Day 12

The boys and Tennille set up camp around 4:00 pm pacific time today. Dave does like to wake up around 5:00 am, have his coffee and breakfast, pack up camp and be on the trail by 7:00 am. His breakfasts are pretty much the same. Three packets of oatmeal (fruit cream flavors). I pre packaged those and added a scoop of protein powder for more good calories. He makes his instant coffee with a packet of carnation instant breakfast drink (his hiker creamer). Section 8 of this trail is approximately 24 miles. Yesterday they hiked about 5 miles of section 8. Tomorrow they were going to finish section 8 at Tennessee Pass where they would meet their resupply. Tonight, however,they are camping just off Hwy 24. Lat: 39.40170 Long: -106.31638 at Tennessee Pass. It looks like it was a 19 mile day! Check out Facebook later tonight. I'll be posting two pictures that Dave sent yesterday. Jane

Day 11 - Section 8

Day 9 was spent as a zero day to let Tennille rest. The heat was getting to her and her paws needed rest. The guys got back on the trail on day 10 but only hiked about 5 miles in, just before Copper Mountain. Sometimes you have to decide on a shorter day versus a really long day. With the mountain and private land just ahead, they decided the long hike should be avoided. After being in town and, as Dave refers to it, being "sucked into the vortex of town", the guys were sluggish and Left the pass for the next day. Today, day 11, they hiked 12.5-13 miles. They stopped at the Copper Mountain Ski resort and had a Gatorade. At the resort there is a zip line, ski lift for hikers, and Dave said there were families enjoying the beautiful day. When Dave called it was in the low 70's. There was a list of summer activities at the resort, one of which was the Ragnar Run in August. Dave is looking forward to meeting up with his Ragnar teammates for this race afree the trail! Then they completed section 7 and got 5 miles into section 8 where they stopped tonight. They are at mile 122 of the trail. They heard that there was a great camping spot on a little connector trail so they sought it out. When they got there it was already occupied by a woman with a camo tent. Most hikers don't mind sharing locations. Dave thought this woman had moved into the spot. She let it be known that they were not welcome so they went back towards the trail and found a place to set up camp. Dave said that they were a bit freaked out by here. I know they are just not used to unfriendly folks on the trail. Trail magic is everywhere! They are keeping their distance! The clouds have kept the weather from being too hot. It does get chilly about 3am and warms up by 8am. They had rain on and off yesterday for a few hours, and they've had a few minor thunder storms, but nothing to write home about! They will have a full day of hiking tomorrow and get resupplied on Wednesday at the end of section 3. Tonight's location: 39.48758 -106.19025 Jane

Day 8 - Out the In

Today's phone call came around 3:00 pacific time. Dave confirmed that they were able to go back and hike the first two sections that they had to miss at the start but they did it backwards. Their resupply folks took them to the trailhead where section 2 & 3 meet and they headed towards Denver. When he called they had just gotten to the beginning of the trail! Tonight they are spending a night at a hotel and will attempt to wash their clothes. Tennille will be glad to get out of the heat as she doesn't like it much! Tomorrow Trevor has a media event and then they will get back on the trail. They are going to try to do the dreaded section 7 and figure if they make it through that section they will be over the worst. I may not be able to post tomorrow but will try to get something posted Sunday. Jane

Day 7 - Back to the Beginning

Today Dave, Trevor, and Tennille were picked up, resupplied, and taken back to Section 1. They will hike sections 1 & 2 and hopefully by that time they can go back to where they stopped today which is at the end of section 6 I believe. After day 1 the guys figured they'd no longer complete the train in Durango but have to return to the beginning to finish the trail. If the snow cooperates, they guys may be able to find themselves done with this trail when they hit Durango. I didn't talk with them so I'm not sure how many miles they did today. I know they had 4 miles this morning to get to the pick up site. After getting dropped off at the trail head, I saw on SPOT google map that they passed Raleigh Peak and crossed Hwy 96. Here is their location tonight: 39.40266 -105.16429 Jane

