7/24/2012 Section 6 Colorado Trail - Hiking in the Rain, I'm Hiking in the Rain

Once again, I headed into the mountains without looking at my Colorado Trail Handbook and trying to find the Colorado Trail with my GPS.  However, the topo map data is from 1984 geological survey so the Colorado Trail was nowhere near where it had been.  Finally about 1pm, I parked my Impreza WRX on the eastern end of Tiger Road, miles after it turned into a dirt road.  I tried to park as close as I could to where the topo map said the Colorado Trail crossed the road.

I finally found two men walking down the road.  They had been fishing and I felt like God was telling me to give them a chance and ask them if they knew where the Colorado Trail was.  Neither did but one of them mentioned that there were people walking on a trail parallel to the road up a hundred feet north.  I cut across the forest and quickly found the trail.  That was great.

I hiked maybe a half mile and the Colorado Trail CROSSED the road the men had been walking on.  I guess they just hadn't seen the signs or hadn't been fishing that far.  Once I got across the road, the CT started gaining elevation.  I ran into two backpackers and asked them how close I was to Georgia Pass.  They said about 4 miles but it was uphill the entire way.  That made sense since I had hiked to Georgia Pass from the Kenosha Pass last month.  So I headed off.  It wasn't too steep because it had lots of switchbacks but I was still huffing and puffing.

As I got close to the pass, there were some storm cloud a few miles away and I had heard thunder earlier in the hike.  I quickly tried to get to the point I had reached in June so I could turn around and get back under the tree line.  I made it fine about 4pm but I started noticing that I wasn't feeling well on the return trip.  My back was sore and my stomach was bothering me.  I noticed a certain dizziness.  I asked the Lord's help and kept pushing through.

It kept threatening to rain for an hour or two but finally started raining enough that my shorts were getting very wet.  I had only brought a rain jacket but no rain pants.  It wasn't very cold so I knew I would be fine.  The ground was slippery so I was glad I was using trekking poles.  They have saved me from a LOT of falls in the past.

About 6:45pm, I got to Tiger Road and decided to take the road back to my car as I didn't want to miss it.  Pretty close to 7pm, I found my car.  I had covered it with a car cover.  A couple people had recommended not taking a 2012 Subaru Impreza WRX into the forest and leaving it unattended so I decided to cover it when I was hiking.  It was wet so I put it in the trunk and dried it out when I got back home.  I think I knocked out another 5 miles of Section 6.  With 12.3 in June and about 5 this weekend, I'm about half way.  The rest will be on very level ground so it should be pretty easy.

Crazy rabbit (and more) on the Colorado Trail (continued)

I scared the rabbit away again.  About 15 minutes later, I'm not kidding, the rabbit jumped onto the corner of the tarp just above my head.  I thought rabbits were these little scared animals who ran from everything.

Finally about 4:30am, since I couldn't sleep, I decided to wake up and eat some breakfast.  I aired out my sleeping bag, brushed my teeth, etc.  Once I packed up everything inside, I got out of my tent a little after 5am.  The sky was just starting to turn blue but it was still pretty dark.  As I was pulling up the tent pegs, I noticed this "large animal" in the meadow about 50 feet away from my tent.  In the twilight, it kind of looked like a cow.  I hadn't seen cow patties on this part of Segment 6 like I had during the first 5 miles but it wasn't completely crazy to see a cow while backpacking.  I packed away my tent, then put on my fanny pack and RikSak.

As I started to exit the meadow, going around the 'cow', I started to realize that this animal was bigger than a cow.  I was thinking, "what is a horse doing here?"  Now that would be unusual!  The weirdest thing, the "large animal" started walking over to me, kind of like a horse might.  But when it got about 15 feet away from me, I noticed that this wasn't a horse, this was a MOOSE!!  In an instant, I remembered that males sometimes charge people.  This one didn't have big antlers, but I didn't have any desire to touch a moose.  I remembered rounding up cattle at my parent's house in Missouri, waving our arms to keep them from coming our way so I started waving my arms with my trekking poles.  It worked and the moose ran back about 35-40 feet.  I quickly moved toward the trail and when I looked back, the moose was still following me.  I swung around and waved my arms.  This time, it stopped and didn't follow after I made it up onto the trail.  I was too startled to take a picture and it probably wouldn't have turned out any way.  I've since looked through pictures of moose and elk to make sure I wasn't mistaken.  It definitely had the weird shaped body of a moose.  Definitely the most exciting backpacking trip I've ever had!

