I'm Through Hiking

Rain or shine, happy to be together.

I suppose the time has come to say that I am officially off the trail for this year. I think I needed some time to fully accept it before broadcasting it to you. I've never really been an athlete, and never had an athletic injury. Now I feel as though I am part of both clubs.
I probably can hike through the pain, and my foot would be fine. It doesn't hurt all the time, and when it is warmed up, I'm fine. Problem is that I pay for it the next morning, or after a period of rest. I feel lame, I feel weak, and I feel lazy. I've lost interest in the trail. I With every day that I am away, it seems harder and harder to get back up on the horse. It seems all too easy to forget the beautiful sights, the peaceful quiet of nature, the fresh air, the deliciously cold creek water and and the fun I had on this adventure with David. Instead I am reminded of the hours of mindless walking; uphill, then downhill, then up again until the end of time. I remember how I couldn't get comfortable in my sleeping bag because I was either too hot, too cold or too sticky from sweating all day (gross). I had no appetite and it seemed a huge challenge to down a homemade rehydrated meal or tortilla PB&J despite my growing hunger and lack of energy.

This guy, is amazing. 

Now I sit in the comfort of a dear friend's home, showered, clean, warm and lazy while I consider the adventure my husband has set out on today, alone. He has plans to hike for another 6 days, another one hundred and however many miles before calling it quits. He may decide to finish the trail this year. I hate that he is alone, that I am not with him, and that we are not sharing in this together, but in so many ways I just feel as though I can't possibly be there.
This sucks. I've never wasted an entire week doing absolutely nothing as I have the previous week. Here's to hoping the next week is a bit more fulfilling. I plan to take the time to do the things I want to do- catch up on my Dive Master/SCUBA diving reading, visit friends and family, take another class or two on Spencerian script or calligraphy, catch a movie, read the Bible, go to church and spend each day at the gym or on a bike ride. Maybe, if I'm feeling really ambitious, I'll try to get a job.
Meh.

This is what I do. I make sterile back tables look pretty. 

Q&A Part Two

What do you eat on the trail?
For this trip, we have been eating a lot of foods that are high in calories and don't require hot water, or dishes. For breakfast, we may eat a bar or granola. Lunch is a homemade meal of rehydrated beans and rice or PB&J on a tortilla. Dinner might be a Mountain House meal of chicken alfredo or homemade pizza in a pot with shelf stable pepperoni. For snacking we had more bars such as Luna or Cliff or trail mix. There are plenty of desserts like Oreos, graham crackers and peanut butter chocolate, and pop tarts.

Stopping for a lunch of tortilla PB&J. 

Homemade beans and rice with soup veggies. Needs about an hour to rehydrate with cold water. 

What is the point of trekking poles?

Trekking poles are used to help absorb shock and provide stability. More energy is required as the arms are taking on some of the work as well. I find that trekking poles are useful in taking off some of the strain on my knees and helping me to go up hills. They are kind of like using a railing when going up or down the stairs.

What about the bathroom?
To pee, go off trail and go anywhere. For the other, go off trail, dig a hole, do your thing, bury it. Pack out your trash. NEVER go near a stream. People have to drink out of that.

Filtering water from a stream.

What do you carry in your backpack? How much does it weigh?
I have clothes in layers, the tent, first aid kit, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, inflatable pillow, trowel and toilet paper, 3 liter Platypus bladder and hose, rain gear, .5 liter Nalgene, cup, fork, Kindle, phone, camera, chargers, paper and pens, chapstick x5 (jk, jk), and food
David is carrying his own sleeping bag/pad/pillow, clothes, etc, as well as the stove and fuel we never use, a spoon, rope for bear bags, pocket knife, sunscreen/bug spray, water filtration system, and more food than me.
We both have about 35-40 pounds of stuff in our packs.

Putting rain gear on. 

Tell us about your gear, specifically.
I will make another post about that, soon, with specifics on brand, weight and price.

Ramen noodles in the tent due to a mosquito apocalypse outside. 

My Foot Update

I was able to get a last minute appointment with a doctor of podiatric medicine (DPM) and everything went well during the appointment. Sort of.