Day 6 Naked and Afraid

Today Dave called once they had set up camp. They are camping in a forest with no shade. There are tall and thin Lodge Pole Pines. They are about 4 miles from Breckenridge where they will be resupplied tomorrow. Although it was early in the day the really had no place else to go. Because they were so close to the trail head they had a lot of folks passing by camp. There were hikers, runners, and bikers. Three days ago our hikers met up with several others out hiking the trail. There was a couple with their dog, one lady with her dog, and a trail angel that they had met on their first day. The couple with a dog went off and they've not seen them again. The next day as they were rounding a curve on the trail they came upon the woman (Charlie) and her dog. She was caught too close to the trail with her pants down. The guys were gentlemen and let her gather herself and then spent a bit of time talking with her. Her dog barks at everything. Yesterday after they set up camp Charlie and her dog showed up and camped there. She wanted a trail name so Trevor named her Naked and her dog Afraid. Funny thing about trail names, once named that is it for life! You need to be careful out there! The Trail Angel, Radio, has shown up at least twice providing the guys with Trail Magic!! They have had Poweraids, Mountain Houses, and candy bars. Tomorrow they will find out just where they go next. They'd love to just proceed on but they talked to a fellow hiker who had tried section 7 and had to turn around. The boys don't want to waste time so they may go ahead and come back at the end to finish up what was missed. Today's location: 39.53952-106.0002 Jane

Day 5 - Snow, Wildlife and Dreams

Dave called just before noon and left me a message. He said that they had just crossed the Continental Divide and they only had 4 or 5 miles to go for the day. They were hiking over patches of snow. Dave said that the snow, so far, was much less than on the PCT. He then called back at 1:00 pm and I was able to answer the phone! We had a great, clear conversation!! He again mentioned the piles of snow. They had just gone over Georgia Pass and had about 1000' of elevation to lose before setting up camp. The trail is now both the Colorado Trail and the Continental Divide Trail. Two nights ago Dave was kept up most of the night due to the little critters moving around and chewing all night long. The next morning he found that they had chewed up the handle of his trekking poles! They are still usable, but he decided to sleep with them from now on! He was concerned that they were going to eat his tent! He was glad to move on! Last night they slept in a prairie. Due to the warmer weather and melting snow, the prairie was very damp. Trevor heard larger animals outside their tents last night, but they guys think they were moose or elk. Dave was excited to share that they had run into a lot of wildlife, especially the moose and elk, and also woodpeckers. He was surprised they had not seen any deer. They were taking some time at lunch drying out their gear. Dave said the cold was felt by their feet and the warmth on their necks. He was so happy talking about his day. They were almost done hiking for the day, covering 14 1/2 miles today. Dave also shared that Tennille was having a blast with the snow, diving into the piles and almost doing somersaults into the snow! Dave said his nights are mostly filled with strange dreams. I'm not an expert on dreams but I went online to interpret last night's dream and it said "you will never want, but life will be an uphill affair". The mountains have always called to him, so even if I have messed up the interpretation it all works! Dave said they are moving so well that they get into camp early and are finding themselves with lots of time on their hands. I say, rather extra time in camp than having a hard time hiking and getting into camp late! It just tells me that the guys are feeling good. Tonight's camping spot: If the guys look east they'll just about see Colorado Springs. 39.4971 N -105.92516 W Jane

Day 4 - 1st resupply

Our hikers are in the White River National Forest. They met up with their resupply earlier today. Dave made several attempts to contact me by satellite phone today. He finally got through on his cell phone but I could only hear about every 3rd word! Although the call was a tad bit frustrating, it was wonderful to hear his voice. Tonight they are camping at the following location (put long. & Lat. into Google Maps search). You'll see just how much tree cover they do have! 39.42744 -105.80261 They will finish hiking section 6 tomorrow and Thursday will be taken to section 12 due to snow. Hopefully in a few weeks the snow will decrease so they can complete sections 7-11. I have a few boxes of food to send off to Dave and I'm hoping to get them out tomorrow. A huge thanks to those that are getting the food to Dave, Trevor, and Tennille! They are well taken care of! Jane

Day 3 Communication Issues

Today is Day three for Trevor, Tennille, and Dave on the Colorado Trail. I had a 1 minute phone conversation with Dave before I was disconnected. He was able to call back using the satellite phone but had to leave a message for me. (I was in the garage playing with his power tools!!). His phone ran out of battery and is going to attempt to charge it with Trevor's solar charger. Dave was able to let me know that they planned on stopping tonight about 5-7 miles before Kenosha Pass. They will be resupplied at Kenosha Pass tomorrow. Dave did tell me that the satellite phone works best when there are no trees around. He figured they'd be hiking above the treeline for most of the hike, but for now they are in the tree line. The guys have stopped hiking today prior to HWY 285 and south of South Twin Cone Peak. They stopped about 3:17 mountain time. I'll need to verify, but it looks like HWY 285 is where Kenosha Pass is. It looks like the best place for a resupply. If you are interested in checking out where they are camping tonight input the latitude and longitude into google maps: latitude: 39.6839 longitude: -105.68384 Information on the hike is also being posted in Facebook. You can follow Dave or Trevor Thomas for additional details. I'll be passing messages along when we get better phone reception! I've got a list going! Jane

