Day 7, 14.9 miles

Well hello there! I slept great with my new foam pad addition. I forgot to take a picture and it’s dark now but I’ll get one eventually! I woke up at what I think will be my new wake up time from here on out: 5:50am. This way I can be on trail by 6:30, but I'm not so freezing cold or have to change layers on trial within the first mile. 

Claire’s fav!!

Dillon Resevoir in the far middle left

I was soon above tree line, definitely the first one this AM to go over the Ten Mile Range pass

Just talked to my dad yesterday, he asked me if I’ve seen any “Dang Marmot”s! Crazy that today was the first one! Put on those readers and squint pops, right in the middle! 

Steep and rocky! 

I climbed and climbed and climbed! After two false summits and more super steep, I finally made it to the top! 

Also, I wanted to clarify, this is the highest point in the CT if you take the Collegiate East route, but if you take the Collegiate West, there are many 12,500+ parts! I will get to that a little later. iAds the top right at 8am and although it was a wee bit nippy, I had a snack up top before heading steeply down to Copper! 

Cooper Mountain 

Ah dang, and I even brought my skis! 

A cool shot of some off trail climbers

Some real Sound of Music vibes

You can’t tell but this is sooo steep down! 

So, I thought I’d be missing all the flowers, but it’s been absolutely gorgeous out here! Flowers all around left and right, sorry for all the flower pics, but I know a few of my readers especially enjoy them. :)

Copper Mountain Resort

Loooots of mountain biking going on today, it was a gorgeous morning! There were people galore since it was a Saturday! Honestly a little overwhelming, haha. I went to Camp Hale and got a delicious croissant and charged my phone for a bit. I saw one other hiker who was waiting out the heat, but since I didn’t want to wait for too long I headed out by about 1pm. 

People are still skiing and boarding 

This next 9ish miles section that I was taking off on from Copper is another section that I have biked before! Richard, Jessy and I (from the Quad Squad) have done the ride 9+ miles up to Searle Pass and then back down, last September I believe. It was my first high elevation bike ride and it definitely got me hooked on the idea of XC biking.

This is a new feature built that goes right over the CT!

New since last time I was here, so cool!!

It was honestly a gorgeous afternoon, some clouds stared to roll in so it wasn’t that hot. But then, more clouds started rolling in, and I began to hear some thunder rumbling around. As I got deeper into the valley it got grayer. I came up to a water source where I met a hiker named DazE. I stopped to soak my feet and we were chatting when she said “Did you see that?” Less than a second later, there was an INTENSE crack of thunder!! It sounded directly overhead! 

Welp, I guess I’m waiting here for awhile. Heavy heavy rain started happening, mixed with hail from time to time. I was really glad there were thick trees at the creek, it was crazy to watch the winds whips and the rain blow.

Again can’t tell, but it’s coming DOWN!

A few bikers came flying down the mountain soaking wet, and a few minutes later a Northbound hiker came rushing in and also took some solace in the big tree grove. Her name is Powerhouse, and after this trail she’ll have 3,000+ miles under her belt. Powerhouse was up above tree line for the worst of the rain and she looked like she just jumped into the ocean.

No thank you!! 

Both DazE and I waited about 40 mins before the rain finally let up. It didn’t quite stop but a small drizzle was doable so I continued on with my rain jacket on. During the rains I had been looking at my elevation map. I had been hoping for a sunny afternoon so I could clear the next three passes (above tree line), and get back down to camp safely.

As I continued on, it was getting darker and darker up ahead, and again some more thunder started brewing and continued to get louder. The rain picked up on and off and I had a decision to make: Push 8 more miles or stop and hunker down early for the night. I really really wanted to keep going, but the thought of ending up like Powerhouse but without the ability to get to lower elevation for 6 or 7 miles did not sound fun. 

I found a cool campsite on the Far Out app, the last one before tree line, and I decided to call it quits. DazE came up the trail shortly after and decided to do the same. It was definitely a lower mileage day, but I’d rather play it safe than sorry. After I got my tent all set up, rain kept coming on and on in spurts.

Looking real nasty, can’t even see the first of three passes ahead!

When I was eating dinner another Southbound hiker came up from Copper. His name was Jared and he said that Copper got hit BAD with hail. Like people were freaking out sort of thing! I was glad that it was mainly rain up here. He continued inward, saying he could easily go 7 more miles before stopping. 

I’m that green arrow in the white circle near the top right. The whole stretch southbound for the next 7 miles is above treeline (11,500ft) and extremely exposed. The red dot in the lower left is where there is one POTENTIAL campsite in the trees, exactly 7 miles away. If any other hiker got caught in the storm and decided to bunker down there I’d be SOL and have to keep going! 

I decided to play it safe and I’m so happy I did! It’s almost 9pm now and it’s been raining constant! I plan on getting up and in the trial by 6:30am tomorrow. Powerhouse and Jared both said that the weather looks really nasty for the next few days, which is a bummer because I’m right about to hit the Collegiates! I’m hoping that it’s not as bad as it sounds but I will check once I’m in Twin Lakes. I’m just hoping for a clear morning tomorrow so I can get up and over these passes! 

Thanks for reading!