Days 40 & 41 - The End of the Trail is Near

Dave has not had enough cell service to call me, but he has used Trevors phone. We have been monitoring AT&T vs Verizon through the entire trail. AT&T had better service during the first weeks of the trail but Verizon is clearly in the lead now. Although I must say I had a difficult time hearing everything Dave had to say today. I know that partial communication is better than no communication! When Dave called yesterday (Tuesday night) they had 13.6 miles left on the Colorado Trail. They had passed Indian Ridge which is notorious for being the location in Colorado that reports the most lightning strikes and the most deaths due to lightning strikes. I am happy to say that the boys didn't have a cloud in the sky yesterday. It was a beautiful and sunny day! The days have been pleasantly warm. Last night they camped on a bluff with a 200' drop. Every morning Tenille visits Dave and greets him. This morning Dave was packing up as Tennille was coming over for her good morning. Dave was tossing his gear out of his tent. Wanting to avoid hitting Tennille with his grave, Dave put a bit of spin on one of his bags but the toss got away from him and it went over the edge! Dave climbed down after the bag which had some clothes in it. He is a smart man and finally decided that if he went further he would be at risk. In the bag was a pair of warm tights, a Buff I had gotten him for Christmas, and socks that he had gotten in Stehekin when he was hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. Nothing was worth his life, so he decided to head back to the campsite and forget the bag. Smart man! They hiked into today's camp site with only 1.2 miles left on the trail! Durango is so very close! The guys will be met at 9:30 tomorrow morning in Durango. they will be staying in Durango tomorrow. Dave will be getting a ride from Paul and Nancy (the resupply team) into Colorado Springs Friday and will be enjoying a steak dinner with friends. I am looking forward to a good phone conversation where I can hear more than every third word! This will be the last trail blog however, when Dave can get me some pictures I will post them here. More blogs will resume when the guys are on their next adventure. The Grand Canyon was guessed to be their next adventure however Dave told me that Tennille wouldn't be able to do the Grand Canyon. It would be too hard on her. I thought the New Zeland trail would be in the running, but it looks like a canoe may be part of the picture. The talk is of the Boundary Waters of Minnesota and Canada. The first time Dave had canoed was on our honeymoon. He graciously let me pick our trip and I chose canoeing the Boundry Waters. It took just a bit of practice and Dave had canoeing down. It is beautiful country with great fishing, a bit of portaging and mosquitoes the size of hummingbirds! Their feet will enjoy the rest!! This is just talk but every adventure must start somewhere! I do, however, see Dave doing the Grand Canyon at some point but probably running it rim to rim to rim. He's talked about that. Thanks for following this Colorado Trail adventure!

Days 38 & 39 - mile 441 with 45 to go!

On the evening of day 37 the guys could not find a camp site for the both of them. They ended up being about 400' apart. Last night they also had a harder time finding one camp site but ended up only 100' away from each other. At least this time Dave could see Trevors tent from his front door. They were at the end of section 26. Yesterday they walked over 16 miles. They were only going to hike 12 or 13 miles but they kept going because of the lack of camping spots. There was a mountain bike race happening on the trail which was pretty entertaining for the guys. They let the racers know which place they were in as they passed by! Dave also said they saw waterfalls. As he described the waterfalls it sounded like they were surrounded by them! He's told me that he's taken so many pictures and he's looking forward to sharing with us. The guys ended up less than 1 mile from today's resupply (yes, their last resupply!!!). Knowing these guys I'm sure they didn't sleep in even though they had hours before meeting their resupply. Their location tonight is: 37.53793. -108.02603 Three more days until the end of the trail! It will be wonderful to have this adventure checked off. Any bets on what their next adventure is going to be? I know they are tossing ideas around!

Day 37 - mile 411.5

The guys got into section 25 yesterday. Dave thinks they will have cell service for the rest of the hike (6 more days). They met their resupply and will meet them again in 2 1/2 days. Dave was thankful for a lighter pack. Too many days of food can really weigh a pack down. Yesterday they saw the Silverton train that goes between Silverton and Durango. Dave says this train gives you a great taste of the trail without having to backpack it. This train has been on our list of "to dos" for a while. They camped by Little Mosley Lake last night. Dave is sounding tired these days. The nights are cold so getting a good night sleep is not happening. They are on track to complete the trail on Thursday the 30th. Dave's mind is already shifting to his next adventure where he is returning to the Colorado mountains to run the Colorado Copper Mountain Ragnar with his team. He will have one week to rest and do a little running to prepare for the race. jane

