Day 2
Mile Marker 14.5 to 30.6 (16.1 + 1.4 miles)
"What a Hard Day!"
A super heavy pack is still a super heavy pack despite having trail legs from recently completing the Tahoe Rim Trail. I felt out of shape. My legs can do it but my lungs cannot. A pass and a double summit, a 3,800 ft in elevation gain (not including the ups and downs) today was no joke. A part of me wished I had reconsidered resupplying in Silverton. But I'm on the trail now with all the food so I just have to do it. So back to this morning.
Pretty cool misty waterfall
I left Junction Creek early in the morning as it is a hard, long day; though not as early as I wanted to. Leaving camp super early is really not my thing. The SoBos finishing today left camp even as I was still packing up.
Going up Kennebec Pass through the Sliderock Traverse
It was a long and tough climb to Kennebec Pass, 6.5 miles from Junction Creek. It's beautiful though, especially once it opened up at the Sliderock Traverse. Here it's already above 11,000 ft so I'm working a sweat. My lungs are working extra to get that oxygen on. And here on, I am welcomed to the beauty of the San Juans!
Almost to the top of Kennebec Pass
View after going over Kennebec Pass
Another hiker just happened to start on the same day as me and we were hiking in close proximity today. We would pass each other often, as I stopped frequently to take photos and videos of the beautiful scenery. We both took a lunch break near Taylor Lake, in anticipation of more elevation gain.
View from our lunch break next to Taylor Lake
We could see some dark clouds and rain towards Durango southwest of us but it's looking blue in our direction of travel. It is around this time when the afternoon thunderstorm usually occurs. However, it is hard to see what the clouds look like north as the ridge hinders the view. I decided to keep moving and go for the summit.
Looking back at Taylor Lake and the storm clouds behind Snowstorm Peak
Looking West at La Plata Mountains as I near the first summit
A quick shower of hail before Indian Trail Ridge
After reaching the first summit, we could see the dark clouds on the east side changing direction, towards us. We heard a thunder that sounded close. The wind got stronger and then hail, the size of goat poop, started dropping. We hunkered down amongst alpine willows as there were no trees.
After a few minutes it stopped and we observed the clouds above us. It was still dark but it looked good (meaning no sight of lighting nor sound of thunder) so we made a run for the next summit, at Indian Trail Ridge, only 0.4 miles away. A bit of a gamble though since it is uncertain if there's any place on the other side to hunker down if hail or lightning strikes.
Going up Indian Trail Ridge
Looking back at Indian Trail Ridge as a bikepacker goes over
Ups and downs and thunderstorms kinda day
Thunderstorm looks cool in the distance
Fortunately everything went well since we were above tree line for the next few miles. I saw a herd of elk in the distance as a SoBo hiker passed by and we both stopped and just watched.
As I continued hiking, a big rain cloud in front crossed and went to the East in the valley. Some sunshine managed to blast through the clouds, and then it was cloudy for the rest of the day. But at least the thunderstorms are now behind me, and I am now in the trees so no more worries. Today I got a taste of what hiking the Colorado Trail will be for the next few weeks.
Sun shining through for a few minutes
It was a long, tiring day. I anticipated hiking more miles but mentally I was exhausted. I even unintentionally hiked extra miles to end the day as Guthook did not update my location right away and the next section is a 14 mile dry section. After realizing my mistake, I hiked back 1.4 miles and camped at the seasonal Deer Creek.
As I was eating dinner, I could see the sun setting between the trees, and I wished I was still walking because I love the experience of hiking as the sun set. Perhaps tomorrow!
The flowers are beautiful. Almost done for the day.