Memorial Day Adventures in Backpack training

 With my North Country Trail trip postponed until next year, I have the chance to test out gear, get in shape, and figure out things like food, pace, and rest. The first adventure in practicing/testing all of this was Memorial Day weekend.

My husband and I left from work on Friday after work and headed to Lost Creek Wilderness area with the hopes of having decent trails and minimal snow. We chose a lower route again hoping for good trails. A good portion of the Lost Creek Wilderness consists of open valleys divided by groves of trees. It is a beautiful area that few people are aware of in the Metro Denver area. 

Upon arrival to the trailhead, after getting Wendy's for dinner, we found a place to setup camp just up the connector trail a little. It was a perfect place for the night. We were close enough to return to the car in the morning to fully pack up and get started, but far enough from the trailhead to not be bothered by people passing on the road.

The next morning, we got up, packed up our packs, and headed out on the Colorado Trail Segment 4 to do a lollipop loop of the Lost Creek Wilderness. The first day was planned to be on the Colorado Trail from Long Gulch Trailhead to the connection with the Brookside McCurdy Trail. Along the way, we decided to take a detour at Payne Creek trail as the trails appeared pretty dry and clear. This would lead us to do the Brookside McCurdy Payne loop instead of going past The Castle. We found a great spot to setup camp next to a stream, and got in at such a time to be able to relax, which was much needed as I had vomited at one point during the day and was having trouble wanting to put more food into my body. 

I'm not real sure what caused the vomit episode. I was trying to make sure I took plenty of breaks as I often power through things and then deal with the repercussions later. That has not helped in the past as I just perpetuate the problem. So, I had stopped to rest while my husband chatted with some runners he knew doing the Brookside McCurdy loop on a long run. Upon returning to our trek, I coughed a little, and then threw up. From there, my stomach was unsettled the rest of the day, and I was afraid of putting in more food. About 4 miles from the end of our day, I finally pooped, which I had been needing to do since the beginning but had trouble with because we kept leap frogging another duo in the woods with their dog. This helped my stomach a little and by the time I reached camp for the night, I was able to eat...after some rest.

After wonderful sleep for the first real night out on the trail, we got up, had breakfast, and headed out for our new route. Day 2 brought us across a section of the Payne Trail that my husband and I had hiked previously. It was nice to have the familiarity.

 

This day, I woke up feeling good, and had hardboiled eggs and some cheese for breakfast. These did not stay down long, and I found myself vomiting more than the day before. It was a really weird phenomenon as I felt fine otherwise, but just ended up puking everything I had in my system. Once I got it all out, then I was mostly alright except for the lack of energy as the day wore on. At one point, I discussed camping at the Payne Creek Trailhead and having my husband run to get the car in the morning to come get me. He talked me in to continuing. I was able to get a little bit of food into my system and keep it down, so I agreed to keep going. At this point, the thunderstorm rolled in.

We moved along the trail slowly, making many stops to rest. With our slow pace, my husband finally took some of the weight from my pack. That helped for a little while, until it didn't. He then took my pack for awhile and I took the dog. My husband had the task of finding us a camping spot and setting up camp as it was beginning to snow. We made it to a trail junction and I took my pack back, as I was warmer with it. This of course slowed me down along with the increasing nausea as we climbed to 11,000+ feet. At the top of the pass, the wind whipped up from the valley and nearly froze me. We found the first flat spot with a tree covering it and minimal snow, and set up camp. My husband moved quickly as I was shivering too much. I should have stopped to put on my warm layer, but just wanted to find camp. Lesson learned there. 

As soon as the tent was up, I was inside with my pack digging for warm, dry clothes, and getting in my sleeping bag. Thank you Wilderness First Responder course from March 2020. I was still having trouble warming up, and once my husband got himself settled, he draped himself over me to help warm me up. It was not long and I was finally not shivering and had warmed up enough to think clearly. At that point, I was very tired, but semi-hungry. My husband cooked us dinner after making hot chocolate (my favorite calories on ANY backpack trip) and I was able to put some calories in. 

In the morning, we woke to this beautiful winter scene     We got up, packed our packs for our final hike of the weekend...back to the car! I was actually feeling better despite having had a major episode of vomiting in the tent, where I brought up the acidic yellow contents of my stomach. I was still nervous about eating, but at least I was feeling good enough to get moving. 

The day was magical in the beginning with all the snow cover, although it was challenging finding the trail at times. Then it started warming up, and things got sloppy. It had not snowed enough to really cover the trail, but made it sloppy enough to be careful as we hiked along. After a rough night with our first winter camping experience, learning on the trail, we put on our packs and hiked with purpose to get back to the car. The trek to the car seemed longer than the whole weekend put together. We started to wonder if we somehow missed a turn. Once back at the car, it was nice to remove the muddy/wet shoes and put on flip flops. We had survived, and we were thankful for the experience.