Waiting to see the doctor. 

Immediately after walking in the door, I saw an old friend I hadn't seen in years: Ms. Jamee. This was a happy moment.

2003. Jamee and I

We had to wait an hour and a half to actually see the DPM. Since I had been walking all morning, my foot was warmed up. This was bad. For the first time in 13 days, my foot didn't hurt at all, anywhere. What the heck? Doctor asked where it hurt and I said I didn't really know and couldn't conclusively tell him. He said, "Its ok, I know where to press" and he put pressure on a lot of places and I felt no pain. I think I must have decided to throw him a bone and when he pressed really hard in one place I said, "yep, there".  It felt a lot like being at the eye doctor and you feel like you're lying about how bad your eye sight is. "One, or two? Three or four?" Damnit man, they all look the same to me!

It is plantar fasciitis, and apparently, I'm fine to continue the hike if I want. The plan was to give me a night splint, a perscription for strong IB Profen, get new cushiony insoles and perhaps new trail running shoes called "Hoka". Oh, and we're giving you a cortisone shot. David joked that I should have just hobbled out at that point and said, "Welp, looks like I'm all better, thanks!" There was no discussion as to whether or not I wanted the shot. I mean, I did, but he didn't even ask.

The spot I said was painful would be the injection site. F. He sprayed something cold over my foot to numb the needle prick and slowly over the course of 30 or 40 seconds injected the steroid into the bowels of my foot. Good God! David sensing my pain offered up his hand to hold but I shooed it away, trying to be brave. After it was over, my heel felt like jelly and I was optimistic that we would be getting back on the trail in the next couple of days.

A day later, it still hurts and I know that I cannot sleep with the night splint on in a tiny sleeping bag. We are still evaluating whether or not I want to finish the trail.

The End.

Q&A Part One

I've been asked a lot of questions about the logistics of thru hiking/backpacking, and have decided to give some attention to questions you may or may not have had. Here we go!

Colorado Trail decals help us find our way along our hike. 

Q: What do you do about food? Do you carry it all with you?
A: We have to carry a lot of calories, but in the lightest way possible. When we bought food, healthy and nutritious was not the number one concern. We tried to get foods and snacks that had at least 100 calories per ounce. Poptarts, energy bars, Oreos,  We planned ahead and made some resupply boxes full of food, toilet paper, and other good stuff to be dropped off at mountain towns approximately every 70 miles, or 5-7 days. The trail typically drops us out at points that can be anywhere from 1-30 miles from where our resupply boxes are that usually require a shuttle or, more often, hitch hiking to pick it up.

Q: How do you have enough water for the trip?
A: We have to take our water from the mountain creeks and rivers. There are a lot of harmful bacteria living in these water sources so the water must be filtered or have chemicals such as iodine added to make them safe. There is also the option of a "steripen" that cleans the water through ultra violet light. We use a Sawyer water filter system where we collect water in a designated "dirty" bag and run it through the filter into our platypus bladders that hold 3 liters of water. This amount of water is usually more than enough for 24 hours.

Filtering 1 liter of water into a 3 liter bag. 

Q: What does creek water taste like?
A: Very very good. I liken it to tasting like Dasani bottled water. Whenever we stop for the night in a place and refill water at a hotel I have been so unhappy with the taste.

Q: How do you find campsites?
A: They are actually much harder to come by than I anticipated. In order to pitch a tent and sleep comfortably, you really need a flat spot that is void of rocks. Sometimes there are campsites that have been prepared previously that come fully equipped with a fire ring. These are good, and coveted. Otherwise, its been difficult while going up or down on switchbacks or steep inclines/declines. You want to look for an area that is somewhat protected from the elements by having some trees, but be careful about camping next to dead trees or trees that look unstable. Those trees have been nicknamed "widow makers" because in a high wind storm, well, they can kill you.

The perfect (ish) campsite

If you have any other questions I did not address yet, please comment below and I will answer them on the next Q&A post. No question is too absurd.

