{"id":479,"date":"2016-06-22T00:23:54","date_gmt":"2016-06-22T00:23:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/montybillpct.net\/blog2016\/?p=479"},"modified":"2017-03-27T16:23:47","modified_gmt":"2017-03-27T16:23:47","slug":"going-to-plan-d","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/montybillpct.net\/blog2016\/2016\/06\/22\/going-to-plan-d\/","title":{"rendered":"Wednesday, June 22 Going to Plan C"},"content":{"rendered":"

SUMMARY:\u00a0 <\/strong>Well, it took a killer hill climb (3.3 miles of steep, rocky uphill) and 2 very tough, steep rocky descents plus weather that went nasty plus we have only one day of food left to convince us to go to Plan C\u2014drop out of the mountains and roadwalk to Twin Lakes. So at around 4pm we started following County Road 321, while thunder rumbled and we were being rained on.<\/p>\n

We did find a small grove of trees to hunker under while we ate dinner, and then where Road 321 reaches the highway, hooray! An RV\/camp place! So right when we needed it, we have a little cabin, out of the wind and cold. Tomorrow the roadwalk.<\/p>\n

DETAILS:<\/strong>\u00a0 It was actually warm this morning at 5:30 am–we didn’t even need to put on our jackets!\u00a0 The mossies (mosquitos) were out, though, and eager for breakfast.\u00a0 We got moving quickly and left them behind!\u00a0 The sunrise was gorgeous, but a bit worrisome, because it was a very bright RED, which usually means rain coming in.\u00a0 I tried to stay hopeful, though–there were very few clouds.<\/p>\n

We reached Mt. Baldy, and began the very long descent to Cottonwood Creek.\u00a0 The trail was very steep and very rocky, the kind of trail where I slow to a crawl because I’m a klutz and can too easily trip and fall.\u00a0 I did NOT want to fall on that trail!\u00a0 It was mega-frustrating.\u00a0 I hate going so slowly, knowing that we still have many miles before we reach Twin Lakes.<\/p>\n

At last we were down, and following an easier trail along Cottonwood Creek.\u00a0 Apparently it’s very popular with horse people, because it had a lot of horse tracks and the dust was deep.\u00a0 Our feet were quickly filthy dusty dirty.\u00a0 We did find a nice spot by the creek to stop and eat breakfast AND treat a LOT of water for the hike today.\u00a0 This will be the last creek for awhile.\u00a0 There was a bridge over the creek, which was a good thing–it was roaring and rough and would have made for a seriously nasty ford.<\/p>\n

Finally the trail reached Rainbow Lake, where apparently the horses stop, because after that we had no more dust to deal with.\u00a0\u00a0 We crossed a road, and according to the map, right after that there was a “black diamond” climb for almost 3 1\/2 miles.\u00a0 So at the foot of the climb, we stopped for a snack, and while we were resting by the trail and thinking about what lay ahead, along came a very sturdy-looking older guy carrying an ice axe and a small backpack.\u00a0 We figured he was headed out to climb one of the nearby 14’ers.<\/p>\n

After that short break, we shouldered packs, looked up the mountain, and said, “Oh boy, here goes!”\u00a0 The trail lost no time in going UP, very steeply.\u00a0 It was a sagebrush hillside, so we had great views of Rainbow Lake down below.\u00a0 My approach to long, steep climbs (I much prefer them over long, steep DOWNhills!) is to get into a rhythm with my breathing and my stepping.\u00a0 My legs actually don’t feel tired at all on these climbs–it’s my lungs that have a problem, due to the altitude.\u00a0 So I just sort of get into my rhythm and I can keep going and going.\u00a0 Not fast, but steady.<\/p>\n

Eventually we were back in forest again, and still steeply climbing.\u00a0 About 2\/3 of the way up, Fixit said, “I can’t go on.\u00a0 I’m too tired.\u00a0 I have to stop.”\u00a0 And he just sort of lay down by the trail.\u00a0 I know he did not sleep well last night, again, so that was part of the problem.\u00a0 My problem was that I just wanted to get the climb done and reach the top.\u00a0 So I said, “OK, I’ll just keep going, but I will wait for you at the top.”<\/p>\n