I hiked the remaining 7 to 7 1/2 miles and got to my car by 8:15am.

Segment 6 Colorado Trail - crazy night

Taking a late lunch break at work.  This past Saturday, I started back on the Colorado Trail.  Segment 6 is 32 miles so I thought I'd hike from Kenosha Pass to Georgia Pass, 12.3 miles.  It was a very gradual climb, probably one of my most enjoyable trips.  I love snow-capped mountains.

Approaching Georgia Pass

I hiked 6 miles in 2 hours with ease and was very surprised.  Hiking 7 miles in Bryce Canyon National Park seemed to take forever.  The altitude was a little lower at Bryce.  I still haven't figured out the difference.

View from Georgia Pass

 I got to Georgia Pass at 11,598 feet by 5:30pm so I took a few pictures and headed back.

The rest of Segment 6 but I'll have to do that another weekend.

About 8:30pm, about 5 miles back down the trail, I found a little meadow to set up my tent.  Within a couple minutes of setting up my tent and escaping within from the mosquitos attacking me, a little animal came up to the corner of the tent.  I scared it away.

Another view from Georgia Pass

After I had gotten into my sleeping bag and was trying to fall asleep (doesn't happen on many trips but worth a try), I heard some rustling.  Since my tent is actually a tarp with a bug screen sewn onto the bottom, I could see the silhouette of a rabbit.  It was eating the grass in front of my tent then it came up to the bug screen, was looking at it then started to take a nibble.  I scared it off again.  It came back 2-3 more times, even getting on its hind legs to reach the front beak of the tarp and start to nibble on that.

Oh, I have a meeting.  Then the rest of the story...

Eastern 12.3 miles of Section 6 of the Colorado Trail

EveryTrail - Find the best Hiking in Colorado

Arches National Park 5/28/12

I had been to Arches two other times in the last few years so I decided to go to some sections that I hadn't gone to before:  the Landscape Arch in the Devil's Garden and the Delicate Arch.  There were a lot of people hiking, especially college-aged people.

The Devil's Garden has a one mile hike to the Landscape Arch through lots of rock fins.  It reminded me of Garden of the Gods.

Landscape Arch

The Landscape Arch is pretty impressive.  I think it is as long as a football field.  They say large pieces have been falling off it and they expect it will completely fall soon.  Double O Arch was another 1.2 miles and it wasn't that impressive, not worth the climb and hike out there.  One arch on top of another one..

Double O Arch

For the Delicate Arch, I was tired after 4.4 miles so I walked a mile or so roundtrip to the closest 'viewpoint' to see the Delicate Arch across a canyon.  I'll have to walk up to it next trip.

Delicate Arch

Zion National Park 5/27/12

After dropping off my bear proof container at Bryce Canyon visitor center (the biggest reason I needed to carry my bigger backpack (actually an GoLite Daypack)), I headed over to Cedar Breaks National Monument and then onto Zion National Park.

Great weather, not too hot, probably in the low 70's

Great White Throne

The main canyon is very beautiful with huge stone walls on both sides going up hundreds and hundreds of feet.

 I love the contrast between the rust colored rock walls and the green trees.

I drove up to Beaver, UT to stay the night in a Motel 6 to get a better night sleep and a shower.

Grand Mesa 5/25 East of Grand Junction, CO

Denver had a lot of traffic so I was getting close to Grand Junction pretty late so I decided to car camp up on the Grand Mesa.  I stopped at Jumbo Campground.  The camp hosts were very friendly and helped me to a nice tent site even though it was already dark.

I woke up about 5:30am the next morning and left about 6:15.  Took a few pictures in the early morning light.

Capitol Reef National Park 5/26

I drove through Capitol Reef National Park last year but it was about 6am, before anything was open.  It was a little more interesting this year.  They have a rustic farm and orchards, with petting zoo for kids.  There were trails away from the main part of the park but it was raining.  My last two backpacking trips had cold, snow and freezing rain so I skipped it.  I need to try them on my next visit.  Backpacker magazine was pretty impressed when a bunch of them went in the winter.

