SUMMARY:  Here in Colorado, the CDT mostly stays up high at 10,000 feet and up. The air is very dry, and though we do our best to stay hydrated, many hikers (including us) develop the ‘Colorado Cough’ which especially kicks in when we do a really big climb, which pretty much happens every day.

Like today—we had an almost 3,000 foot climb to 12,500 feet high, above Kokomo Pass. (Cough, cough)  It is spectacular and jaw-dropping, vast mountain scenery (plus a huge open-pit mine). The weather was perfect for our miles above timberline, and tonight we are camped within the sound of the freeway by Copper Mountain.

DETAILS:  I kept expecting to hear rain pattering on our tent last night, but eventually the thunder went away, and nothing happened.  This morning was really nice–not too cold–and we continued walking along what I think was an old railroad grade, which made for very nice trail.  Not much later on, we left the forest behind for awhile and found ourselves out in misty meadows, with fog rising from the damp ground.  Hmmm, very pretty and magical-looking, but it also meant we had a hard time finding a spot to stop for breakfast, because everything was so wet.

We passed some very old and mysterious low concrete buildings and were greatly puzzled as to what they were.  We guessed, “World War II?” but what were they for?  They were built in long rows with many separate little rooms, each with a door, but no window.  Powder magazine?  Some sort of bunker?  We have no idea.  The trail continued to be very nice as it crossed a big green valley surrounded by pleasant-looking mountains with no snow on them.  At the other side, we turned to the right and followed along the edge of the valley as we began the 3,000 foot climb up to Kokomo Pass.  I had been somewhat dreading this, because yesterday’s climbs about wiped us out.  I find that every time I start going uphill, in a short while I start to cough, and that makes it hard.

But today was different.  There were a few slow, steep parts (where the cough came back) but mostly it was a very reasonable grade, and it even included passing right by a pretty waterfall with a charming red-painted footbridge.  But as the climb continued, Fixit began to have a hard time.  He decided to stop and wash his socks (thus getting a bit of rest), while as usual I was eager to reach the top and THEN stop.  So once again, I headed on and said, “I’ll see you at the top.”  I continued the climb till I was almost at the very top, when it was lunchtime, and I spotted a really nice place well off the trail, where we could take a break.  The fact that it was well OFF trail was important, because we’ve been meeting a lot of Colorado Trail hikers with DOGS.  I’ve learned the hard way, that if there’s a strong possibility of dogs on the trail, it’s better to COOK way OFF the trail!  We met 3 dog-backpackers yesterday, and of the 3 dogs, not even one was carrying its own food.  Shame!  Any dog hiker should at least carry its own edibles!

By the time Fixit came along (very slowly; he is really tired), I had everything pretty well set up for lunch.  Kokomo Pass is about 12,500 feet, and well above timberline, so the views were glorious in every direction.  We are both tired and it was hard to have to pack up and get going again.  I would have liked to just lie there and look at everything!  But on we went, and after the other side of the pass, we started seeing what looks like a huge open pit mine.  A large chunk of a very big mountain had been completely dug away, and the whole operation was pretty impressive-looking.

The weather all day today was beautiful–clear, sunny skies, and no threat of a thunderstorm, which was great, because we were way up high on bare ridges for many miles.  There were some snow patches and small snowfields, but never enough to be a problem.  The only annoyance was snowmelt turning the trail into a creek and the ground into mud.  On the other hand—WOW!   The wildflowers were amazing!  They were everywhere.  I tried to take pictures, but no camera can do justice to what our eyes were seeing.  Then we reached Searles Pass, and found that on the other side, we had a whole new set of amazing views.  At that point, we were basically on the beginning of the long descent to Copper Mountain.

There was still a bit of snow for awhile, but never a problem.  Then we spotted a really nice house, out in the middle of nowhere…turned out it belonged to “Summit Huts” which owns a lot of backcountry cabins and houses, and puts them up for rent.  Well, much as we would have liked to stay there, we hadn’t signed up to rent it, and it was way too early to stop for the day.  Sigh.  As we continued down, down, down, we met a solo Colorado Trail hiker on her way up.  She is headed for Durango, but oh dear–she was carrying a ginormous heavy pack and making very slow progress.  We also met trail bikers and various other backpackers and even dayhikers.  Aha–we must be getting near to civilization!

We stopped a bit early, in the forest above the Copper Mountain resort.  If we’d kept going, we would have ended up IN the resort, and we really didn’t want to stay there.  So we found a flat place and set up our tent.  We can hear the roar of traffic on the freeway below.  Silverthorne tomorrow!