I got back in gear and continued the climb.\u00a0 A short time later, a happy young gal came bouncing down the trail.\u00a0 “I just came off the ridge!” she cheered.\u00a0 “You’re almost there!”\u00a0 Well, that was good news…but turned out her sense of time must have been a bit off…it took me 25 more minutes before I reached the very scenic ridgetop. I took off my pack and immediately began looking for a nice shady comfortable place for Fixit to lie down again.\u00a0 I figured that by the time he got up here, he would need it!\u00a0 Once I found a good spot, I got out the stove and the food and started setting up to cook some lunch.\u00a0 Just then, down from a higher part of the ridge, came the guy with the ice axe.\u00a0 He was very surprised to see me.\u00a0 “Wow, you really made good time going up the hill!” he said, and we talked a bit.\u00a0 It turned out he is a local, and he “does that hill” EVERY week, once the trail is clear of snow, in order to stay in shape!<\/p>\n

He also told me the “history” of the Colorado Trail.\u00a0 He said it was a very hasty\/rushed decision for the state legislature, who were saying, “We need a state trail!\u00a0 We need it NOW!”\u00a0 So with a very small budget and very poor planning, they quickly cobbled together a “trail” made up of some existing trails plus a lot of old mine roads.\u00a0 Where there was nothing, they put in a trail as cheaply as possible.\u00a0 “Like here,” he said.\u00a0 “You see how steep and rough it is?\u00a0 It’s really crummy trail, but it was cheap to put in.”\u00a0\u00a0 Oh….so that explains why there’s no switchbacking or contouring.\u00a0 Too expensive.<\/p>\n

He left, and finally Fixit arrived, completely exhausted.\u00a0 I showed him the nice rest spot, and he just collapsed, while I finished cooking lunch.\u00a0 “I can’t do any more of this Colorado Trail,” he groaned.\u00a0 “Once we get down off this ridge, let’s just roadwalk to Twin Lakes.”\u00a0 I totally agreed!\u00a0 We only have food left for one more meal today, plus enough for tomorrow, and that is it, with many steep miles left to go.\u00a0 If we roadwalk, we will be able to make it and not run out of food.<\/p>\n

So we slipped and slid on the steep, rocky trail, down off the ridge.\u00a0 It was really bad.\u00a0 Down at the bottom of the canyon was a dirt road, which according to our map, should eventually take us down to another road, and the highway.\u00a0 Just as we started to follow it out, it began to rain, and thunder was rumbling all around us.\u00a0 I looked back up at the mountains where we would have been climbing back up again on the CT–it looked bad, with black clouds and mist.\u00a0 The rain continued as we walked out to County Road 321 and began to follow it towards the highway.\u00a0 The rain grew heavier and the wind was blowing and it was cold!\u00a0 We were so glad we’d decided to bail out.<\/p>\n

At 5:30 we reached a little grove of trees where we were protected from the wind and a bit protected from the rain, and stopped to eat.\u00a0 All around us, the mountains were enshrouded in clouds.\u00a0 “Nasty up there,” we said to each other.\u00a0 But I was really wondering what we would do for a place to camp.\u00a0 We were down in farm country, with everything fenced.\u00a0 “I guess we will just have to ask permission to camp in somebody’s field, ” I thought. “And oh fun, we get to set up in the pouring rain and wind.”<\/p>\n

But when we reached the highway, at the intersection, oh JOY!\u00a0 There was an RV camp!\u00a0 And they had little cabins!\u00a0 So we went to the camp store and rented a “rustic” cabin (small, no bathroom, just a couple of bunkbeds) and now we are out of the wind and rain, and there is a heater in the cabin, so we are warm.\u00a0 Our wet stuff is spread all over the place to dry.\u00a0 And to add to the fun, while we were at the store, we met two guys from an “old time religion” church (that’s what it said on their van!) where they don’t have a “band” for their music (like most churches do now) and they sing HYMNS.\u00a0 Awesome!\u00a0\u00a0 They are here with a bunch of teenage boys from their church, and they’ll be doing some mountaineering adventures over the next few days.\u00a0 Hope the weather clears for them! (Hey, and for us, too!)\u00a0 They promised to pray for us, and that means a lot.<\/p>\n

So we are sheltered and warm and tomorrow, we should be able to reach Twin Lakes!<\/p>\n

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SUMMARY:\u00a0 Well, it took a killer hill climb (3.3 miles of steep, rocky uphill) and 2 very tough, steep rocky descents plus weather that went nasty plus we have only one day of food left to convince us to go to Plan C\u2014drop out of the mountains and roadwalk to Twin Lakes. So at around […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-colorado"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/montybillpct.net\/blog2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/montybillpct.net\/blog2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/montybillpct.net\/blog2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montybillpct.net\/blog2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montybillpct.net\/blog2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=479"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/montybillpct.net\/blog2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":839,"href":"https:\/\/montybillpct.net\/blog2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479\/revisions\/839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/montybillpct.net\/blog2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montybillpct.net\/blog2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montybillpct.net\/blog2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}