August 31, 2013

August 31, 2013
Cooper Mtn to Busk Creek
36 miles

Today was a good day for a hike. The first bit of hiking was mostly a gradual uphill as I made my way through Searie Pass. The trail then leveled out for a while and I took the opportunity around 9:15 to set up my tent so it could dry out in the sun since things were a bit damp this morning from a combination of the rain last night and condensation inside my tent. Not long after my dry out break, I ran into three people doing a section of the Colorado Trail from Tennessee Pass to Copper Mtn. The trio consisted of a mother (Mrs. Chatterly), her son, and his girlfriend. We chatted for a while and they were offering me all kinds of things both food and non-food related. I did something I don't normally do and declined their offer because my food bag was still bulging with food for the next couple days. During the course of the conversation Mrs. Chatterly said if I was ever in Colorado Springs I should look her up and she would be happy to house me. She even took my picture because she said not many people stop to talk with them. Her son and his girlfriend also offered a place to stay if I was in Fort Collins, where they live and work for Otter Box. Such nice people! Encounters like that really make my day and put me in a good mood.

After that the trail meandered around and up a little more before descending through Kokomo Pass and continued down along a creek for a while. Eventually the trail headed up again toward Tennessee Pass. Once at the pass I was excited to see that there was indeed trail magic there for CT and CDT hikers! The trail magic is restocked by the Leadville hostel. Since it was the first box of trail magic I have seen since starting the hike I took full advantage and drank a Dr. Pepper, ate a bag of Cheetos, a package of Ho-Hos, and a moonpie. It was delicious. After that fuel up I continued down the trail.

With the weather as volatile as it has been I never really know how far I will end up hiking in a given day should a thunderstorm decide to strike. Fortunately today the clouds did little more than rain off and on, and I wasn't exposed on the divide either. Because that was the case I was able to get in a full day of hiking. It felt great to finally be able to hike all day again.

Tomorrow I will walk through Twin Lakes for a resupply and continue on down the trail. I am really enjoying the proper tread of the Colorado Trail through this section and look forward to the rest of it!


Alex