CDT – Day 52 – Middle Fork Arapahoe Creek to M1615.9

6/15/15 Day 52

Middle Fork Arapahoe Creek M1592.7 to M1615.9 9625′

Tent – Nights Spent Alone: 7

26.5, 985.3 Trip Miles

Mostly Sunny w/ rain late

Day’s of Snow: 7 – Day’s of Rain: 17

# of Zero days: 5

6:30 am to 7:34 pm

Gila Crossings Final Total:  221

Tick Count: 4 (3 more crawling on me)

Critter Count

6 Chipmunks

1 Elk

1 Squirrel

Totals

530 Pronghorn*

119 Lizards

116 Wild Horses

96 Chipmunks

89 Elk

61 Deer**

37 Cotton Tail Rabbits

32 Ground Squirrels

27 Squirrels

22 Horny Roads

19 Prairie Dogs

17 Jack Rabbit***

8 Snakes

4 Coyotes

4 Moles

3 Marmot****

2 Rattle Snakes

2 Toads

1 Mouse

1 Skunk

1 Weasel

1 Porcupine

*181 from car, **3 from car, ***1 from car, ****2 from car

Long tough day.

I’m feeling the elevation for sure. Anytime over 9500′ I start to slow down. Add my exhaustion and I’m crawling up the steep climbs.

Rolling grassland

Last night was cold as expected. We got an early start but as usual the miles came hard. We made it to Troublesome Pass and had lunch. We decide we would eat fast and try to take the trail over Parkview Mountain. The going was slow and as we gained the ridge to the summit it started to rain. We stopped to wait it out and decide if we should go back and take the bad weather detour.

Beautiful flute like flowers

We finally decided to go for it and I didn’t get ten feet before the first thunder cracked. I promptly turned 180 degrees and we headed for the detour. The detour was 100% snow free despite being mostly north facing.

Rolling grassland

We made good time but once we gained the CDT again the thunder&lightening started. We raced down to the road to find a flat spot but there was nothing. We ended up going another two miles before we found an okay spot. I’m totally falling to the right. I HATE unflat camp spots.

Does it get any better than this?

I almost fell today. I mounted a tall log to get over it. Once on top I squatted down to get lower. It was too tall to step off. I was attempting to slip one foot out and as I did the bark on the tree ripped off. I slipped down, smashed my tail bone and jammed my right wrist. Butt is sore but wrist seems okay now.

Just yet another day of beautiful views and long testing miles.  Like yesterday with the snow at the end of the day, today we had rain and it dampened my mood going into camp.  I was moving good most of the day and feel better than I had lately. 

Back to Day 51, Forward to Day 53

Scatman

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Get out there!