Cedar Breaks National Monument 5/27/12

Super windy and cold!  Jeanice and I tried to find it a couple years ago and must have drove right back the turn off.  This time I did see the road.  It was really windy.  I had my National Park pass so it didn't cost.  I ran out to the edge, snapped some pictures but couldn't take the cold so I dashed back to my car.

Bryce Canyon, UT backpacking 5/26-27

I went to Bryce Canyon the first time two years ago on my way to Jeanice to help her drive to California.  My father had told me that if I was ever in Utah to make sure I went to Bryce Canyon.  It was as amazing as he promised.  I've gone back annually and this was my third trip.  Both previous trips, I didn't make it past the main section where the tour buses go.  This year I got a back country permit to camp down below the rim.  I parked the car at Yovimpa Point.  I hiked a little over a mile to overnight at Yovimpa Pass where I had designated I would camp.  I had to set up camp within 250 feet of the Yovimpa Campsite sign.  Saturday, May 26th was pretty windy on the hike down but somewhere in the middle of the night, everything went quiet.  Not a sound.  I still got up about 5:30am because I wasn't sleeping too well.  The views from below are different than the rim, for sure.

In order to bring more water (which I didn't end up drinking all of it), I brought a bigger backpack and my Mountain Smith Daylight lumbar pack.  I could have fit everything in the backpack but I needed most of the weight on my hips.  My backpack isn't long enough since it is so lightweight, even though it weighs a LOT more than the RikSak.

I hiked 8.8 miles total to get back up to Rainbow Point, around the corner from Yovimpa Point.  Here are some pictures I took from the viewpoints on the drive back.

Eagle Canyon on San Rafael Swell, UT 5/26/12

On my way to Capitol Reef

Desert backpacking

Foggy Bryce Canyon in 2010

While my housemate holds down the fort this weekend, I'll be heading off to Utah to backpack at Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks.  The lack of water there will push me back to a bigger backpack from GoLite and my Mountain Smith Daylight lumbar pack.  Not much bigger, just enough to fit a 3 liter Camelbak and the larger 1 liter bottles that my Mountain Smith can carry.  This will add at least 5 lbs to my total loaded back weight.  I'll hike less miles because my muscles will get tired and start depending on my titanium repaired backbone sooner.  Bryce Canyon is one of my favorite places.  Zion National Park is amazing too.   I'll let you know how it goes.

Zion in 2011

weight gain seems to be related to salt intake on backpacking trips

I asked forum members at backpackinglight.com what they thought and was asked if I normally didn't have very much salt in my diet but I ate more salt when I hike.  That hit the nail on the head.  I normally avoid salt, especially 'added' salt.  But both trips, I took a bunch of nuts, seeds, nut bars, beef jerky, and PowerAde -- all high in sodium.  It looks like I bloated from the salt and it seems to take about 3-4 days for it to come back to equilibrium.

Water retention while backpacking

This didn't happen to me last year but it seems to have happened on my last two trips.  I gained 4 lbs the first trip and 6 pounds last weekend in 2 days.  I've already lost 4 pounds this week, back down to 226.

New goal for lightweight backpacking

Lunch break, thought I would tell about my new goal with lightweight backpacking.

With each of my last two trips, I gained significant amounts of weight over the weekend.  Two weekends ago, I gained 4 lbs from Friday morning of the day of my hike to Sunday morning, the day after my hike.  I did eat fast food on the way out to hike but I'm pretty sure it wasn't 4 pounds worth.  This weekend, I gained over 6 lbs between Friday morning and Sunday morning.  I did eat out with my daughter Julia on Saturday night some fish and chips with a milkshake.  That didn't seem like 6 more pounds than usual.  The crazy thing is that my weight two weeks ago didn't immediately return to my previous weight.  I was suspecting some kind of water retention due to the stress of backpacking and that my weight would quickly return to by pre-trip weight.

