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...
On Friday, September 2nd, I got all the way to Woodland Park and realized I had forgotten my trekking poles. I had to go about 30 miles back home so I decided to just go backpacking the next morning.
On Saturday morning, I drove to Kenosha Pass, CO by way of Denver, since I take Highway 24 often into the mountains.
View from Kenosha Pass
I got on trail about 9:30am, starting from the western end of Segment 5. My plan was to hike Segment 5 and the western end of Segment 4 that I hadn't finished on a previous hike. Segment 5 is fairly flat without a lot of elevation gain or loss. The trail isn't very rocky overall but there are some segments that are rocky. It was an enjoyable hike. I hiked 16 miles on Saturday, which was all of Segment 5 and two miles into Segment 4.
Rock Creek crossing
6oz Cuben Fiber Tarp by Zpacks.com
My 14 pound combination of backpack and lumbar pack performed well. Three things that I want to change are: first, switch out my ultralight weight sleeping pad for an air mattress. I'll start working on a light weight solution but it will probably increase my load total to 15 pounds. That thin pad was too hard to sleep on since I sleep on my side. My hips start to hurt. Once I realized that I couldn't sleep, I decided I wasn't going to hike another 12 miles to finish Segment 4. I would just hike straight back.
Second, I use my cook pot to get water out of the rivers to sterilize with my Steripen UV sterilizer. However, I keep my stove, lighter, wind screen, and pack towel in my cook pot. Each time I got water, I had to take out all of those items. I'll start thinking about a solution but it might be a necessary inconvenience to save weight.
Third, I don't want to hike as far next time. 32 miles was the furthest I've ever gone. I was getting really tired when I had 2 hours or about 4 miles to go. I also started having back problems again within days of getting back home.
I think my 14 pounds of gear, food, water and fuel isn't hurting my back. I did fine on my 9 mile hike to Missouri Lakes. I think it is just the 32 mile distance this weekend. I was pretty exhausted and could feel pain in my right hip and lower back when I had a few hours to go.
