Hiking With Gadget Girl

Last night was the coldest temperature so far on the trail. Low 30's and I was wishing for my down jacket. Since we were meeting up with Dave for a resupply and a zero day, I kept my long underwear on with my wind jacket on top, plus my down beanie. I was happy that I had my fleece gloves with me. I was warm as long as I kept moving.

Last evening another hiker camping across the creek asked me if I knew what bear poop looked like. I said yes and described it for him. He still seemed pretty leery about the animal scat in his campsite so I volunteered to go have a look for him. It wasn't bear scat, but my oh my, it was huge half dollar size round balls and there was a lot of it. It definitely wasn't deer, elk, or bear, so that left moose. We soon discovered that we had the same poop around our campsite too. I've never seen moose scat so I'll have to look it up when we get internet access.

We had a lovely long five mile downhill and soon reached the sunshine. Stripped off all the warm clothing and back into regular hiking garb. Continuing on, we entered a swath of aspen trees and I saw a coyote running for the trees. A nice big healthy one.

We decided that we have taken enough pictures of mushrooms so we switched to taking pictures of flowers.

We soon exited the Lost Creek Wilderness for good and crossed over Rock Creek. Stopped for a bite to eat to gather energy for the next long uphill. At this point, mountain bikers are allowed to ride from Rock Creek to Hwy 285, 6.5 miles one way. Pretty soon we below the 10,000 ft level and the sun started beating down on us. Up went the umbrella again (what a life saver that thing is) and we trudged upward. We passed a sign that said, "Durango 435 miles".

The trail led us through a huge cow pasture, complete with cattle.

The wind was blowing pretty hard at this point and I was forced to collapse the umbrella, lest the wind do it for me. We finally reached the top at 10,022 feet and my what a view of South Park. Gazing across the valley, we gawked at what is coming up for us after our zero day. It's going to be a doozy.

Meanwhile, a familiar mountain biker stopped to say hello and it was my husband Dave on his e-bike. He rode to Rock Creek and back while we continued downhill to the trailhead. The last few miles just before a break seem to take forever. Passed numerous day hikers out for a vigorous stroll and we entered a huge forest of aspen trees. I don't think I will get tired of seeing the white trunks and flittering leaves. So beautiful.

After Dave returned from his ride, we drove to Fairplay where the motorhome is at an RV Park. We went out to dinner at Millonzi's Restaurant and wow, the food is great. Tomorrow is our first zero day and we will be busy with the usual stuff, resupplying, and eating real food. I especially need to work on adding more calories to my lunches and snacks. The pack will be heavier, but I'll be happier

Note: If you are interested in seeing more pictures of this day, click here.