I felt very low in town and was dreading going back to the trail. If we had five more days like the ones we had just gone through, I would have quit the trail and gone home. I was struggling to stay motivated about completing this trail that was making me miserable. Why was I spending time and money to do this? I reached out for some advice and was met with massive amounts of support from everyone I knew. The thing that really changed my attitude was when someone told me I was tougher than this trail, even though it may have slipped my mind. And he was right. Though the San Juans may have broken me, they made me stronger. And going through the difficult times makes the good times much more appreciated. I hitched out of town with my friends and we hit the trail again that evening. I was paranoid about rain clouds but there were none in sight and we hiked into the evening as the sun set behind the ridge.
We goofed around and made silly trail jokes and suddenly, small tears began to drip down my cheeks. For the first time in the past week, I was crying because of how happy I was. This is what I'm supposed to be doing. I just forgot that for a day. We set up camp in a little nook hidden from the wind, talked about books, and drifted off to sleep. I woke up the next morning to the sun cooking the inside of my tent. I knew it was going to be a good day. We got moving earlier than normal and came around a ridge to find a group of people shouting at us from afar. Sometimes it sounded like "help!" And sometimes "hello." We hoped they were all right and tried to see what was going on as we hiked closer to them. Luckily, they were just an over excited church group who was exploring the mountains for a few days. We hiked down into valleys and then back up to saddles all morning. The up and downs were difficult but the scenery was amazing and the trail was well maintained. We ran into a trail crew and thanked them for their hard work in ensuring the trail is pleasant. After the trail crew, came the many Colorado trail hikers heading southbound. We took many pit stops to talk trail and ask about what was coming next. The afternoon was a long gradual descent into a river valley so we moved fast and got a lot of miles done. We also finally had a day with no rain! It felt like a miracle when the clouds didn't stack up and turn dark at their usual hour. After a long day, we gave in to our exhaustion and set up camp. I woke up in the middle of the night and saw the milky way striped across the dark sky. I snuggled back into my sleeping bag and fell asleep, content.
We got a late start the next morning and enjoyed talking to the people we passed. They were from all walks of life. Older women section hiking the Colorado trail, a young dad and his sons on a fishing trip, a couple who had been everywhere in the US on horseback. Nice people were everywhere. We passed an older gentleman who said his name was Skeeter. He was out for a fishing trip and told us to hike up to his car and grab a beer or soda from the cooler in the trunk. It was already a hot morning so we relished the cold beverages and left him with a thank you note. A bit down trail, Beaute and I were walking next to a pack of cows that seemed to be leading us down the trail. Finally they turned off the trail and headed towards the forest, away from us. In an instant, a huge cloud of dust rose from the herd as they turned and stampede towards us. About 50 cows were headed our way, and fast! I froze but Beaute pushed me off trail and into the closest group of trees. As we ran to hide, the cows veered off and began to run in the other direction down the trail. A young border collie was the culprit and her owner apologized for starting a stampede. We almost fell on the ground laughing so hard.
It was a fabulously sunny day at low elevation, so we were happy to be hiking. We ran into some Colorado trail hikers who had hiked the Appalachian trail with a few of the guys that I had hiked with in New Zealand, further proving how small the hiking community is. We made it pretty far before finding a perfectly flat, pine needle floored campsite and calling it a day. I woke up early the next morning as the sun peaked over the ridge. I climbed out of my tent for a better view and grabbed my camera as I dashed back to the trail. After a few pictures, I tried to sneak back into camp without waking anyone else up. Unfortunately, that didn't work and we all began to pack up and get moving. The morning was spectacularly sunny and warm. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood. Water was unusually scarce for this section but we managed to get as much info from the CT hikers as we could.
We ended up hiking for over 14 hours that day and we're completely drained by the time we got to camp, 32 miles later. We had the promise of town the next morning so our aching muscles could be soothed with thoughts of cheeseburgers. We woke up with the sun the next morning and Beaute and I chatted and dodged mountain bikes the whole way into town. Feeling incredibly more positive and motivated to get through this! Find your passion, do it every day. Mile marker 1099
