Segments 14-20, only 8 segments left!

Here's a brief recap on our 2nd foray onto the Colorado Trail...Segments 14-20...

We leave soon for the remaining 8 segments, roughly 145 miles to Durango and the end of the trail.
It's been quite a journey, definitely taking up more of the summer than we thought, and it's most certainly been harder than I thought.

These middle segments included about 115 miles of trail, most of it on or through ranchland and cow herds. I'm just now starting to forget the stench of cow pies!

Cattle Country...

 There were also extremely scenic sections, like coming to the top of Marshall Pass and the Fooses Creek area as well as the San Luis Peak and surrounding high country outside of Creede. We had one particularly crazy weather day when we went from sweating in the 85 degree sun to freezing in 40 degrees and the most epic hail storm ever! All within the span of two hours! Colorado mountain weather-if you don't like it, wait five minutes!!!

Oh boy, yet another afternoon storm!

Almost to Creede!

Top of Fooses Creek Trail

 One of the best things about this trip was the trail magic and fellow thru-hikers.  This seemingly-abandoned horse trailer was actually converted into a hiking shelter, courtesy of one of the local ranches. Inside it was stocked with duct tape, books, a chair, Gatorade, and sodas! Such a welcome treat in the middle of all the pasture-land.

Hiker shelter, courtesy of Coleman Ranch



And we somehow, amazingly, caught up again with our friend John, whom we had met on the very first rainy day leaving Waterton Canyon! I can't fathom the stars that aligned to allow us to meet him again, after he took the Collegiate West route and after we took four days off from the trail... It was fun to hike with him and hear his captivating stories. Thanks for the fun trail times, John, we hope you made it safely to Durango!



And speaking of friends, Hal and I's friend Andy drove all the way to the hard-to-find trailhead in Creede to pick us up when we were done! Thanks a million Andy, wolf-pack for life ;)

Happy to see Andy!

Allrighty folks, that's the short recap version!  We'll look forward to finishing and sharing the final pictures! Thanks again for all the support!
Happy Trails...








Dealing with the Unexpected...

Sorry folks, no pictures here...

Of all the things I thought we'd encounter on the trail that would make us have to call it quits, like a broken bone, horrendous weather, lightning strike, lost or broken gear, or chance encounter with a Sasquatch, I never expected knee pain to be in that category.

We made it 230 miles in 11 days, over 40,000 feet of elevation gained and even more lost, arriving at Mt. Princeton Hot Springs on Sat. 8/9/14. We started from Waterton Canyon in the pouring rain, pitched our tent that night in the rain, and at least woke up the next morning to no rain, but heavy clouds. For the next 4 days we were inundated with daily rain showers, keeping us constantly clammy and damp. Not to mention the trench foot...!

One of the coolest animal encounters I've ever had happened on the third day, when Hal stopped mid-trail to avoid kicking a small baby owl! It was sitting in the middle of the trail, and we were worried that someone would step on it, so I put my gloved hands down by it and it hopped into my hands! It was amazing. I was able to gently deposit the owl a few feet off the trail, hopefully not too far for its mom to miss it. It didn't even want to leave my hands, putting its head back and closing its eyes for a little nap! Sad to leave it, we had to continue so Hal built it a small ground shelter, just in case...We think now that it was a young burrowing owl...

We posted earlier about arriving in Breck and at Mt. Princeton, and have now healed for 4 days and feel ready to tackle another 6 sections of the trail. We are hoping to complete the trail up to Segment 20 on this trip.
During that time, I did get my knee worked on by the best massage therapist ever, Matthew Gibble (Raining Faith Massage). I highly highly recommend him for any sports massage or injury and recovery issues. Turns out my knee is an over-use injury (big surprise!) combined with soft tissue damage. Basically doing our typical thing of going too hard, too fast, too soon.
When we return to the trail, we will be shooting for 20-22 miles a day, instead of 30.

Okay, thanks to everyone for following and for all the support! We didn't make it for our thru-hiking goal, but have learned a ton in the process and are still going to finish the whole Colorado Trail, hopefully by September!

Happy trails,
~Kasey~

Arrived at Mt. Princeton Hot Springs!

Just sitting here in the lobby of the Mt. Princeton Hot Springs Resort and Spa, enjoying their brownie sundaes and wi-fi!

We got here this afternoon and restocked our food supply, soaked in the healing waters, and did some laundry. 

Getting ready to head out and camp for the night, so we can get an early start tomorrow. Our packs are dishearteningly heavy with 6 days + of food!

We have been lucky enough to have mostly sunny days since our night in Copper, have seen some amazing mountain valleys and passes and been amazed by the kindness of both friends and strangers!

Heading from here to Lake Molas and then hopefully onto Durango...

Aches and pains are quite prevalent for both of us, so we are pairing down the mileage and daily speed. The descents have proven most difficult on my knees, but a combination of Hal taking some of my pack weight plus multiple ibuprofen doses a day is keeping the pain and swelling down...

Good night for now!!!

The Colorado Trail-made it to Breck!

We are sitting here at the Red, White, and Blue Fire Station 6 in downtown Breckenridge, enjoying a much-needed trail break! The guys at the firehouse have been nothing short of fantastic, letting us sprawl all over with our wet and smelly camping gear!

And why were we all wet and smelly?! 

Because in delaying our start time a day and trying to avoid the low pressure storm system we actually managed to walk for 13 hours in pouring rain, only to have to set up camp in the rain, only to have it rain all night, and then wake up to put on all our wet gear again!

Thankfully our first few days on the trail were the hardest-when we finally had sun on Saturday we were ecstatic!

Thus far all our gear is holding up great, our minds are fresh, our bodies have consistent but different aches every day...

We are managing almost 25 miles a day, hoping to bump it up to 30 when we get a bit further along.

Otherwise, we have seen some amazing wildlife and have met about 5 other enthusiastic and friendly thru-hikers!

Can't wait to start out again tomorrow morning, bright and early from Breckenridge. 

We will try to check in again at the Mt. Princeton hot springs where we hope to soak in the healing waters and rest again for an afternoon...

Thanks to all our friends and family for supporting us on this big adventure!

Less than 400 miles to go!!!