Sad Day of Sadness

Once we got to the top of the hill, David asked me how my foot felt. It hurt. A lot. I was honest about my symptoms: When I wake up and take my first step, its at an 8 or 9 out of 10 for pain. When I rest, and then start back up, it hurts almost as much. Every step for the first mile bugs me, and then I tolerate it, and then by mile 5 or 6 it hurts again with almost every step. Taking a zero day does not make it any better, which is frustrating, because one would think... I basically rested it for 40 hours and it did not feel any different.
He asked, "Do you want to put the hike on hold?"
I cried. I honestly didn't know.
I quit a lot of things. This is the one thing in my life I really didn't want to quit. Its a hard hike, and having foot pain like this doesn't make it super enjoyable, even though it is a very enjoyable hike. The views are incredible, the people you meet, the raw emotions that are hard to come by in the real world. If I quit, he would probably continue, and I hated the idea of missing out on the adventure or of him having to do it alone. Even if we both stopped, other people would be having the adventure, and we would miss out.

We did some research and I suspect what I am dealing with is plantar fasciitis. There is a band of tough tissue that runs from the heel to the toes used for support of the foot. Somehow, I believe I injured this band by overuse and if I continue to work through the pain, I can cause more damage which will be most regrettable and difficult to heal. David believed that finishing this hike was not worth injuring my foot further. The symptoms line up with this, although I cannot conclusively say it is plantar fasciitis.
I cried a bit. Once again, I was emotional.
Options:

• Get it checked out by a podiatrist or MD who specializes in foot and ankle. 
• Possibly I just need custom orthotics, a dose of IB profen and to take it easy for a few days with the option of getting back on the trail.
• Modify the hike. Maybe hike a few miles without a pack into a section with David, hike out, get the car, go to the other side of the section, hike in, meet him, hike out. We would then both have lighter loads and he could potentially get through an entire section in a day without a pack to worry about. 
• Quit the hike altogether. Heal the foot, get a job, start making money again. Tackle the hike another year, or a section at a time. 

We have put so much time, energy and money into  all of this. We have so much high caloric food that I doubt I should have much of it in real life.  

I'm still torn. If the doc gives the OK, do I want to head back on to the trail? 

After just coming down I70 from Dillon earlier that day, David's brother Brian graciously drove back up to get us and bring us "home" to Fort Collins. But before that, I got to eat at Rio one more time while we waited for the rain to stop.

CT 7.13.15, Day 11

Days on the trail: 9

Days total: 11

Miles today: 1.6

Miles from Denver: 118.8

Approximate elevation gain: negligible, possibly negative

Location: Copper Mountain

We took forever this morning to get around to the trail. We left the hotel at 11, went to Safeway to pick up some tortillas, and hit the bus back to Copper by 1130. Around 1230, we started our hike.

I was in a bad mood. Well, not so much a bad mood as I just didn't have my heart in the hike. My foot still hurt, but more than that, I was just completely unmotivated to hike. We started out and I became frustrated with the trail. It went up, then down, then down some more, and then followed the base of Copper Mountain. We were basically in the golf course at times, and after 1.6 miles, the trail went right into the Copper Mountain Village. David offered up lunch at a hot dog place. $4 for a corn dog? Meh, ok. Although he could tell I was struggling with motivation without even opening my mouth, we discussed our day and thoughts. We decided it would be an easy day, maybe 6 miles tops. The goal was not to be miserable, uncomfortable or in pain. I felt that as long as I got this day over with, I would be fine. Its always hard to get back on the trail after a zero day.

After lunch, we started hiking again. We made it from the village to the start of the trail, maybe 1/8th of a mile.

7.12.14, Zero Day #2

After sleeping in at the Colorado Trail Foundation's work camp, we woke up to some delicious left over biscuits and turkey sausage. We sat around chatting for a bit with the volunteers and then packed up our camp to head to Frisco for a night at a hotel. We would have to catch a shuttle, with a potential 30 minute wait time and a little bit of a walk.

