Summer of Colorado, Week #5

Ginny and I backpacked the Collegiate West segment of the Colorado Trail last week and it was spectacular, grueling and full of wild, wet weather! We loved it, we (Ginny) hated it but most importantly, we survived to tell the tale! On day 3 after going over five mountain passes (all over 12,000 feet in elevation), we found ourselves at Cottonwood Pass which is a paved road that leads to Buena Vista (aka CIVILISATION!) with a thunderstorm bearing down on us. After unsuccessfully trying to take shelter from the pouring rain under this tiny roadside sign, we decided to hitch into town to get out of the rain for a few hours and maybe get something hot to eat! It was a nice little break from the elements but we were back at it the next day with a couple more monster passes to tackle (Lake Ann Pass and Hope Pass, also both over 12,000 feet). The scenery was amazing but the terrain was very difficult and Ginny's knees and feet decided they'd had enough after five days of hoofing it up and down these mountain passes. So when we hiked out at Twin Lakes which is the northern end of the Collegiate West/East routes, we hitched a ride (also in the rain!) back to our van which was a very welcome sight! We're glad we did the trip and have some mostly great memories - see photos below.   

                                                   








                                            

After coming out of the backcountry, we decided to drive south to Crestone, which is about an hour south of Salida in the San Luis Valley. Crestone is a remote mountain town that abuts the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, which contains a number of 14,000' peaks. Crestone is also a very spiritual town and is home to many religious centers so it has a very groovy, laid back vibe to it. The Elephant Cloud natural food store is the only grocery store in town and seems to serve as the central gathering point for the town. We found a nice dispersed camping spot near a woman Ginny had met a couple weeks ago when I was hiking the CT. It was a nice relaxing spot to be for a few days and we even stopped at a local hot spring on our way out of town to soak our sore muscles. See photos below from our Crestone visit.  





On Monday I'm hitting the CT for my final leg (180 miles from Twin Lakes to Denver) and Ginny's going to visit old high school friends from Germany and a cousin in Colorado and a bestie in Salt Lake City. It should take me about nine days to finish the CT with a resupply in Breckenridge. I'm looking forward to getting back on the trail and Ginny's excited to go visit friends and not having to worry about racing to beat the afternoon lightning storms.  

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