7/13/15 Day 80, Bowl M2138.2 to Wolf Creek Pass M2165.5 11,744′
Tent – Nights Spent Alone: 10
27.3, 1508 Trip Miles
Partly Sunny
Day’s of Snow: 8 – Day’s of Rain: 30 – Days of Hail: 14
# of Zero days: 7
5:50 am – 6:25 pm
Gila Crossings Final Total: 221
Tick Count: 4 (4 more crawling on me)
Wanted List
Mountain Goat
Grizzly Bear
Sasquatch
Black Bear
Bighorn Sheep
Velociraptor
Mountain Lion
Beaver
Unicorn
Wolf
Buffalo
Critter Count
16 Deer
5 Marmots
5 Pikas
3 Chipmunk
Totals
1) 530 Pronghorn*
2) 324 Elk
3) 157 Chipmunks
4) 119 Lizards
5) 116 Wild Horses
6) 110 Marmot****
7) 107 Deer**
8) 50 Squirrels
9) 47 Pika
10) 46 Ground Squirrels
11) 41 Cotton Tail Rabbits
12) 30 Prairie Dogs
13) 22 Horny Toads
14) 17 Jack Rabbit***
15) 12 Moose
16) 8 Snakes
17) 5 Coyotes
18) 5 Moles
19) 3 Porcupine
20) 2 Fox
21) 2 Rattle Snakes
22) 2 Toads
23) 1 Mouse
24) 1 Skunk
25) 1 Weasel
*181 from car, **4 from car, ***1 from car, ****2 from car
Another not so early start but we were chased by storms and motivated by the idea of town. We got to Wolf Creek Pass by 4:43 pm.
We saw lots of deer in the am and a few smaller critters along the way. Nothing like yesterday’s critter count though. The highlight off the day was I spotted a bird flying off the edge of the trail. I now know to look for nest as Rafiki taught me. Sure enough I found a nest it was an American Pipit nest. This time we didn’t find eggs but four baby birds. They were tiny and just sat with there mouths open. We checked them out a bit then let them be. Mom wasn’t happy and was scolding us.
On a unnamed ridge I followed the more well used path and we ended up off the CDT in a lie meadow. With a quick look at the map we determined we could continue down to another meadow and make a left back to Piedra Pass. After the pass we had a bitch of a climb back to the divide. From there it wasn’t too bad but we did have to run from a few storms. This made for a great average speed.
Right when we thought we were almost to the pass we came to a steep side hill climb. We both yelled “NOOOOOOO!” Like Luke Skywalker when he found out Darth Vader was his father. I put my head down and attacked it. I crushed it.
We got a hitch from a couple of teachers on holiday. Their car was packed with gear but we made it work. The woman even gave me the front seat.
We met Let It Be at the Rez Hill Bar. Let It Be is a trail angel in Pagosa Springs. We had a PBR then Rafiki and Let It Be went to his place. I waited for Jill. Jill and I had to go to three places before we could eat, the first two were packed and the third was not great but we finally got to eat. It was great to see her even though it was quick.
She dropped me off at Let It Be’s place and I did logistics the rest of the night.
Scatman
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Get out there!
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