Daily Log: Day 30

Day 30 – Tuesday 8/11/2920 – Silverthorne Alternative 10.1 – partially cloudy, sunny, warm. Justin and I slept overnight at a US Forest service area which was away from the trail. I woke at 5:15 am and Justin at 5:30 am. We left the campsite at 6:00 am and was back at the trailhead at 6:35 am. I slack packed the next 3 miles through Silverthorne to another trailhead on the other side of town. There I called Kathy and Katie, who was visiting, and had a nice chat with both of them. Afterwards at 8 am I headed off. Next I’ll see Justin at Copper Mountain in two days. The trail was quite flat. It came to a large waterfalls. There were day hikers there too. The trail showed I had to hand climb a steep narrow crevice. So up I went. About 10-15’ up I couldn’t find a hand hold. I was worried about falling backwards with my heavy pack on. Very carefully I found a hold and with difficulty I pull myself up. Whew! Then trail disappeared into underbrush so I scrambled through it. At last I found the actual trail. Welcome to hiking an alternate trail. From then on it would climb and then flatten, climb and flatten. At the top I could see the whole valley. As I was eating my lunch another hiker appeared who was new to section hiking. He was trying it for 8 days. He had no trail name yet. He said after my next climb it would be downhill until ten mile creek. I got to the creek at 2:45 pm. There I met a couple who were day hiking. They were from Boerne TX which is just south of Austin TX. Overall it was a good day. I was done at a reasonable time and didn’t feel like a zombie. Maybe it was because I ate my candy snack as soon as I got settled to give me some late afternoon calories. I don’t know.

Off I go slack-packing through Silverthorne and meet Justin on the other side of town where I’ll pick up my regular pack and continue on my way. (Photograph Courtesy of J. Watt)
The CDT and the Colorado Trail merge into a single combined trail. (Photograph Courtesy of J. Watt)