On our way to the bus stop we saw a woman dropping off her adult son at the beginning of section 8 in Copper. We stopped to chat a moment and she, Pam, offered to give us a ride to Frisco. I swear, we have met some of the nicest people on the planet during this hike.
We arrived in Frisco at our hotel (Alpine Inn) and I was pleasantly surprised by David's ability to find us the cheapest, nicest hotel in Frisco that happened to be centrally located between a Whole Foods, Safeway, the outdoor store and my favorite restaurant (originally) from Fort Collins, the Rio Grande. Within the next couple of hours, I had a carmalita from Whole Foods in hand, a wonderful meal at the Rio and then back to the hotel for a shower and some hot tub time. Zero days are awesome.
We spent the rest of the day relaxing, watching shark week and working on our blog. David's parents stopped off to take us to dinner on their way home from a sailing regatta near Aspen. It was very good to see familiar faces.

David working on his blog. 

With one queen bed each, we spread out and slept in wonderful, comfortable bliss.

CT 7.11.15 Day 9

Days on the trail: 8

Days total: 9

Miles today: 9

Miles from Denver: 117.2

Approximate elevation gain: ~2800

Location:Gold Hill trailhead to Copper Mountain Segment 7:3.5 to 12.8

In my honest opinion, this is way too steep to be a trail. 

I had a hard time sleeping last night. We placed our backpacks under the vestibule and on top of a plastic sheet. We are still trying to figure out our system of what works best. On a training trip we brought the backpacks inside the tent, and after putting pressure on a platypus bite valve and causing a flood we decided not to keep them inside. Three times in the middle of the night I was awoken to the noise of plastic shuffling near my head. What the heck? I tried shooing whatever it was away, and went back to sleep. Whilst packing up, I examined my gear and noticed that I had tiny little bite marks all over my bite valve. Gross. I have no idea what it was that felt like chewing on the valve. I cleaned it off really well with several Wet One's and water. I didn't want tularemia or rabies. Suggestions?

Lake Dillon.

Thinking I'm almost done with the hard part, I stopped to take a picture of David.

This was the hardest day of this hike and yet we did the shortest amount of miles yet. On the elevation profile map, it looked uphill and difficult, but I was not prepared for how challenging it would be for me. It rocked my faith in my legs, heart, lungs and ability to hike uphill. I got tired of going up, but then I would see these sections that appeared to just be straight up and I thought, "How is this considered the trail!?". I saw an end in sight with the pass. What pass? The book doesn't say anything about a pass, and it doesn't say "It's over, it's all down hill from here" once you get there. I must have been delusional to think so. In the meantime, the view of Lake Dillon and Breckenridge were really awesome. Once we went over this pseudo-pass we started heading on flat/downhill trail and I was super happy. Three more miles to go! Ah, that didn't seem so bad. But then it kept going, and creeping upwards, and there appeared to be no end in sight! We walked over snow three times, and the trail kept going up. Where the hell were we going? Why didn't the makers of this dang trail make it easier. I was running out of energy and super hungry. I had 2/3rds of a pop tart for breakfast. That was dumb. I pulled out a "cashew cookie" Larabar that sounded good when I bought it and when I took a bite I instantly felt nauseous and spit it out. I had to take so many breather breaks to do this, and several times I wanted to just sit and throw a fit at the trail gods who made this trail and not take another step forward.  

So happy to be done with the hard part, or so I thought. 

There were several other hikers doing just fine, and about 10-15 mountain bikers who carried their bikes up a huge portion of this section. I swear to you, mountain bikers are the craziest people on the planet, and perhaps the most in shape masochists in existence. Who wakes up in the morning and says, "Hmm, I think I would like to torture myself. Let's go from Breck to Copper this morning"? Apparently a lot of mountain bikers. 

View towards Breck. Off in the distance I could see the tiny switchbacks we did yesterday. They seemed so much bigger then. 

View towards Gore Range Trail and Copper Mountain is hidden, on the left. 