Marshall Pass visit

This past weekend I did the work needed to go visit Kasey and Liz on their hike. After letting my drivers license lapse a couple of years ago, I finally got around to taking the road test that I needed to get it back. Many thanks to Holly for picking me up and letting me borrow her car for the test. I then contacted our friend Dawn to borrow her car for the weekend. Many thanks to Dawn for letting me use it all weekend. I knew that they were supposed to be getting a resupply on Marshall Pass sometime this weekend, but their cell service was way too spotty for them to let me know exactly when they actually got there. Thursday is when I finally knew that I'd be able to make the trip up and it turns out that is when they made it up there so they didn't even get my text to them that I was coming. 

Marshall Pass summit

With all the prep work done I headed up after work on Friday. I left work an hour early to make sure I could get up there with some daylight to spare. The final 12 miles of the trip was up a bumpy dirt road and I had no access to Google Maps to make sure I was really headed the right way. Luckily there aren't too many turn offs so it was easy to find. When I made it to the top of the pass there was initially no sign of humans, plenty of cows though. I got out and started hiking up the trail to see if I could find a place to camp. Not far up I saw a cabin across a swamp and then I saw a woman in a skirt. Who else could that be, but my Kasey. I called across and she got all excited to see me. I ran back to the car and found the side road that led to the cabin. Their official resupply was from another friend, Dick, and he had already cooked them dinner and fed them beer, 2 bottles of Chimay and some boxed wine if I recall correctly. I settled in and they warned me of all the cow patties scattered about the camp. It turns out this area is a cow camp and there are many cattle roaming freely about. It wasn't too long before the sun set and we headed to bed.

View from the cabin as the sun set against the hills.

In the morning the girls were ready to get moving again as they had been there since Thursday. I had originally planned to stay at the pass all weekend because I thought they'd be getting there Friday and want to take a day off. That didn't stop me from asking to tag along for their hike on Saturday. I had everything that I needed to camp including a large enough pack to carry my stuff so I packed it all up and joined them hiking in my worn out road racing flats. Lack of proper shoes wasn't as bad as it could have been. Some dirt got in, but because I can slip them off and on very easily emptying them was not a problem and I only had to do it a few times. Getting to hike with Kasey gave me plenty of time to catch her up on happenings at home and I got to hear about many of their adventures from the past few weeks. 

Hiking behind my best gal in an inspiring aspen grove.

The scenery was gorgeous and constantly changing. We had lots of pine forest, but would then open to fields with grand vistas. We also went through a couple of nice aspen groves. We were almost always going either up or down, but most of it was not too steep. There were a couple of places with a steep descent and some of them quite rocky which was the biggest challenge for my shoes. We saw quite a few mountain bikers including one through biker. There were also quite a few motor bikes out, especially towards the end of our day.

A panorama along the way

We finished our planned 11 miles around 3 o'clock at Tank 7 creek. There were some dark clouds rolling in accompanied by some loud thunder as we reached our destination so we got our tent up as quickly as possible. Luckily all we got were a few sprinkles as the storm skirted around us. A couple of other hikers came by a little while later and had to stop to dry out some of their gear as they had caught the brunt of the storm about a mile back on the trail so it must have just missed us.

Our valley home for my one night out.

We had fun hanging our bear bag, although we were more afraid of the marmots and chipmunks than any bears although Kasey did locate some scat that could have been from a bear. We also spent more time than was practical attempting to build a water diversion system on the uphill side of our tent in case it rained. Fortunately it didn't rain because I have my doubts about how well it would have worked. We headed to bead before the sun was down. I was pretty tired and fell right asleep.

Kasey and Liz

In the morning we were up around 6:30 and after a quick breakfast we had camp torn down by 7:00. We said our goodbyes and each departed on our own way. Me back to the car, the girls further south moving ever closer to Durango. I had an uneventful hike back and made pretty good time. She is having fun out there, but has been missing me and I've been missing her so it was good to see her and catch up in person.

Love & support delays

We are moving along the trail very well and meeting tons of people.  It is an amazing journey of struggle and fun all at the same time. 

When we planned this trip, we figured on 10mile days.  Who knew we are way more amazing than that!?  We are currently 2 days ahead.  So, what is one to do?  Take really short days, right?  Well, ... that hasn't worked out right either.

