Blog

Morning was chilly. We popped out of the tents around 5 AM, still dark with a slight glow to the east. Segment 2 is through the burn scar created by the Buffalo Creek wild fire in 1996. Water management is critical. Broke camp early to take advantage of the cool air.

I was pretty cold, had my hiking shirt, puffy, rain shell, hat and gloves on. Drips, t-shirt and hiking shirt. Of course he had to give me a hard time about not handling cold anymore. Yeah, I don’t have to handle cold anymore. No more waking up in the morning, going outside, and having my face hurt. Nope, not again.

So breakfast was no cooking, just some bars, we did have a cup of coffee each though. Made good time in the rolling terrain and the sun did not catch up with us for some time. In fact after around three miles we entered a forest. What is this? We read that there is no shade. Well, there is. There is a good stretch of shade. Very much appreciated and a nice surprise. We kept an eye on our water consumption throughout the day, both being half way through our supply at the correct mileage. Lunch was in the shaded area near near a logging operation, a nice rest.

After lunch we had about 3.5 miles left through the open area and about a liter of water each. It was hot but we did get lucky, intermittent shade from clouds rolling through. Clouds and a breeze were a treat from time to time.

Our goal was not the end of the segment but a volunteer fire house that is kind enough to allow hikers to fill water at an outside spigot. We saw the firehouse from about a mile away and knew we were going to make it with just enough water. The final trek there seemed like it was three mile and not one. Couldn’t wait to taste cold fresh water. Once there I put $5 in the donation box and we each downed at least a two liters.

We made the firehouse way ahead of schedule, I didn’t expect to get to it until the next afternoon. Mileage planning is difficult with us new hikers. There was great phone service at the firehouse and I was able to call home to check in and request and early pickup the next day, Thursday. A full day ahead of schedule. Turns out there were some concerning issues at home and Drips was really having some upper back issues. So, we decided to get a pickup that evening. We hiked off to the end of the segment, another 2 miles down the trail and waited for my son, Justin, to pop over and scoop us up. Today was 11.5 miles and 2500 feet of climb.

Is this then end of the trail for Drips? No, we are planning to hit Segment 3 on Friday. Then, Saturday he will fly home and Sunday I will head out to Breckenridge and start where I left off last week.