Adapting... Section 3 done and on to Section 4

Dave was able to get AT&T service today around 9:00 am PT to report in. The guys were moving slowly while getting used to the altitude but were in wonderful spirits. Yesterday they camped at Buffalo Creek at Forest Road 553. While hiking this morning in Section 3 they had to keep moving out of the way of mountain bike racers. Dave commented on how polite all the bikers were despite the fact that they were racing! The race did not cross into Section 4. Our hikers were happy to be able to just keep hiking instead of avoiding bikers! Today's plan was to stop at Section 4, mile 9. Dave figured they had 8 more miles after our phone call. I did hear that the SPOT was pushed so we know they are safe. Trevor's mom, Judith, is trying to get me set up on the SPOT to get notifications. For those of you who don't know about SPOT, it is a handheld device about the size of a GPS unit. The hikers can push one button to say they are safe and on track at the end of the day, one button to say things are not going according to plans but they are ok, and one button is a 911 call. It is nice knowing that the guys have this extra way to communicate. Once my email is set up with the SPOT I'll get a Google map each evening and be able to share location and timing. Because Dave, Trevor, and Tennille started at a different location than planned, they have to revise their resupply. The goal, because they are hiking with Tennille, is to get resupplied every three days. I hear dog food is really heavy! Planning a long distance hike is not as easy as just getting on a trail. You need to know where the water is (important especially at meal times and always nice to have fresh water in the morning). You need to plan out where to camp. And you need to plan where you can get resupply - or rather where someone can get to you. The guys are trying not to have to hike off trail to get resupplied. Dave had spent many hours getting the mileage each day perfect to fit all their needs. Dave and Trevor are used to things not going perfectly so I know that they will adapt, overcome and improvise! They have seen other hikers on the trail who started a few days at the beginning. Dave figures they'll make it to Durango and then go back to the start to complete sections 1 & 2. Pictures of the guys heading out Day 1 were put on Facebook. I'll be adding those pictures to this blog eventually!

To hike or not to hike, that is the question...

To hike or not to hike was the question put in front of Dave and Trevor today. Trevor had some necessary backpacking items go missing from his luggage so the guys went out to find replacements (I believe this was done last night). Today when they got to the trail head they found it closed. Yes, closed. It seems the hot weather was melting the snow and causing flooding. These guys would never let a little bit of weather keep them from the trail so they bypassed sections 1 & 2 of the Colorado Trail and started out on section 3. I'm not on their SPOT email just yet but that is in the works. I'll be able to provide more information when that happens. There is good news with this delay - as they get to 10,000 feet elevation there won't be as much snow! I heard that Dave, Trevor, and Tennille made it to a camp sight tonight. Trevor is communicating via satellite phone and I'll continue to provide updates. Tomorrow I'll figure out where they are and how many miles they got in today. Dave had been estimating just over 8 1/2 but with the change of sections and the time delay it may be less. Feel free to share this blog with anyone who may be interested in following the adventure of two guys and a dog. One guy is hard of hearing. One is blind. Thank goodness they have a dog! One last note. Although I'm not sure when during this adventure, I know the guys will go back and hike sections 1 & 2 when it is safer! Day 1 of the Colorado Trail is in the books!

2015 Colorado Trail hike prep

Well, Dave is getting ready for another adventure. Later this month he's heading to Denver, Colorado where he'll meet up with fellow hiker Trevor and Trevor's guide dog, Tennille. They will start their 500 mile trek just outside of Denver and finish in Durango. This blog will be our link with their progress! Meal packaging is underway. Dave figures he'll need minimum 3000 calories a day. We are putting together foods with high calories and low weight. This is not very easy. We are staying away from candy bars (ok, a few may end up in his meal bag). We have some pre-packaged meals and some of our own creations. I'll put a list out on the next blog. He estimates they will be on the trail 42 days. We will plan for 45 just in case. Trevor has Trail Angles who will be bringing them food about every 3 or 4 days. This is mainly for Tennille. Dog food is heavy! Although Tennille will be carrying some food, Trevor and Dave will share the load. Stay tuned for more updates on the pre-adventure and then the big send off scheduled for June 19th!!