We reached the top, a crest between Peak 5 and Peak 6 at 12,495 on the ten mile range and at the Breck ski boundary. I was ready to go down. David, my masochist husband, saw a peak and decided to go to the top of it "real quick" after dropping his pack. I had permission to move on, so I left him. I didn't get too far away and always had my eye on him while enjoying the scenery of Copper, the Gore Range trail we did two weeks ago and some other mountains I don't know the names of. It sure was pretty, but it got cold. Before I knew it, I crouched down and put on my polar fleece, rain jacket, winter hat and gloves while I waited about thirty minutes for David to meet me. Now we only had three miles remaining and it was all downhill. We stopped for lunch once we reached tree line. I made a PB&J on a tortilla that sounded good, but I could only eat 2/3rds of it. 

Waiting, and freezing. =)

Looking towards Copper Mountain.

From the top we could hear music playing in Copper. Some guy on the way down said there was a Bluegrass festival going on and we should try to make it. We had been salivating over the idea of fatty burgers all day and it sounded like a great way to go out to eat without a shower required. 

As we got to the trail head, we looked to the left and saw some people setting up a tent in a vacant parking lot, as well as a green trailer with the Colorado Trail symbol on it. Volunteers! We had heard that such people existed and wanted to take the opportunity to thank them. They invited us to join their camp for the night and have some food with them. Not wanting to impose when we didn't volunteer, we pitched our tent with them and walked into town, about a mile and a half to get food. We spent a bit of time talking to them and getting to know the amazing people who hike up and lug up supplies to build bridges and walkways that make our hike easier. They are saints and some of the nicest people. We stayed up late talking and watching fireworks with them.

CT 7.9.15 Day 7 and 7.10.15 Day 8

Days on the trail: 6 and 7
Days total: 7 and 8
Miles today: 17.1 and 19.4
Miles from Denver: 88.8 and 108.2
Approximate elevation gain: ~6500 feet
Location:Kenosha Pass to Gold Hill Trailhead Segment 6:0.0 to Segment 6:17.1, Day 8 Segment 6:17.1 to Segment 7:3.5 (ish)

Hitching a ride from Fairplay.

Top of Georgia Pass. A little chilly and prepared for rain. 

We struggled a bit getting a hitch back to the Kenosha pass trail head but eventually a young man named James pulled over in his jeep full of biking, camping and other miscellaneous outdoor gear. There was literally no room for both of us to fit.  I was so happy he was willing to help that we made it work. Crouched over with a bicycle fork resting on my lap sitting on top of a folded over seat, we arrived at our destination 20 minutes later. I'm amazed by the generosity of the people we have met on this journey. It seems that the people who wouldn't be able to help are the most willing to do so.

Getting back on the trail and picking up our pace was a difficult but eventually we got back up to 2/2.5 miles an hour. We only had enough food planned for 3 days max so our packs were relatively light. We had a section that was uphill for 6 miles in order to get us over Georgia Pass and we sort of rushed through it for fear of bad weather. (You do not want to be at high altitude after 1200 for risk of lightning and thunderstorms increase greatly). The rain held off just until we went over the pass, around 2pm, when we had to "pull over" and wait under trees while the lightning passed us by. 

Looking back over Georgia pass during a break from rain. 

All in all, we hiked our most miles in a day; 17 total and didn't take much of a glorified break to eat or rest. I'm struggling with getting enough calories because I have no appetite and no interest in taking breaks. Whenever we stop for a standing or sitting break, it is that much harder to get back up and going again. My food consumption today was one poptart, a couple handfuls of trail mix, 150 calorie tuna packet with two miracle whips and one relish in a tortilla, and bite of a cliff bar. No dinner. I met another thru hiking woman who was struggling with the same thing.
The next day we took our time getting ready and got on the trail around 0930. We played leapfrog with three college students we met yesterday named Austin, Jen and Lindsey. Whenever I felt defeated because they passed us David reminded me that they were super young, and it was ok.

Coming down the mountain on day 8. 

Day 8

We had a bit of an incline during the middle of the day, but having Georgia Pass behind us made this incline much more doable. The rest of the hiking was pretty tame and we finished off section 6 by 3pm. With no campsites for at least 3.5 miles in to section 7, we decided to press on. We were tired and weary, but determined as this would make the following day's pass a little less difficult. 

