We've been in the mountains for five days. The last five posts will get you caught up!
7-27-06
Start: FR 742, CO
Destination: Off of Foot Trail 400, CO
Elevation: 11,740
Miles: 16.7
Weather: Misty Morning, Hail - Again
The morning was pretty. There was rolling fog rising up and separating the hills from the valleys. There would be a layer of fog, then trees, then fog, then trees, then the rocky peak off in the distance - each getting more pastel as it got further away. The trees let a light green cast, the hills a blue, and the peaks in the back cast sort of a purple color.
Unfortunately later in the morning, we witnessed something awful. A man was walking two dogs on leashes on the forest road we were on, and he was ahead of us quite a ways. A pickup truck came towards us, and one of the man's dogs tried to jump on it and was hit. We all stopped in our tracks. The man with the dogs said he tried pulling back on the leash, but couldn't hold him. The driver and the dog owner picked up the dog, put him in the back of the pickup, and they all drove off. As they passed us, the man was sitting on the tailgate petting the scared, injured dog. So he was alive - we sure hope the poor ol' pooch makes it. It just made my stomach hurt thinking of how they all felt. I felt so badly for all of them. Thankfully no one was upset about the situation, just helpful.
We walked on quickly to get back on less-traveled road - or what we thought was less-traveled. We turned onto a jeep road. It was pretty, but busy with 4-wheelers, dirtbikes, and even a couple of jeeps. They were all friendly, though, and no one tried to run us over!
When we got to our foot trail, finally, it was one large rut from illegal dirtbike riders. It was very hard to walk on. But we hiked on and stopped to cook some lunch. The storm clouds were rolling in, so we ate, and just as we finished, it started to rain... er... hail. We were up around 12,000 ft. so the storm skipped the rain altogether. Mom ducked under a pine tree in the fetal position, Hickory went under another, and I covered myself and my pack with my poncho under another tree. I kept getting pelted in the kneecaps and on my head. All I could do was yell, "Ouch! Oooh! Ouch!" and laugh. "This is crazy!" I'd yell to mom. But we just sat there still until it slowed down. There was about 2" of marble-size hail on the ground when we took our ponchos off. Youch - that stuff really hurts. I don't know what we'd do if it got bigger than that!
So I've learned a couple of very important things camping and hiking in the middle of the Rocky Mountains. One is that is rains and storms and hails EVERY day! The second and most important is how to enjoy a Rocky Mountain thunderstorm (even though I haven't tried it yet) - laying in a huge bed, sprawled out with a good book and a cup of hot cocoa, with the window open so you can hear the rain/hail and the crisp cracks of thunder. Aah, warmth.
We are anxious to get to Crested Butte tomorrow. We need showers badly. I know it's bad when I walk all day thinking, "Which weed is it that smells like sweaty gym socks?" Then later realize it's me... It's all fun, though. We all stink and we are all dirty, so we just crack jokes about it all day. The weather is challenging us beyond what we imagined, but we're focusing on getting through it so we can have fun at camp. Warm, dry clothes, hot tea, and hot food. Tylenol PM and a warm sleeping bag. That's all we really need!
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