What happened? I forgot to write these up. A quick recap. Began a bit slow. The three days of rain from leg 1 disappeared much to my relief. Hiked with a few Colorado Trail SoBo's until they out paced me. A couple of fellows from the Mid-West and I hiked around the turn around point south of Monarch Pass. Monarch Pass store was a great place to hangout but not much in the way of grub stop. The breakfast burrito is killer filling. We pushed up clearing around Dick's Mountain(?) and dropping down. A mile outside of Monarch Lodge I camped, spent the day at the lodge, then the night at the Butterfly House Hostel which was just getting on their feet.
A couple of days later I tackled Segment 13. 13 is a good number for me. This section required a monstrous climb in the morning with a haul to push over Yale Saddle by 3pm's infamous weather clock. I made it but, a couple of kids I met the night before didn't. They retreated back to the treeline 1 1/2 miles below the saddle and wait out the daily weather. By day's end after 18 miles , exhausted for being over 12,000 feet altitude for 15 odd miles,I crashed in the woods. Had I gone 1/4 mile farther, I'd had a beautiful over look of a spreading valley. That was the only day close to 20 miles.
The next two days constituted massive climbs and descents. Not wearing my glasses gave me the advantage on the down hill. I hate old eyes. My glasses have the readers in the down looking area. Every time I got to the bottom I look up, when I got to the top I looked down, at the passes I looked around. Each spot amazing. The passes though, windy. I didn't stay long.
Coming off the last pass into Twin Lakes, a bit of a heart break. This trail contained amazing views. I'll memory hike and cyber-hike Segment 13 for the rest of my days.
The Collegiate Loop is a good quick 160 mile, 14 day, easy enough, thru-hike. I do recommend hiking the east side first to adjust to the altitude, as most of it is above 10,000 feet, and get into trail shape. Resupply vis mail drops works while I would not recommend hitching into towns as this eats up trail time.
I took 3 days to return home. Washed up at a hostel in Leadville. Drove into Denver to see the Capitol. The riots earlier last year left a horrible mark on that part of Denver, a sad shame on our society. Drove out to Dinosaur National Monument, staying the night under the stars.
I am grateful for the hike last year to stretch my legs and to see part of the country I haven't seen before. As the world emerges from the cloud of Covid, I look forward to a new normal of cooperation and businesses pivoting to meet everyone's need.
Hike On, Hike Wise