Day 34 - American Alps

Today the guys hit the highest point on the Colorado Trail, 13,271'. They have been higher this trip, getting off trail to climb a peak. There was no rain yesterday which made the day perfect. They woke up really cold this morning. there was frost on the ground. Dave was not looking forward to another cole morning tomorrow. The trail today was extraordinarily beautiful. It looked like it was the American Alps. Dave said if he took shots on the camera without aiming he'd always get a good shot because every speck of the view was beautiful. They saw moose, elk, and a coyote. There was a marmot hollering at Dave. The marmot didn't like where Dave had put his tent. When they got into camp today they were the only hikers there. It was about 2:30. By the time Dave called me there were four more hikers camping and a couple others had passed by. People were everywhere! Dave was really tired today. He figures it is because he is not hydrating properly. It's colder so you forget to drink. It was really windy today. The wind is annoying but better than if it was too hot. The temp hit a high of 69 degrees. They are on track to make their resupply on Friday. Tonight's locations: 37.84627 -107.44717

Day 33 - Back on the Trail

Dave, Trevor and Tennille spent days 31 and 32 in Lake City. They needed to wait out the thunderstorms. Although it was to rain and thunder today they decided to move forward with the hike. They got a ride from a trail angel to the trail head at 6:00 am. Their plan for today was to hike 9 miles and set up camp. They wanted to not get beyond the tree line to protect them from the lightning. They set up camp around 11:20 mountain time. The next few days will be sunny and no rain. The trail will be taking them over 13,000 feet, well above the tree line. They have been told that they may run into the sheep guided by dogs on this section. They will be at this altitude exposed to the elements for about three days. Then it is supposed to storm again. Today's camp spot has lined them up to sucessfully get over this exposed area and back to the safety of the tree line before it storms. I don't expect to hear from Dave much during the last part of the trip but will continue to share what I do know about the adventure. Tonight's locations: 37.90337 -107.28946

Day 30 - Stormy Skies and Birthday

The boy's day started with them climbing over two passes, crossing the Continental Divide once again. Then they had to cross a Mesa. That is when the skies opened. Lightning was an issue so the guys hustled across the 6 miles of the Mesa, crossing it in about 1 1/2 hours. The total for today was 11 miles. Their hiking day was from 7 am to 12:30. They got to the resupply where they were met by Paul and Dick. Paul had brought Dave a pastry with a candle to celebrate his birthday. Happy birthday Dave!! A Because of the forecast of the next few days bringing more thunder showers the guys have decided to take at least tomorrow off. They got a ride to Lake City and found a hotel, ate a burger, took a shower, and Dave was cleaning his socks when I talked to him. Dave was telling me that Lake City was the highest unincorporated town in the United States. I couldn't confirm that fact but I did find that Lake City is the only town in Hinsdale County and is a historic mining town. Although glad to be warm and dry, Dave doesn't want to stay in town long (as I'm sure neither does Trevor). Dave does want to be safe and would love to enjoy the beautiful scenery, so he's hoping the forecasts are wrong so they can get back on the trail Monday. He is just a bit weary worrying about the weather. Dave will try and get pictures downloaded to me while in town. I'm looking forward to seeing the beautiful countryside.

Day 29 - Mental Toughness

Dave ended up calling twice tonight. The first call seemed like a word game. I heard the following: sunny, thunder, passes, no trees, hypothermia, hail, lightning, woke up freezing. Then we lost the connection. I was relieved when he called back and I could ask questions and understand what he was saying. They woke up this morning and they were really cold (freezing). The day was sunny and quickly warmed. They crossed several passes at high altitude. They were around 12,000' all day. They went over the Divide again. The trail is above the tree line, leaving them exposed. They are watching the weather very carefully. One minute it will be sunny and warm with one little wisp of a cloud in the distance and within a few moments they are in the middle of a horrible thunder storm. They have had to dash to the trees to insure they are not the tallest out there because that lightning would be seeking them out. They arrive in the trees sweaty and wet, and then they are cold. The rain is bitterly cold. They have needed mental toughness to get through today. Dave assured me that all three of them have that mental toughness. They see some tough days ahead. They will be hiking what Dave believes is the toughest part of the trail for the next 4 days. This will be made harder by the weather. They will have on again, off again rain and storms. You can check your favorite online weather app and look at Lake City, CO or Silverton, CO. They will be resupplied tomorrow At Spring Creek and will take one day at a time. Their goal is to be safe. They are ahead of schedule. After tomorrow's resupply they may only have one more resupply 4 days later. This is mainly due to the lack of access or bad access to the trail. Today they got through section 20 and into section 21. They plan on finishing section 21 tomorrow and will hike some of section 22. Dave did mention that 95% of the trees died over the past 10 years due to bark beetle. If all goes as planned the guys and Tennille will be off the trail, arriving in Durando, in 11 days. This is one of the toughest hikes Dave has done. He is enjoying the hike, the scenery, the company, the folks he's met on the trail, but he is looking forward to completing the 500 miles. Although very challenging it is a great accomplishment. Tonight's location: 37.9574 -107.01686 In camp tonight at 2:30 mountain time