Coming down switchbacks into Breckenridge. Off in the distance is what is coming up. 

Going through town, or at least a neighborhood, was hot and miserable. We had already been exposed to a lot of sun by this point and there was much more to come. Going up the first foothill seemed a huge struggle for my tired legs and sore feet. At the beginning of section 7, we had just accomplished 15.5 miles. I was not looking forward to another 3.5+ miles of all uphill.Eventually, we settled on a campsite near water and in a secluded location. I did not sleep super well, but woke up ready for a difficult day ahead.

Switchbacks we came down. 

7.8.15, zero day #1

We spent last night and plan on staying tonight in the Western Motel Inn in Fairplay, CO. What the motel lacks in elegance and modernization it makes up for in wonderful managers who have been nothing but amazingly helpful. The woman manager offered to give us a ride to pick up our Chinese takeout, of which I sadly only ate half of. She was also willing to hold on to our resupply box that we picked through until we finish our hike, approximately 4 or 5 weeks from today.

Today we ventured out and saw the town of South Park of which the cartoon is based on. We did laundry, blogged at the library and had the best pizza ever, which came from a gas station. At the hotel, we watched a lot of SharkWeek and movies while waiting for our stuff to dry out from the rain. 

We decided to give our bodies a good rest and kept the room for a second night. 

CT 7.7.15 Day 5

Miles today: 13.6

Miles from Denver:71.7

Days on the trail:5

Approximate elevation gain: 1858

I got about one or two hours of sleep. Not last night, but this morning between the hours of 6-9am. It seemed like it never stopped raining and I was extremely paranoid about bears all night. It's kind of weird, because any research I have done on black bears suggests that they are kind of like skiddish dogs and easy to scare away. Despite that, they have a ferocious appetite and will do a lot to get some high calorie food, which is the only kind of food we are carrying. We hung a bear bag, but I felt like I might have heard grunting or big paws walking around us. I think I had a panic attack last night, because I was so anxious about dying from a bear.

We resolved to spend the night in town, hitching a ride into Jefferson four miles away to grab our resupply box and hitching another ride to Fairplay 16 more miles away to get a hotel. My driving force for the afternoon of hiking was a pizza with pepperoni, onions, green peppers, sausage and mushroom with extra sauce, and extra cheese. We left our camp at 11:30 am. It was absolutely painful to put on damp pants, a wet backpack and the knowledge that my one and only rain coat was soaking wet. I had to pack my backpack differently based on the wetness factor of each item. Thank God I still had my long underwear, fuzzy jacket and hat dry. Otherwise, I started out miserable.  Oh, and we left with just a half liter of water between the two of us with no promise of a creek nearby. In a word: screwed. 

In order to make it to Jefferson by 6pm when the general store closed, we had to hike fast. This a pleasant day does not make. We thankfully found water sooner than expected. That took a half hour. Time is now 12:00 and we still have 12 miles to hike. Up ahead were beautiful vistas covered in a doom that goes by the name of ugly storm cloud. Eventually, rain hit hard. We had to take refuge under a couple of trees for about 20 minutes. We each picked a tree about 50 or 60 feet away from each other so that if one of us happens to be hit by lightening, hopefully the other can be of service. (I know, super morbid and scary). We timed a lot of lightening strikes to be within a mile of us. I hate moments like that. To pass the time, I ate some gorp. Its hard to get enough calories on rainy days, so I was doing my best.

WATER!!!!

Eventually, it was time to move on. It was still nasty out and lightening was still a threat so we kept our distance from each other and walked like their was a fire under our behinds. We exited Lost Creek Wilderness at mile 6.6 and the trail began and uphill climb as the rain waned a little. We met Gene and Ray at the middle of a hill with a beautiful view where Ray would camp for the night. It continued to sprinkle for the rest of the hike. Our boots, socks, feet were soaked and we still had 8 miles to go. Bugger. I wanted to enjoy the beauty of the outdoors, and have the best day ever but all I could focus on was pizza and putting one foot in front of the other. We hiked separated for most of the remaining miles and my mind went numb trying to forget about how much pain my feet were in. My legs were strong carrying me up each hill and incline and my knees have stopped complaining about going downhill. 

