eggers.

day three: Buffalo Creek Burn Area to Morrison Creek, 8/14/14

12 miles

woke up in gully, dry!

hiking through burn area was obviously v hot and sun exposed.  lots of caterpillars. lots of looking at the ground, to avoid staring into sun.

as we hit the second portion of the burn area it started to drizzle and the sun went away.  this area was beautiful and we were happy to enjoy it with some cloud cover.

this is either little or long scraggy peak.

made it to the Buffalo Creek Fire Station and filled up our water.  thunder and lightning started up so we rain geared up and hustled into the woods.

sun came out. basically the moment you put on your pack cover and rain gear the sun will come out.

little scraggy trail was nice, had hiked this before in the winter and hated it, for some reason, but it's now lush.

set up camp at Morrison Creek, campsite  had a cave that we peered into, but stayed out of.

 C hydrating. sun out, pack cover on.

gear upgrades.

luckily our first stop is in Breckenridge which will be the biggest town we see until Durango.  we decided that some of our gear could be better so we've switched out the following:

- water filter: we have a pump which we've used for years, but have seen a few lighter and faster options.  pills would be the lightest but I'm not stoked about adding chemicals to our water, so we've opted for a gravity filter.

- rain coat: this is the piece of clothing I had the hardest time with, because I wanted something worth it's weight- and I didn't think it would rain a lot. our old rain gear was bought on clearance and it's too big.  before we left I bought a very lightweight rain coat, water resistant not waterproof.  after being caught in a few storms and it soaking me through, I went to Columbia and got a legit waterproof coat.  I've kept my old rain pants because I bet they'll get worn once (maybe), because replacements cost $170 at Patagonia, and because they're neon orange.

- sleeping pads: fuck mummy everything.  our bags are hourglass shaped, so a hybrid btw a mummy and a standard rectangle. I sleep best on my stomach with one leg flamingo'ed out.  the last week I've spent as much time on my pad asleep as off, the mummy doesn't work- so we got some rectangular lightweight ones to fix that.  wide and long.

- pants: purchased a pair of fleece leggings to wear over long underwear at camp.  it's just getting colder and higher.

- gloves: sent home my basic winter gloves and upgraded to a warm fleece lined waterproof pair- for the rainstorms.

- snacks: the last 2 days I started to bonk, I was def not eating enough.  so, we resupplied with way more denser snacks.  the bummer is that we're starting the next segment with heavy loads and some heavy climbs.  

eating (not enough) snacks on Boulder Ridge.

trail reads.

tales about doing it with trees?

day two: Bear Creek to west of Platte, in burn area, 8/13/14

about 10 miles.

late start after the first tent night, it's always an adjustment.

met a few other thru hikers and thru bikers.  mtn biking the whole trail would be a blast, one guy said he planned on 12 days to do it.

heading out of Bear Creek was hot and humid, which meant lots of wild raspberries growing along side trail- which we ate up.

ate lunch at Platte river and soaked our feet.  at this point I had 8 fucking blisters. and I did break my boots in.

after lunch we headed into segment two of the trail through the Buffalo Creek Burn Area.  once we climbed up, the weather changed and we got caught in a lighting rainstorm, so we hung out in a gully for an hour before moving on.

as we moved on - the area became more exposed and the storm came back, so we set up camp for the night in another gully.  we trenched out our tent in case of downpours.

cheebie crossing the Platte.

our gully campsite, so we don't get struck by ⚡️⚡️.

John Muir is a maniac

day one: Waterton Canyon to Bear Creek, August 12, 2014

9 easy miles, easy in retrospect. 

v hot and sunny in canyon, it's August, it's expected.

Bear Creek is pretty small at this point, not like Lair o' Bear creek.

v anxious to start and leave for 40 days, but felt good to get a move on.

big horn sheep not giving a shit:

c and me, fisheye, an ode to Missy Elliot and Puff Daddy.

breckenridge.

made it to breck! 104 miles hiked.  

yes.

sending this message to myself:

see ya.

clothes, packed.

3 x tshirts

1 x hiking pants

1 x hiking shorts

1 x long john pants

1 x long john shirt

1 x down coat

1 x fleece coat

1 x rain coat

1 x rain pant

1 x sun hat

1 x snow hat

1 x gloves

4 x socks

4 x undies/bras

1 x swimsuit

3 x headband

2 x bandana

1 x belt

1 x crocs

sunday night route refresher.

40 days, 39 nights, 485 miles.

 

40 days, 39 nights, 485 miles.
 

boot conditioning.

our last 12 months.

gear roll call.

shared gear between c and me:
tent (nemo losi)
stove (jetboil)
fuel
kitchen utensils
food
cooking gear
emergency kit
navigation
solar charger for phone
repair kit
dromedary
bear canister x 2
water filter

my gear:
backpack (gregory deva 70)
sleeping bag (nemo nocturne)
sleeping pad (thermarest)
headlamp
first aid kit
knife
multitool
hygiene kit (toothpaste, toothbrush, deodorant, sunscreen, soap...)
pack cover
hiking pole
clothes - t shirts, long underwear, jackets, bandanas, buffs, undies, bathing suit, rain gear, hat, gloves, sun hat, shorts, pants
hiking boots
camp shoes
notebook + books to read
water bottles + camelbak
sunglasses

if it's not listed, I probably just forgot to type it.  our shit is tight.

north fork canadian yurt:

resupply boxes sent!

snacks on snacks on snacks

resupply 1: Breckenridge / miles from Denver: 105
resupply 2: Twin Lakes / miles from Denver: 175
resupply 3: Mt. Princeton Hot Springs / miles from Denver: 230
resupply 4: Lake City / miles from Denver 358
resupply 5: Silverton / miles from Denver 410

also pictured: our very orange bedroom and baseball bat for intruders!

oh hey.

hey-
blog a log.

hiking the Colorado Trail from 8/12-9/20 ish/2014

can't wait.

maybe I'll post pics here while we're hiking, maybe I'll post pics on my twitter (twitter.com/samkopi).

peace and love,
sam