Words about science and hiking
Up well before dawn and started hiking by flashlight. It wasn’t so much that I was anxious to finish as that I knew I wasn’t going back to sleep and might as well start hiking. There had been a substantial rainstorm during the night, and the lush wet vegetation overgrowing the trail soaked my shoes Read More …
at 37.4513, -107.9754 Last camp. There is nothing special about it, which I guess is appropriate. I’m in a dense wet forest a thousand feet below Kennebec Pass, the last pass on the trail. Although I hiked with Willis today, he decided to stop at Taylor Lake, some 4 miles back and a much nicer Read More …
at 37.6794, -107.9779 Got a reasonably early start from the hostel this morning, with Jan, the owner giving me, Willis and Pawn a ride to Molas Pass at 6. My plan was to take 4 days to hike the last 75 miles of the CT. I had sent a box of clean civilian clothes to Read More …
At the Blair St Hostel in Silverton. The day dawned clear at my camp on the Animas River – right next to the railroad tracks like a real hobo – and I began the 5-mile, 2000 ft climb up to Molas Pass. Climbing is always easiest in the morning and I made good time, spurred Read More …
at 37.7339, -107.6606 I guess the morning does not always predict the day. Mornings usually have the best weather of the day in the mountains, so when a day starts off as ugly as today did, I feared the worst. The morning continued the night’s wind and rain, with low scudding clouds whipping through the Read More …
at 37.8480, -107.4456 Back to the trail, back to the rain. The forecast, as usual, is for two days of rain followed by a clearing trend. The first part of the forecast has been entirely reliable. Left the Ravens Rest Hostel early this morning, thanks to a lift from April/Bearclaw, hoping to make the CT Read More …
I lingered in my warm snug sleeping bag as the soft light of morning replaced the stars. Coyotes yowled and sang to one another as I drank my coffee and loaded my pack and set off up the trail. A short climb brought me to the high point of the day’s hike, a saddle with Read More …
at 37.9492, -107.0421 Up at 4:45 and on my way by 5:30. I knew there were a series of high ridges and saddles on my route, and I wanted to clear as many of them as possible before the day’s thunderstorms kicked in. A couple of miles in I came to Eddiesville, where the outfit Read More …
at 38.0419, -106.8248 Not my finest day. Missed a turn among the jumble of jeep roads in Saguache Park and didn’t notice my mistake for a good mile and a half. Then I passed up a couple of mediocre water sources but ran out and had to dip out muddy marsh water instead. In a Read More …
at 38.2105, -106.5963 A hike through dry and lonely country today. The trail mostly followed the Divide, staying above creeks, gullies and springs, and the landscape is relatively arid. It is green and forested, but what few creeks there are tend to be ephemeral trickles. I’m camped by one now – Pine Creek – which Read More …