I didn't track what I ate while hiking, which if I used my Weight Watchers point values, I would know how many points I was going over.  Maybe that would explain the weight gain.  I hiked for over 2 hours on Friday and almost 6 hours on Saturday.  The 6 hours on Saturday equals 37 points of activity when I normally get to eat 43 points in a day.  Weight Watchers must have ultralight backpacking in mind, the description for backpacking is "backpacking, without load (hiking)".  I would think 11 pounds of gear and food might count as a little bit of a load.  They don't have an activity for backpacking with a load.  "Hiking, cross-country" was 37 points for 6 hours as well.

I'll track my WW points next trip.  Again, I had leftover food so I guess I can bring even less for an overnighter.

I don't think I'll make any more significant drops in gear's base weight or total weight of everything I carry in my RikSak and lumbar pack.  Where I really need to lose is from my own body.  I did weight 224 on Friday morning and this morning I weighed 230.4, so I'm actually up 6.4 pounds.  My body mass index is 31, which is considered obese.  If I can get back down to 224 quick enough, my BMI will be 30, which is the low end of the obese range.

Losing the extra weight to get to a recommended weight of 147 to 184 pounds would mean that I'm carrying 46.4 less pounds even if I only get down to 184 pounds.  That is the same as losing 4 of my RikSaks and lumbar packs each with all my gear, water and food.  So the new ultralight backpacking push is to keep losing weight from my body.  That will definitely save my knees and lower back.

O2 Rainwear not made for backpacking

O2 Rain Jacket and Pants - I think they are probably great for biking.  Hiking in Colorado was too much for them.  I tore them going off trail to find a place to put my tent, snagged them whenever I went off trail to go potty, and I shredded them when I did slip on the mud.  I'll need to go back to my Sierra Designs shell and REI rain pants, even though they weigh more.  I've taken my heavier jacket and pants on several trips with only small tears in extreme situations.

Fun in the Snow and Mud - Tanner Trail (just south of Canon City CO)

This weekend I chose a trail out of an old copy of Hiking Colorado (1997 version):  Tanner Trail.  The weather was forecasted as rainy and cool.  I figured I better get used to backpacking in less than perfect conditions.  The directions in the book said the trailhead was about 12 miles south of Canon City after I turned onto CR 143.  The book also said the trailhead sign was hard to see with no parking but I could park along the road.  But less than 5 miles was a nice trailhead with big sign and parking lot.  I guess I need to get an updated book.

View at the beginning of the trail

RikSak under my O2 Rain Jacket

It was drizzling when I started hiking.  I put my RikSak backpack underneath my rain jacket as the foam mattress and sleeping bag liner weren't inside a plastic bag (lesson learned).  My sleeping bag and tent were inside plastic bags.  My O2 Rain Jacket also covered my fanny pack.

Land between Pueblo, CO and the mountains

There were lots of cacti, yucca, scrub oak and pinion trees (I don't know if they are called that in Colorado, that is what we called them in New Mexico) at the beginning of the trail.

Yucca starting to flower

The trail was muddy in a few places and almost completely uphill.  That is the reason I like hiking the Colorado Trail segments.  The terrain goes up and down which gives my lungs a rest when I'm going downhill and my knees a rest when I'm going uphill.  If it is uphill the entire trip in, I get pretty winded. Then the return trip is brutal on my knees and the bottoms of my feet.

From the trail toward the Southwest

The clouds started rolling in and it got darker as I went.  I almost waited too long to try to set up my tent as it was getting completely dark.  From where I pitched my tent on the ridge, I could see the lights of Canon City until the clouds rolled in completely.  The picture wouldn't turn out but it was pretty for me.  The rain started turning into freezing rain and ice so I was happy to be in my tent.  I had wondered how my ZPacks Hexamid would do in the rain.  I set up on a mound so the rain would run away from the tent and nothing splashed in.  With the bug screen underneath with the groundcloth on top, the rain would soak into the ground before it got to my ground cloth.  Since it was freezing rain, I don't know how much it would splash.  When I packed everything up in the morning, it was dry underneath the tent.

ZPacks Hexamid Twin with Extended Beak and Bugscreen (Front View)

At the last minute, I hadn't added it to my gear list but I decided to bring my GoLite umbrella that I bought at least 10 years ago.  I didn't really turn out needing it except it was very convenient to put my gear underneath it as I was taking down my tent.  I strapped it onto the top of my fanny pack.

