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