July 23rd

My hiking window is running short, so I wanted to do big miles today. Started early, with lots of wet, mucky trail. It was nice to not have to pack up a wet tent, I must say.  Lots of elevation gain today and hit the high point on the CT.

I met two young guys from the UK. Rambo and Owen. They were on vacation from University, so they decided to  hike the CT. THey had never been to the US before and were pretty blown away by the beauty of the Rockies.

Today, I was hoping to get all the way through Segment 23, which meant a 24 mile day, so that tomorrow I could make it in to Silverton, which is my stopping point for the year. Segment 23 hovers right at about 13,000 feet for much of the way.  At about 4:30 (and mile 19) the rain began, with a little thunder, but I still didn't feel like it was threatening.  I've hiked in rain plenty of times, so I just kept moving. I figured I could squeeze in a few more miles. But then the wind picked up and the temps dropped. Wet is one thing, but cold and wet is another thing.  Bad combo. My gloves were soaked and I was getting really cold, so I may be stubborn, but (I don't think) I"m not stupid.  So, I found the first flat spot and threw up my tent.  Peeled off all my wet stuff, put on the dry and burrowed in to my sleeping bag.  It took a long time for me to warm up,  so no doubt it was the right decision.  The rain continued for another few hours with lots of lightning and thunder. I'm not going to lie...I was  a little nervous!!  

This is my moms birthday. July 23rd. Mid-summer .   Sometimes, in situations like this, it seems so far removed from normal life. Somewhere, people are down cooking burgers on the grill and drinking beers, and I'm up on a mountain, freezing my tail off.  It seems like such a different world.