ZPacks Hexamid Twin (Side view)

The Hexamid uses your trekking poles for support.  They worked a lot better than the tree branch I used two weekends ago.  The tarp/tent is pretty easy to put up.  I can lay it on the ground, open the bug screen, toss my gear inside then start putting it up without my gear getting wet.  I usually start with the center front guy line that helps hold up the front pole and then secure the two front corners.  It isn't as easy as tents with the long poles that connect to opposite corners but it weighs over a pound less.  I forgot to put the bottom of the second trekking pole into its sleeve so in the middle of the night when I slid down to one end of the tent and stretched out, the back pole fell over.  I was able to fix it without going outside.  Sorry that the picture is blurry.  It was about 6am so the light wasn't the greatest.

Fog with snow on the trees as I continue to hike west

I really liked the convenience of not having to cook.  I just started eating my food inside my tent and didn't have to fuss with the stove, fuel or cook pot.  I was quickly finished with my meal and ready to start packing up.  I did find out after I bought my PowerAde Zeros that the 1 liter bottles don't fit in the pockets of my Outdoor Products Fanny Pack.  I had to run back into Wal-mart and get 20 oz water bottles.  They fit, but now I was carrying 24 less ounces of water.  I wondered after I bought the water if I would be ok because the trail didn't seem to have water sources.  I decided to drink one of my PowerAdes before I started my hike and hoped the 40oz I was carrying would be enough.  I would drink the other PowerAde when I got back to my car.  I remembered running out of water on Segment 2 of the Colorado Trail, eating snow and hiking for several hours without water back to my car so I thought I would risk it. 

I I also liked the weight savings of the "No Cook Gear List" that I used.  The weight of the 20oz bottles was significantly lighter, almost 25oz if I did my math right.   It was a lot easier to hike uphill and the fanny pack didn't slide down over time.  It stayed snug to my back, which really helps with reducing torque on my lower back.

Snow and fog increased as I gained altitude

As I walked further west toward Tanner Peak, the snow and fog got thicker.  It was just starting to get muddy on the trail as the snow was starting to melt.  I was glad to have my trekking poles with me.  I really like the Black Diamond Z-Poles.  The Hexamid is pitched a lot better with them.  They allow me to include my upper body in the hike.  I can use them to pull myself up while I'm climbing.  They cushion my descent and save my knees.  With the mud, they saved me from falling 10-15 times.  I know I would have gone all the way down without them.  As I hiked through snow covered limbs that were leaning into the trail, I used my poles to push the limbs out of the way but the snow dumped on me several times.

Thick fog and snow near the top

The trail got extremely steep about 1/4 to 1/2 mile from the top.  The mud was extremely slippery.  I would have gone "off trail" if the scrub oaks weren't thick around the trail.  Even with my poles, I couldn't get up.  Summiting peaks has never been that big of a thrill to me and the fog was so thick that I couldn't see anything anyway so I turned around.   On the return trip, the snow was melting fast and the trails were a lot more muddy and slippery.  I had times where the mud was caked onto my shoes.  I was glad to have Gore-Tex now.  It was just above freezing and my feet would have been soaked.

Normally, I put my phone on Airplane Mode to save battery then go to normal mode to check every hour for text messages (I did have service most of the trail) and to see where I was on the map.  I got a text that the daughter (Hannah Luce) of my best friend in college, Ron Luce, had been in a plane accident and was seriously burned.  I quickly emailed and texted Ron to let him know I was praying for his daughter.  I spent most of the remaining hike praying for her and trying NOT to fall down.  Please be praying for her.

Descent finally got back under the clouds and out of the snow

I made it back to my car at 1pm after hiking since 6:20am in the morning.  I have found that I like hiking in the early hours of the day.  In the shoulder season when I'm still encountering snow, the snow is usually harder/firmer in the mornings.  In the summer, the sun isn't quite as hot.  I also don't sleep well while camping so I get up when I first start seeing sunlight.

Even though the tracking didn't get turned back on until about 11am on Saturday morning (I'll have to figure out what I did wrong because it worked perfectly on my last trip), I tried to draw the path I took.  Here is my trail route (augmented by my drawing), thanks to my DeLorme InReach:  

Tanner Trail

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