September 22nd, 2024
Mile Marker: 2162
Miles Hiked: 18
We had a nice slow start this morning and I loved it. I felt like I could sleep all day in the comfy bed. Around 8 AM we finally started getting around and packing our bags.
It’s mentally hard to get back out to trail when you know the temperatures and conditions are going to be wet and cold.
A unique part of this morning as we were packing up, we looked out the back windows and saw a couple hot air balloons. Then, when we went outside to get a better view, we noticed there were hot air balloons all over the sky. It was amazing! They got so close to our air bnb and I’m pretty sure one landed down beside us.
Around 10 we left the air bnb and headed to the Pagosa Springs Bakery. I ordered a breakfast burrito and cinnamon roll (They weren’t sold out yet!) and a mocha coffee.
It was all delicious and the cinnamon roll was a strong 8 out of 10. A little more crusty on the outside than I prefer but good flavor!
We then hopped in David’s car and rode to the pass. I felt a dreading pit in my stomach, I was not wanting to endure the cold. Only 3 more super cold days left then we start walking to lower altitudes.
We grabbed a quick photo at the pass, met a new SOBO named Heat, and hiked on. It was cold and I was not wanting to hang around.
About 40 minutes in I noticed these gray birds again and found one hopping along the trail next to us. It kept landing on trail ahead of us or on a branch next to me. At one point it was on a branch so close to my face, I turned to face it and felt like we were looking each other eye to eye. I just love these birds, they have so much personality and make beautiful noises.
The higher we hiked the more snow we noticed. Thankfully this area didn’t get as much snow as other parts of Colorado. We heard Monarch Pass was closed due to snow, where we were about a week ago! Wild!
The pull to get further south is so strong.
We hiked along and felt like we were in the clouds for most of the day. We noticed rain off in the distance multiple times and only got hailed on for a short period of time. It was rather cold though so we kept putting rain jackets on and off and our fleece jackets. Doing whatever we could to stay comfortable.
Around 5 the sun came out for a brief moment and we could see the beautiful ridge we were on and the high mountains covered in snow.
The last five miles we hiked together with Lucy and said bye to Heat as he was moving fast and covering major miles. It was fun getting to know Lucy more; where she is from, what her job used to be, what her family is like. She is a positive sparkling person and I’m glad she is around.
We thought the 5 miles would go quick but the trail became a mud fest and we were slipping and sliding which slowed us down terribly.
We got off trail for a smidge but none of us noticed any other intersections of trail so we found ourselves having to bushwhack to get back, but we didn’t really feel too phased by it. This is what the CDT is and we were now officially off the CT. Back to normal and no trail.
We made it to our camp area and spent a good 15 minutes looking for a place to put our tent as there was a copious amount of dead trees.
We found a spot, set up, and just as we were about to cook it started raining so we got into our tents to cook.
Thankfully we were already set up but it’s always rough to rush into our tents. It’s going to be in the low 30s tonight!
Goodnight.
Iz and Oz
Izzy + Ozzy 