An unnessecary meandering trail day

Day: 147

Date: 07.10.2022

CDT Mile: Mile 2'274.4

Miles hiked: 27.5 miles / 44 km

Elevations: 3'251 ascent (991.6 m Aufstieg) / 2'612 feet descent (797 m)

Camping at: 9'182 feet / 2'800.5 m

I slept well last night and we got up and hit the trail shortly after 7am. It was still very cold, the ground and all the leaves were frosty. We have a climb ahead of us for the first 10 miles. It is a very gentle and beautiful uphill, which brings us up above 3'200 meters again through beautiful Aspen and Ponderosa forests. I loved our morning hike. As the sun is out and the sky is blue, the colors of the aspens are glowing, it is epic! We break to take off our long pants and eat some snacks. The trail however is a little weird today. It is designed like a snake, meandering along with many unnessecary bends. I don't know what the trail designers were thinking when building such a trail. I learned fast and simply cut straight through. By doing this, I shaved off around 3 miles all day long! Also, the trail being still super muddy and wet, we often had to find another way around it. The afternoon was still beautiful but very long! And also the sun disappeared more often behind clouds and when the wind picked up, it got brisk again. I put back on all my clothes. When we finally called it a day I was more than happy to stop! Again we found a nice campsite below a beautiful ponderosa tree. We made good progress today and will reach Ghost Ranch tomorrow early afternoon. I am looking forward to some good food and a warm shower and clean clothes!

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