200 + Miles and Crushing It!

Team SAVED was planning on a Saturday, August 6, morning resupply at Twin Lakes located between Leadville and Buena Vista. It a charming historic area with a mining history. To our surprise SAVED was crushing it and wanted to meet on Friday evening between 5:30 and 6:00. That worked for us, gave us the day to fish and play. Another text midday revealed she was still ahead of schedule, and could we meet in the historic Twin Lakes village at 4:00? Okay, that would work because we were only 40 minutes away. Guess what time she arrived? Three o’clock! Talk about cruising it and feeling good. She reported feeling the best yet. Amazing what a tennis ball can do for a hike!!!

This resupply is a big one as we won’t see her again for five days. She is planning on hiking the Collegiate West route consisting of five segments and 83.2 miles. She shares this trail with the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail. We can’t wait to hear her trail stories at the end of the beautiful route.

 The Ball that SAVED the Hike

In the film Castaway, Tom Hanks was saved from insanity by a Wilson volleyball; a Penn tennis ball seems to have saved Coco’s hike, thus earning her the trail name SAVED. When she finished segment eight and 143 miles, her back and neck were tight and VERY uncomfortable.

The hostel in Leadville, where she was spending two nights had a nice rock she used to stretch. That helped so she asked her support team to search for a cork ball (not happening at the Buena Vista, ACE Hardware), so we settled for a tennis ball. After her stay in Leadville, she resumed her hike and when reporting her camp location that evening let us know the ball saved her hike.

And that’s how she got her trail name. You see, on a thru hike it’s customary for someone to have a trail name that befits your condition, personality, dress – could be anything.  Her ball story was the inspiration for her CT name SAVED. Of course, there are three balls in a sleeve, so Tallus got to have his own to chase while mom is on the trail!

TRAIL NOTES: To date we have met Bright Trail from Ashville, N.C., Cloud from Flagstaff, AZ., and Shit Storm from Yosemite Valley.

 Friends on the Trail

 

We dropped Coco at the Tennessee Pass trailhead this morning, August 4, and as she re-supplied her food for the next two days, we chatted with two young ladies from Yosemite, who were also hiking the entire trail. They started a day after Colleen (July 26) and were looking for a ride into Leadville to buy food and supplies. With two dogs and a full truck bed of supplies we were sympathetic to their needs. They loved on the dogs, said they could ride on laps and so with a bit of rearranging we found space, said farewell to Coco, loaded them into the truck and off we went to the Safeway in Leadville.

They were so sweet and enthusiastic; it gave us a warm feeling to help them out. This is what thru hiking is all about. Strangers who share a common passion getting to know one another and helping each other. It was a good morning!

Finding Family at the End of Trail

Copper Mountain to Tennessee Pass climbs 4417 feet, and the last half is STEEP! It would be a great time to have your pooch, who tends to pull, (anyone know a dog like that?) to help get you up that grade. This is segment eight and it’s 25.4 miles long. After leaving us at lunch yesterday (August 2), Coco hiked about six miles and then made camp. With 19 to go she estimated an arrival time of 3:30 p.m. at the trailhead. The hike was beautiful but seven miles out she got a major cramp in her back. All you hikers have been there. She carried on and arrived about 4:15.

To her surprise she was met on the trail by her support team of Mom, Dad, Nuke and Tallus. We were a good distraction to help her to the end of this tough day. More surprises awaited her! Her brother Tyler and wife Meredith were in Colorado for a wedding and arranged their schedule to greet her and enjoy a beer or two and then dinner at Quincy’s in Leadville.

It’s a rest day ahead at the Leadville Hostel and then back on the trail August 4.

TRAIL NOTES: Quincy’s in Leadville serves only tenderloins (four sizes) from Sunday – Thursday. Friday and Saturday you get prime rib. The menu is simple – a wedge salad followed by your meat, baked potato, and bread. It was wonderful! The meat was tender (and wrapped in bacon of course), and the historic setting was memorable. Highly recommend if you enjoy a good portion of beef.

