Friday, October 25, 2013

7/8 & 7/9/13

I layed around Jesse's for a while resting and taking it easy. The past 5 days had me pretty spent. My body had caught up from the dehydration and I was feeling like a million bucks compared to last night. I had designed and ordered business cards several days ago. I was finally able to pick them up and was really happy with how they turned out. I was excited to have something to hand out when talking with other hikers about my summer goal. I really wanted to spread my story around in the hopes that I could motivate others to get outside and experience more of this world.


One thing you really learn to appreciate on the road is running water. Water for the toilet, water for drinking, water for a shower. Potable water is so easy to take for granted until you are running out and having to filter water out of a stream. Also, taking the first shower in a week is quite the experience. Jesse had a scale in his bathroom. I was curious and weighed myself before the shower. According to the scale I had lost around 20 pounds since leaving the east coast! I'm sure the 5 day marathon had a hand in the recent loss. I went over to another friends house later that night to hang out. There's nothing like sleeping in your car for days on end to make you appreciate video games, booze, and a couch to sleep on.

The next morning I scrambled to get the wagon over to the mechanic for an oil change and have the joint that got bashed on Princeton looked at. I was terrified that the mechanic was going to start talking about some crazy bill but he said to not worry about it. If the mechanic isn't worried, then I'm not worried. The ol' subey does use oil though so I'll have to keep an eye on that. I collected my items that were scattered across Summit County and headed on towards Mount of the Holy Cross. The drive there is very pretty, especially the section beyond the small town of Minturn. Highway 24 is the road that passes through all the way to Tennessee Pass and on to Leadville. It is an amazing drive by all accounts. Just after turning off of 24 onto Tigiwon Road I got a two for one photo opportunity. I stopped for a sage grouse that was standing right in the middle of the road. If these guys have any intelligence I wasn't seeing signs. I thought that the ptarmigan was the Rocky Mountain equivalent of the chicken but the sage grouse takes the cake.


After my attention drifted away from the grouse I noticed an old pipeline extending off into the distance. Just the trellis system supporting it alone was impressive. The whole span of it continued on into the distance out of sight. I couldn't imagine it was a treat to build.


Tigiwon was a fire road that was now serving as a logging road as well. All the beetle kill pine was being clear cut and hauled out. This was the kind of road that had you questioning your directions through all the switch backs. I eventually made my way to the Half Moon trailhead that accessed Mount of the Holy Cross though. There was a campground conveniently located right at the trailhead. A campsite could be had for the low price of 10 dollars. No price was my budget though so I backtracked to a nice pull off amongst a cleared out section along the road. This picture was taken the next morning as I walked to the trailhead right after leaving the car.


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