But I Wanna See Star Trek...

June 24 2009
Chama to Silverthorne


I can see the sign from last year in my mind “You’ll never make it!” I have been warned, but my experience in snow so far has been decent. I am confident that I can make it. I can always turn around and road walk...

So I made my first 65 mile leg in three days. From Chama, I climbed quickly to 12,000 feet into nearly full snow cover. The snow was firm however, and postholing was limited to the edges of snow fields. The trail was non existent and were it not for my GPS it would have taken me twice as long to find my way to Wolf Creek Pass.

My mileage was down from upper twenties to lower twenties, but that is ok! I don’t need to average 30 miles per day in this type of terrain.

After successfully coming out of the wilderness, I hitched down to Pagosa SPrings in an unlikely vehicle. I have never before been picked up by anyone driving a gigantic shiny black hummer. This was a first.

I spent two days in Pagosa, preparing my self for the 116 mile jouney through the mountains. Some other hikers were taking the road rout through Crede. The stretch from Cumbres Pass to Wolf Creek had given me confidence. The flourescent fleece blanket I had purchased for four dollars in Chama had given me that extra layer of warmth I needed at night as well. I was tempted to stay another two nights so I could catch the new Star Trek movie, but three motel nights is enough!

I cannot adequately put into words the epic trek from Wolf Creek Pass to Spring Pass. I didn’t see one person, one car, hear one human noise for a whole week. I saw some boot prints where the CDT and Colorado Trail merge. There were so many dramatic moments and fantastic sights. The Knife Edge, a spine of rock with solid snow pack on its north side was a bit of a puzzle. The north side was in my opinion impassable. I decided to bag the low summit and walk the ridge rather than the slope.

The next day I saw a bear above 11,000 feet! I had to thaw out my frozen shoes by plunging them into a snowmelt stream. I took in the silence and relished in the wilderness experience. I would hike the CDT again, just for that experience.

For in depth commentary see my log, www.trailjournals.com/sangabrielcdt

It snowed on my final night where I camped mere yards from Spring Creek Pass. just below 11,000 feet.

I tried hitching to lake city but was ignored by many vehicles. I started wlking the 20 miles in hopes of making it by nightfall. After two hows A luxury car with rental stickers slowed. A women with a thick french accent offered me a ride. She and her Husband, who spoke no english, gave me a ride to town. They knew vaguely what I was doing. They knew I was a hiker, but nothing of the CDT. “It is 4000 kilometers” I told the woman. She translated to her husband, who’s head spun around like a top asked me shocked. “quatremille kilomètres???”

I don’t think of myself as some sort of ego freak, but I do enjoy those reactions.

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In Lake City, I took another two zero days, feasting at the bakery and even playing a little softball! Friday night, Star Trek was scheduled to play at the local one screen weekend only theater. I thought about staying another night, but they changed their schedule. It was going to be X-Men. I left.

A local trail angel gave me a ride to the trail where I saw OOO. He had just emerged from the San Juans in what must have been an equally ridiculous journey. It snowed on him, inches.

And so I continued alone. The snow had been thick at the beginning of the San Juans, but melted daily. This 100 mile leg went by quickly. Route finding was easy. THe beginning was high alpine tundra, but by day two I was hiking along a river. By day three I was in a Sage field with no snow in sight. But the trail did climb up again.

Approaching Monarch Pass, it was hailing lightly, sort of snowing, they call it “grapple.”

I trotted down a mellow hill on my way to Monarch Pass, hoping to get there in time to catch my resupply box. It was near noon and I still had 15 miles to go. I heard someone tucked into the trees shout “The trail is over here” I slowed to say hello and was shocked to find three familiar faces, Robocop, JB, and Special K. These were the first people I had seen while hiking on trail since... Well I briefly met a section hiker near Chama, Hmm. Well. This was the first time I had hiked WITH people since OOO before host Ranch. It had been almost a month, and over 500 miles.

So four of us headed into the final alpine stretch on our way to Monarch Pass. Snow coverage was heavy, and the trail was nonexistent. But it was fairly easy to follow as it was all on the western slope. We made it to Monarch Pass after the posted hours of the store where my box was stored, but as luck would have it, the owner was there and was happy to fetch my supplies.

I was going to hike on, but the offer of a free motel room and the opportunity for warm food was two tempting. I took two more zeroes in Salida.

Salida is a very pleasant town. It has all the services, motels, giant mega-supermarkets, many restaurants. They had a theater and Terminator was scheduled to play, Star Trek was due the next week. There happened to be a bike race in town so the motels were booked. We had five people sharing a room.

When we daparted I took to the high route again, as the other four, well five hikers went for the slightly lower Colorado Trail.

The CDT was manageable and snow cover limited to north faces and shaded areas. There were some steep sections and one pass which got my heart beating. I stood ont he precipice looking down to Lake Anne. The north facing bowl was covered completely I paced along the cornice looking for the least steep slope. Finally i dove in, I made it down the slope in mere minutes with a combination of running and glissading.

After I made it down, it started raining hard. I was determined however to make it to Twin Lakes and my resupply box by 5:00 I continued, covered in my $1.99 plastic poncho. I crested another 12,000 foot pass and was surprised to find no snow. It is funny how two similarly shaped areas can have completely different conditions. I trudged across the belly deep outlet of Twin Lakes and made it to the restaurant in pouring rain at 4:00. I sorted my food and indulged in hot soup. Sodden and cold I decided to hitch to Leadville.

I stood on the side of the road as countless cars flew past spraying me with fine mist. an hour later I hefted my pack and walked out. I had enough food to make it to Silverthorne. It rained during the night and into the next morning.

I had given some thought to climbing Mt. Elbert, but by the time it had stopped raining, I was 10 miles past the trailhead. It cleared up nicely that day and I was able to dry my gear. Mosquitoes had just started to come out, and I could immediately tell that it was going to be buggy for the rest of Colorado. I donned my head net while hiking in the evening.

The next day brought me just shy of Tennessee Pass under clear skies. A day later I was past Copper mountain, I had hiked through the resort passed golfers, with my filthy aged pack and scruffy beard. They looked at me with a mixture of distain, curiosity and horror. as I dangerous?

The next day I had an easy 15 or so miles to Silverthorne, or so I thought. Finding a fully snow covered pass in the morning reminded me of where I was. The south side was covered as well! At a trail half way through, I was tempted to hike out to Dillon, but continued. I made it over another 12,000 foot pass in full snow coverage and glissaded the other side, quickly descending to the river. From there I found the trail and made it to the post office at 4:45, 15 minutes before closing.

Now showered, I sat down at the computer in the hostel. I noticed that there was a nine screen theater and checked the showings. Star Trek! Woohoo!!! I saw the final showing in that theater.

Silverthorne though big is easy enough to get around. I moved fromthe $33 per night to a $43 per night motel room with 80 channels , a mini fridge and a king sized bed. I went twice to the local AYCE chinese buffet. And found a decent natural food store.