Author: kaulua26

Day 28: August 9th, Molas Pass to Cascade Creek, 15 miles, Segment 25. We enjoyed the town visit but were anxious to get back on the trail early the next day. Partly because the hostel and town weren’t all that great but also because we only had 3-4 more days before we were finished! As a bonus, the weather forecast showed a little bit of a break from rain over the next few days. Let’s hit it! My companions were very ready for this trail to be done with, but I was grappling with mixed feelings. I was really enjoying myself and didn’t want it to end. I came to terms with this by telling myself I could hike the[…]

Day 24: August 5th, 2017, Lake City/Spring Creek Pass to Colorado Trail Friends Yurt, 9 miles, Segment 22. Thus began our last week, a full-on assault of the San Juans…or was the assault on us? We were none too eager to get back on trail after drying off in Lake City, so we compromised by booking spots at a yurt. We read in our trail notes that it was along the route, only about 9 miles into Seg 22. During breakfast, Sofie sent an email inquiring if we could book the yurt same-day. To our amazement, the manager responded right away and said there was room for us. $20 a night per person, sold. We made reservations for 4—us plus[…]

Day 19: July 31st, HWY 50 to Silver Creek, 18.3 miles, Segments 15-16. It’s Monday, so back to work! We had a great stay at my parent’s but were eager to hit the trail again. We started off on a very positive note. On the drive up the Arkansas River canyon, we spotted a herd of bighorn sheep. These herds are closely monitored, as they are a species of concern. We were close enough to see that several sheep were sporting tracking collars…which didn’t appear very ultralight or comfortable. Another surprise came as were were driving to the trailhead. We spotted a BAM! We all screamed his name, nearly causing my dad to veer off the road. We had last[…]

Day 12: July 24th, Twin Lakes to Clear Creek, 12 miles, Segment 11. After a leisurely breakfast, we decided to accept a ride from Matt to travel around the lakes. It’s mostly a long, hot road-walk. Yes, it was cheating but I wasn’t yet into the continuous footpath tradition of thru-hiking…it became my style later on. Mt Elbert and Mt Massive can be seen in the background. PBR, Sofie and I picked up the trail on the south-eastern shore, quickly coming to the intersection of the Collegiate West and East routes. We decided to take a side-trip of about a mile to visit the Interlaken Resort. A historic point along the trail, this was a ritzy resort in the late[…]

Pre-game: I flew from Miami to Denver at the beginning of July 2017, a week before starting the CT, my very first long-distance thru hike. I stayed with my parents for a few days while doing some local hikes to acclimate to the elevation. This helped tremendously. Then I had a fantastic reunion with my 2 dear cousins that live near Denver and my Aunt Peggy, who lives near Steamboat, CO. I stayed with my cousin Kessia for a few nights, who happened to live within a few miles of the trailhead, start of segment 1. The day before the hike, I picked up my friend Rebecca Shivers, here-on known as PBR. She flew in from Iowa to hike the[…]