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Back on trail again - Rockies, here we come!
Day 27
Date: 28.05.2022
CDT Mile: 789.1 Mile
Miles hiked: 9.1 miles / 14.5 km
Elevation: 2123 feet ascent (Aufstieg 647 m) / 545 feet descent (Abstieg 166 m)
Camped at: 11'549 feet / 3'520 m
The last week off trail past by very quickly. Even if we didn't do that much, just cause everything takes much longer without a car in town. Life on trail is much slower. I guess the days are more filled and hence we get more out of a day. It's just been over a month since I started this journey but it seems like a much longer time when looking back but I love it so far and don't miss home. It's a big adventure and I can't wait to hike on again. We all have definitely put on some weight again during this week😁 but we will need these extra calories for the upcoming time.
I'm a little worried that my backpack is big enough now with all the extra gear such as microspikes, ice axe, warmer clothing, and the bear proof foodbag which is shaped very long but not wide. Because of the foodbag being that long, I have to pack and organize my pack differently. My pack has an internal volume of 38L and pockets outside, but it will be tight, specially the first few days leaving town with all the food.
So new Mexico and the desert are behind us, and a new stretch of trail, very different with the altitude always between 3'000 and slightly above 4'000 meters and the weather, are ahead of us. The CDT thru Colorado is about 1000 km long. The San Juan's in the Rocky Mountains are supposed to be beautiful but challenging. There will be many high meters we will climb, many thunderstorms, snow covered stretches and blowdowns we will have to deal with, much more trails than in New Mexico and may also more day hikers, specially on weekend's. Also a big part of the CDT thru the Rockies aligns with the Colorado Trail, and thus we expect to see many more hikers. However, we are hitting the San Juans very early in the year. On a normal year hikers would start as of mid June to hike Colorado due to the snowbanks. This year however is a low snow year. But a massive snowstorm just blew over Colorado last week, very unusual. I do hope snow melted again the last couple of days and we will have a good time out there. We also start this early because the northern part of New Mexico has been closed to hike. To go up even more north on the trail doesn't make much sense either, as there will be more snow.
Waking up this morning in Chama we all struggled a little bit 😁 Some of us more than others. Last night has been a blast though. I belong to the lucky one's who are feeling good, even after a heavy drinking night🙃. And after a shower, drying of with my sleepingbag inliner (I don't carry a towel), I'm fully reset again.
After a nice breakfast in town we get ready to hitch up to cubmres pass, the CDT trail head. The hitch wasn't that easy, but eventually a pick up car stopped and we all somehow squeezed in the back! The drive took about half an hour up to 3'000 meters and we finally crossed the boarder state to Colorado! It got a little chilly in the back of the car! Also it was super windy.
At the top of the pass another hiking group was about to start too. We took off shortly before lunch time and can feel the altitude straight away. Uphill hikes are a little harder on your breath now and the heavy winds don't help at all! But it feels wonderful! The scenery is so different, we walk on a real trail thru the forest and are being rewarded with beautiful views. About 2 miles in, the blowdowns (fallen trees) appears. Nearly all of the forest in southern Colorado have been attacked by the bark beatles. Whole valleys consist only of tree skeletons. Not only does this look terribly depressing, but the danger of forest fires and the risk of falling trees is also very high. Large parts of the trail are impeded by fallen trees.
The wind picks up and the sun is hidden behind clouds. The atmosphere has changed quickly. Being up in that high altitude with this very cold wind is kinda scary. On a uphill hike I just have to hike straight up the hill, not following the zickzack trail as the wind just pushed me so hard. I even had to knee down on the ground and wait to not be blown away! I was a little scared, also as the group was behind me somewhere. Crossing the saddle and the next ridge climb took me a while. The wind was so strong, I had to duck to the ground several times. Also it looked like as it would start to hail or snow soon. It was frightening. I sad flat on the ground behind some bushes and waited for while till Patches came along. Trying to hike behind him in the slipstream made it better. 9 miles in we waited for the group. Our goal was to hike 12 miles today but in these conditions we decided to call it a day a little earlier. Kyra also nearly got blown away at the ridge walk, needed to be hold and escorted by the guys and finally got given the trail name 'Kite'. We camped at a little valley behind the ridge, hoping to be safe from the wind. There was also a melting snowpatch which served as a water source.
As I am called Mr. Freeze and we are now on high altitude with cold weather I asked Patches to share my tent. Two in a tent makes a big difference and adds several degrees. We pitched our tent, when his air mattress was taken by the wind and blown into a tree, cutting many wholes into it. We tried to fix it as good as possible and closed 5 big cuts. However, we didn't find all of them. Our plan being save from the wind behind the ridge didn't quite work out. All night the wind suddenly would pick up like I have never seen it before and then just stopp suddenly again for a few minutes. We all had to get up several times to make sure the tent is still pitched and no stakes have been taken off the ground. The wind even teared a cut in the Big Agnes tent of Dogbite and PlusOne! After last night with the party I hoped for a good night sleep tonight but that's not gonna happen!
Also we have been informed that another wildfire has started on the other side of the Cumbres Pass, close to where we are at. The pass has therefore been closed on one side. We were a little worried that these heavy winds bring the wildfire towards us. Fireplanes were flying right above our heads all evening and night carrying water to the wildfire.
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