Day 10, 15.7 miles! Mt. Elbert and Twin Lakes

Wow, what a day!! The thunderstorm last night was brutal! I couldn’t fall asleep until about midnight. Then, I heard someone run by my tent at 1:30am!! Thought it was a bear but it was definitely two humans. I woke up to my alarm at 4:40 but snoozed until 5am. I was on the trail by 5:45!

Elbert teasing me

Mt Massive getting lit

Twin Lakes down below, should be called Triplet Lakes

This is the trail!!

It is a brutally steep climb, with super high winds most of the way up, since the trail is on the North side of the ridge from tree line all the way until the very last push!  This is the hardest climb I’ve done, I’m pretty sure harder than Whitney! It took a lot of breaks and a lot of self-encouragement. 

Made it to the top before 8:30!

“I’d like to take a minute to thank some very important things: Firstly, I’d like to thank my left knee; not only did you take all your 2000 steps, but also the other 2000 steps that the right knee could not take! I hope I didn’t overuse you leading to injury. Secondly, I’d like to thank the snacks I traded for TP from Brenda yesterday… I couldn’t be standing here without your help… Yes, I’m talking about you Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal bar! Lastly, I’d like to thank my Senchi 90 Alpha Direct long sleeve. Although you were too warm below tree line, you really saved me when it counted up high. I know you’re never in the spotlight, but I see you under there and appreciate you.”

South Trail headed down

The North Ridge that I came up..

Remember guys. Whatever you do, there’s always someone doing something cooler than you 😂 

The trail on the way down was really pretty. Although it was 4.5 miles of steep down, it wasn’t as steep up as the north side, which I was glad about. Still, I had to be very careful with my right knee, absorbing impacts mainly only with my left. With patience I did pretty good! 

Sweet aspen grove further down

Finally back to the CT! It was only 7.5 but it felt like 20 already!!

After 2 more miles on the CT, and a break to soak my feet in a creek while drying out my rainfly, I made it into Twin Lakes! While walking in the road, I met Steven. Super cool guy, I hope I see him later up the trail! 

First things first! 


Claaaaasic!! Today is Wednesday!! :(

Still didn’t stop me!

Ordered pizza with Brenda! He woke up way later and got to Twin Lakes the same time I did after summiting Elbert 😂 

The recharge sitch 

General store dog 🥰 

HUGE hiker box score! Would’ve been $30 otherwise I’m sure! 

I was tempted to get this hat! But maybe a CT hat before the CDT… my hat next to it is getting bleached!! 

In town I ran into Quinn! I haven’t seen him since we hiked together on day 2? And maybe 3? It’s been a while! I also saw Red, a hiker from Chihuahua, Mexico that I met in day 3. When I hitched down to Jefferson for that cheeseburger before 3pm, she was the one who knew of some people offering a ride back up the pass! 

Red, Al (background), Quinn, and Brenda!

The mosquitos were bad in Twin Lakes, and the Visitor Center was the spot to chill! Oh, I also saw Prison Mike again briefly before this. Al, Wednesday volunteer at the center is so cool! He was so knowledgeable about local trails and was so nice to us and genuinely curious about our backgrounds and stories. Quinn bought a 6er of IPA, and we had a great time waiting out an afternoon thunderstorm. Somehow I got 4 new bites in the visitor center! Al said he’s been here 25+ years and they’ve never had mosquitos like this :(

When the visitor center closed down, Al said he’d give us rides back down to the trailhead! 

Quinn, hiked back up to the CT above the town, Red got a ride back to where she had hitched in, and Brenda and I got dropped at Willis Gulch, where I continue Collegiate East and he continues Collegiate West.

Such a cool guy! I learned a lot about Austria from him, and now I want to visit! 🇦🇹 

This next 5 mile section was the worse the mosquitos have been for me the whole time!! I got eaten up! A bite under my chin, on my lip, two on my wrist, it’s brutal! I put on my rain gear even though it was easily 70° and sweat uncomfortably while trying to fend off the bloodsuckers! 

Finally out of the forest of flying doom! 

Historic Interlaken

Aftermath of the Interlaken Fire :( Caused by an unattended campfire

I was allllmost tempted to camp here

Crazy storm rolling over Massive and Elbert

⛈️ 

I watched a crazy storm roll in while I hurriedly set up camp in a cool spot just above the lake. Somehow, mosquitos were not as bad as back in the trees. As I staked out the last stake it started coming down and I dove into my tent! I got blown around for sure, but eventually it subsided.

My tent rain fly connecter is broken on one side and just kissing on the other side. Not a huge deal, but is no good for avoiding condensation! It’s about to get wet and stay wet in here! 🤣 

Anyways, sorry there hasn’t been much wringing content. In these long days when I take a lot of pictures, I can’t bring myself to write much at night. Today’s Elbert summit was epic, I feel invincible for real. That being said, I want to purposefully slow myself down and enjoy the trial a bit more! It’s crazy that I still went over 15 miles even spending over 4 hours at Twin Lakes! 

I should be meeting my buddy Ace at a trial head Friday night and we are going to go down into Buena Vista to go get some grub. It’s his birthday on Friday! 

Thanks for reading!