On 9 July, we traversed about 15miles to the base of a big climb for the next day (2500ft in 4.8miles).  The idea was to conquer the horrible climb and descent and keep the day short.  Unfortunately, we ended up conquering the whole trip by 11am.  So, we decided to go a little further.  Then, we missed the unmarked trail for the lake we were planning on sleeping at for the night.  Thus, we plugged on for a total of 12miles for the day.  This mistake put us even closer to our 14 July destination & in the dilemma of figuring out what to do...hot springs for 3 days or a day in Buena vista.  Due to catching a friend we made on our way to Twin Lakes, & his friend taking him to Buena Vista, we found our way in to town.  Those two were easily convinced to hang in town & thus we have a ride back to the trail tomorrow morning, afternoon, or whenever they finally get their drunk butts together to head for the trail.  Still, we have the problem of being early to meet our drop.  I guess we will figure it out & have fun doing so. 
These are the simple pleasures of the trail.  It is an amazing journey.  I am extremely thankful for all the love & support.  The little changes and extra days in towns has been fun and educational.  It is all part of getting to know the state of Colorado!  Thank you! 

Well on her way

I have been getting some "I'm OK" text messages from +Kasandra Robbert  throughout this past week and yesterday I finally got to talk to her on the phone. She sounds good.

 They made it to Kenosha Pass a day early, but Kasey broke a tent pole that morning so they've decided to hang out an extra day while they wait for a friend to bring her a new tent from REI. 
We did have a scare this week. The Lime Gulch fire started Tuesday night, and did so about 2-3 miles north of where they were camping. I heard about the fire on Wednesday, but thought it was in a different area. Thursday morning I decided to actually looked it up and realized it was very close. I spent the whole day looking at different maps of the trail and the fire. I learned that none of the maps were accurate enough to ease my mind. I finally got a friend to Email me their latest GPS coordinates and I got a text from Kasey so I knew they were out of the danger zone. They have since closed most of the trail that she hiked on the first 2 days. The other fires don't appear to be in their path yet. We'll pray that a new one doesn't block their way to the finish.

Mike

in the beginning

So, begins another journey! This one shorter than the last, and yet somehow so much more needed! It is funny how odd this feels as I prepare to head back out on the trail. I'm worried I am royally screwing up! My backpack feels way too heavy. I'm not sure I have enough food to get me through the days, although I have plenty for dinners the next 3 days! I'm worried about not having anywhere to camp despite having the whole wilderness. Despite my friend and I agreeing not to feel responsible for each other, I have to confess I feel a little responsible or concerned. At the same time, I'm thankful to have her with me keeping me tame in the beginning. No 16mile start day this time, and yet some how, I still feel like I am too ignorant to actually be able to do this hike. I know that will go away after a week...hopefully. It just feels so strange. Maybe 10yrs between long trails is not such a good idea! oh well, the one worry that is the same this time, is whether my husband will be okay. That worry only grew stronger after his bout of cancer. Maybe this hike will help that worry go away. I know he can take care of himself. I just worry that he will be okay! After all, we look after each other and have for almost 15yrs now! :o) Here is to peace & wellness. I hope to post as often as possible. I come off the trail to run the leadville marathon and hope to post then. This trail is not as populated as the AT and thus not as many known facilities. So, we will see what happens.
May everyone live their dreams every day! blessed be!

Wandering Heart

It is time for this wanderer to return to the woods. It is not as long as the Appalachian Trail; however, it should at least feed the need to walk amongst the energy of nature and find inner peace. Come this summer, I will find myself backpacking the entire Colorado Trail. Sometimes, it feels like it cannot come soon enough, but I know before I even have a real chance to plan it I will be out there doing the best I can with just the stuff on my back!

Now, many might think I am selfish for going out on this journey while my husband stays home and continues to fight the battle against his cancer on his own. On some level, you are correct! It is extremely selfish! At the same time, I am told I need to take care of myself in order to give my husband the best care possible during his fight. The day he was diagnosed with GIST was the day I died. Since that day, I have been basically worthless to him anyway. This trek along the Colorado Trail is part of my rejuvenation and strength building to deal with this terminal illness and hopefully chase it away all together!

Ok, so this still sounds like bull malarkey, right? Well, it is hard to keep spirits high and fight the depression that comes with learning you have a terminal illness when you yourself have been sunk by depression. In the first year and a half of his cancer treatment, I tried as hard as possible to run from it and keep my spirits up by simply avoiding. Now, I am waking up and realizing all that did was help to sink my ship in the swamp of sadness!

Many are asking why such a long trip? Can't I just go out for a week? For me, there is no strength in a week long backpacking trip. There is something to be said for spending a month in the woods alone living off my common sense skills and the stuff in my backpack. On the top of a mountain, I converse with mother nature when the opportunity presents itself. From the valleys, I send her thanks for the nutrients she provides in her rivers and streams. Mother nature nourishes me through perseverance and beauty. She challenges me to focus on myself, which is a huge challenge in my life when surrounded by so many hurting and sad people. Within my soul, I am a happy person, but around others I am consumed! How is it there can be so much hurt and pain?

So, for this reason, I go to the woods to find solace in the warms of mother nature. She opens my eyes and makes me truly look within myself and walk away more connected throughout my body. It is through this I will be able to improve my care for my husband and stand by his side during this horrible battle! Through me I shall share mother nature's love with my husband!