 Changing Camp and Lunch at Copper Mountain

I heard wolves howling about midnight at Kenosha. Yup, for sure it was wolves, but they aren’t supposed to be in this part of Colorado. I have heard lots of coyotes, and this was a howl not a yip! A few days later I discovered there is a wolf sanctuary in the Kenosha area. At least I don’t have to worry about my baby experiencing a wolf encounter.

We broke camp and headed out to our next spot. We chose Buena Vista since it is central to many of the resupply areas we will need to access (Tennessee Pass near Leadville, Twin Lakes (between Leadville and Buena Vista). It’s also a spot that offers the resupply team lots of adventure options. We have been here a few times for the Buena Vista Bike Festival and really enjoy the historic downtown. It will be nice to explore more of the trails, fishing, and kayaking.

TRAIL NOTE: The town of Jefferson is a few short miles from Kenosha Pass. The Jefferson Market makes some of the best fudge around. It was so good we had to go back for more before we left the area. In the winter they will ship it to you. They also have a grill that turns out some tasty breakfast and lunch – anyone like BLT’s?

We met up with the traveler for lunch at Copper Mountain on August 1. Completing segments six and seven was big, as in vertical. And steep! Six takes you to 11,838 feet while seven tips up the grade and carries you to 12,495 feet as you crest the ridge of the Tenmile Range. Then it drops you to 9820 feet. Oh, my aching body!

Lunch was a fine reunion and then off she went to conquer segment eight at 24.4 miles with an elevation gain of 4417 feet with a loss of 3810 feet. We’ll see her at Tennessee Pass on August 2.

Photos from the traveler:

Kenosha Pass Signals the End of Segment Five

 

She’s traveled 71.7 miles since we bid her farewell on July 25. Sun, rain, thunder, and lightening have joined her along the four days of the first five segments of this challenging journey and she is a day ahead of schedule.  She reached nearly 11,000 feet and hiked through the Lone Creek Wilderness Area, a 119,790-acre wilderness established in 1980. According to the Colorado Trail Foundation the last native bison was killed here in 1897

We had just set up our camp when she wandered into our site. The Kenosha Pass Campground is part of the Pike-San Isabel National Forest and is located on the Colorado Trail making this resupply very convenient. Her feet were aching, and she was tired but after 70 plus miles that was expected. And she was hungry! We pulled out food fast – sausage, crackers, fruit, cheese, and a beer!

Her pup Tallus was overjoyed seeing “mom” come into camp, jumping for joy at the sight of her. After a good night sleep in the Pod she was ready to pack up and move on. The next segment travel into the high country reaching close to 12,000 feet in the first segment from Kenosha to Gold Hill.

Trail Notes: We stayed in site 14 at Kenosha West and loved it. There’s was lots of privacy and it was further away from road then the rest of the sites.

 

Thunder and lighting, oh my! Rain, wind and hail, ehhhh….. gads!

We have been welcomed to Colorado with blue skies in the morning and wild monsoons in the afternoon. The storm that rolled in while we were camping at Chatfield State Park near Littleton took our shade tent down and rocked the Pod for about three hours in the dark of night. We’ve been through lots of storms in our life but nothing like this; thought we were going to be sucked up by the kind of tornado that took Dorothy and Toto to OZ.

Luckily, while we were getting blown away, Colleen fared better and only got doused with some rain. We will resupply her at Kenosha Pass, our next camp spot.

We explored a wonderful trail at Rolling Creek, a trailhead for the Colorado Trail. It’s a few miles up a dirt road from Bailey and was lovingly quiet with plenty of stream for the boys and exquisite wildflowers. 

TRAIL NOTES: The very best dog park we have every visited is at Chatfield. The park is completely fenced and full of trails, swimming ponds, and lots of fun dogs. Our boys give it ***** and eight paws up.