once I had everything ready. It was a grey, foggy, moist day. My camera stayed in the backpack except for the one time I brought it out to get a picture of the fogged in trees. The forest is really beautiful at a time like this, especially through the aspen groves. At one point I stopped when I saw the specter of a cow opposing me, which turned out to be nothing more than a real cow, in thick fog. Now that would have been a great picture.

It wasn't long before I came upon the Mt. Shavano side trail. This is another 14er, but not one I had planned on climbing, even with good weather. It is a 10 mile round trip. The nearby trailhead is called Angel of Shavano, because when there is snow on the mountain, but not too much snow, it makes the shape of an angel. This, like the Mount of the Holy Cross, has drawn many visitors through the decades.

It was not a far walk today, as I was going about 10 miles to US 50 to go into town. The fog never lifted, and it was rather chilly. There seemed to be one giant cloud just parked right on the mountain, which wasn't going anywhere. When I got off the mountain I could see that this was very much the case.

I got rides from two different people; one a New Zealander named Mark who thought he was going through Salida, but actually was turning before it. So he left me at a gas station about half way, where I caught a ride with a guy named Oscar who was driving to Texas. Oscar wasn't sure either if he was going through Salida, but he decided to try it anyways and dropped me in town. I'm sure he would have hit Texas had he gone through Salida or not, so he should be in good shape.

Salida is my favorite trail town so far. It has a very vibrant historic downtown, with a disproportionate number of art galleries. There are plenty of ma and pop shops, including a shoe cobbler and a leather tanner. I didn't see a single empty storefront, and business looks like it is good. The Arkansas River runs right past downtown, which is a huge river for kayakers and white water rafting. There are a few restaurants right on the water where you can watch the kayakers run the rapids. Above the town are some mountains, one of them with a giant 'S' on it, and a peculiar white house perched above the S, with what appears to be a spiral trail going up the mountain. At night I discovered that they light the S, alternately with a giant heart, because Salida claims to be the heart of the rockies.

I'm staying at a great hostel called the Simple Lodge, and am headed out tomorrow on the longest, most remote portion of the trail. It's 90 miles before my next resupply stop, so I have packed my food bag as full as its been yet. I am excited because this is reputably the most beautiful portion of the trail coming up, with the trail spending most of the time above tree line and above 11,000 feet. This is what I've been waiting for!

Halfway

Day 18

Miles hiked today: 16.9
Miles from Denver: 242.9
Elevation: 9,600 ft
Segments 13, 14
Landmarks: San Isabel National Forest, Mt. Princeton Hot Springs, Raspberry Gulch, Browns Creek, Sand Creek

VIEW MAP

The place I had camped last night was only a mile or so away from the biggest roadwalk on the trail so far. They have been unable to connect the trail through National Forest land or otherwise in this spot, so the result is a 5.5 mile road walk. One benefit of that road walk is that the "trail" goes right by Mt. Princeton Hot Springs.

The hot springs are naturally occurring in the river, and supposedly this was discovered by whites in the 1860s and developed into a resort, even though the Indians had known about it for generations. Today, it is much like going to a public swimming pool, except the pool temperature is in the 90's, or you can go down to the river.  There they have created little sitting areas along the side of the river, where the hot water comes out and can be up to 120 degrees fahrenheit, but mixes with the river water so it is just right. This is quite a thing to have along a trail, and I wasn't about to pass it by.

Admission was just 10 bucks, and kept me occupied for more than an hour. There were hardly any people there, even though I have been told that you had to wait quite a while for one of the spots along the river. They even allowed me to put my pack behind the main desk where they could keep an eye on it. After soaking for a time, I went next door to the Mt. Princeton Resort and Restaurant, where I was seated at an outdoor table on a beautiful day. I was told that today's special was the BLT with avocado and chipotle sauce plus fries for 7 bucks. This was quite within reason, so in no time I was enjoying that as well. This place really isn't half bad.

I got back on the trail, I mean road around 1 pm, and intended to make some miles yet today. First I had to navigate a couple more miles worth of roads, which for whatever reason aren't marked very well for CT users. Eventually the trail got off the busy highway and onto a very ancient road along the Chalk River, which had dozens of nice properties and bed and breakfasts. I learned a little later at the trailhead that this community is called St. Elmo, and is an old mining town. The nice houses there would have been miner's shacks at one point or the other.

About this time the clouds got really ugly, and a pretty good thunderstorm opened up. I was thankful to be down low along the river, because the thunder was directly overhead. It was a fast moving storm, and pretty soon I was shielding my eyes from the blinding sun and blue sky yet still getting pelted with rain. Soon the storm moved on entirely, but it wouldn't be the last of the day.

Soon after the road brought me to actual trail again, and I was able to once again walk without being passed by cars. The trail climbed about 800 feet to Raspberry Gulch, from the top of which I could see quite a ways south to where I was going. This next 20 miles of trail is low country, where the trail makes away from the Sawatch Range and down towards Salida, after which I will again climb the Continental Divide. Salida is also the halfway point, but technically I would pass the true halfway point today.

I aimed for a campsite listed in the data book, and as the evening drew late I arrived to find two thru hikers already there. They were nice guys, and bade me to set up my tent and even cooked hot water for my dinner. I learned within a few minutes that one of these guys, Steve, is the Chairman of the Colorado Trail Foundation. It was very interesting talking to him about the hard work that goes into this trail, the volunteer hours and the politics that surround trying to draw a continuous line through the state of Colorado. They were hiking in the opposite direction so that they could meet more thru- hikers, as something like 95 percent of us start in Denver and walk west. He said I was number 99 or 100 that they have run into.

I am halfway through now, and hope to finish the rest of the trail in right around 2 weeks. Tomorrow I will reach Salida, the last town before the really high country, and the resupply before a really big section of 90 miles between towns. So far I have been at 9 or 10 thousand feet with a few visits above 11 thousand. For the rest of the trail I will stay above 11, and even visit 13 thousand feet.