You can't tell yet, but its about to get real bad, fast.

I have become quite emotional on this hike. The other day, I was talking about the movie Shrek and how he says, "Better out than in, I always say" and how I thought it was so romantic that Fiona chose to be more masculine in ogre form for love and in a later movie you hear her saying, "Better out than in..." and then I started sobbing uncontrollably. Was I happy? Or happy for them? For crying out loud, they are fictional characters! Maybe its a lack of social interaction. I don't know. I've also been excessively happy, and joyful. One night we were reading some of Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods" and we were both laughing so hard at times we could hardly breathe. I haven't gotten super low or depressed, just excessively happy and crying a lot.

For the last three miles I could see the expanse that was Jefferson and Fairplay and heard cars and trucks in the distance on the highway. It was all there, just laughing at me. The miles NEVER end. By the end of it, I saw a couple with a dog and became overwhelmed with happiness that I started to cry (again). When we crossed the street to start hitch hiking, I cried when people passed us by. Then I cried when someone decided to help us out. This car with 4 people and tons of gear rearranged everything so that the two of us could fit in while two of them stayed behind for the 4 mile road trip to Fairplay. Guess who it was? The Texans! Texans are so nice and hospitable. I love them. From Jefferson to Fairplay a nice young guy in a pickup truck stopped for us. He looked very familiar and I couldn't place him. Eventually, I realized he looked a lot like grown up August Booth/Pinocchio from Once Upon a Time.

CT 7.6.15 Day 4

Miles today: 15.4
Miles from Denver: 58.5
Days on the trail: 4
Approximate elevation gain: 3000 feet

This tree (Jefferson Pine?) smelled exactly like butterscotch.

As all days do, today started out pleasant. No foot pain, sun shining, and a wonderful day ahead. At some point, the trail started going uphill and seemed to never stop until eventually, the world flattened out for the longest 7 miles of my life. A very pretty 7 miles, but long. We had entered "Long View Gulch" which was full of the prettiest wildflowers and literally, beautiful long views.

Oh, hello! I'm oblivious to the fact that the next 3 miles are all uphill.

WOW!

It kind of looked like it was about to end, but no. It kept going forever.

 We encountered rain that started out gentle, got more aggressive and really never let up until 7pm. Our feet got wet and soon the hike for the day went from stunning and beautiful to no-fun-at-all.We ended up hiking three to four miles more than anticipated and ended up very wet and miserable at a pretty cool campsite that was a little bit off the trail, flat and had a fire pit. The rain gave us a two hour break where we tried to start a fire to no avail. Me, thinking the rain was done for the night, put my pack under a tree where I thought it might just stay dry and left my rain jacket out to dry because, even if it had rained all night, it couldn't possibly get any wetter. I was very, very wrong, and very, very sorry the next morning.

Wildflower city

People we have met so far:
On Day 1 we met a man who had never hiked the whole CT, but did a lot of web development for the CT website named Richard. He had hiked a lot of it and was full of a lot of useful information. We also came across a father/son group whose names we did not get. On Day 3 we met another father/son group named Steven and Dorian. We met three other thru hikers on Day 4: Gerry, Leslie and Mckenna (or as David remembers, Mackenzie), all solo hiking. On day 5 we met two more: Ray and Gene, also solo hiking. Gene had done the Appalachian Trail previously and some (most?) of the Continental Divide Trail. We heard a story about a group of 4 from Texas but had yet to meet them. They seemed like really nice people who, unfortunately, brought way too much in the way of gear (cast iron skillets, pistols, etc.). What I learned is, it doesn't seem to matter if you're small, large, in shape, not in shape, prepared, or not prepared; anyone can do this trail if you put your mind to it. You may have to adjust a little, get rid of some extra weight/gear, but its possible. We are not rock stars, we are average in the world of fitness. This is physically hard, but also emotionally and mentally challenging, too.

Mckenna/Mackenzie took our picture for us. We hiked with her .7 miles. She is a really really fast hiker.