We had a zero day in Leadville at Wild Bills hostel and got all of our chores done with time to relax. It was nice to have a day off after climbing Mt Elbert as the legs were still weary even after only walking a 5 day stretch and climbing one mountain. Wild Bill and Crazy gave the group of us a ride back to Twin Lakes to pickup where we left off, and we picked up pizza on the way to eat at the trail head.
We camped 9 or so miles up the trail and set up a double tarp as a challenge to fit the tourist, dayhiker, cactus and i under it. We set up dayhikers slack line between two trees and cactus and i pulled our tarps over to make more room using no poles. Cactus' cuben fibre tarp and my Andy Milne design sim nylon tarp are similar sizes so work well when pitch them together. It rained during the night but the "double tarp tunnel" (patent pending) kept all 4 of us dry.
The next 3 days were my hardest on trail as I struggled to walk the allotted 20 miles a day - battling fatigue and a small stomach bug. My legs turned to jelly on every climb and at the end of each day I could not walk another step.The trail was in good condition but the thousands of feet of elevation change each day were taking a cumulative toll on my body and spirit. It is hard to soak in the beauty of the landscape - my favorite part of hiking - when your head pushing. The pain and exhaustion almost brought tears to my eyes a couple of times, which is a strange sensation for me, and one i have only had once before when i got lost a couple of years ago route finding in the Seaward Kaikoura mountains back home. I pushed through the fatigue on the third day to no avail and Cactus camped early with me on the last night while the other 4 of our group walked over Kokomo pass before dark. I was relieved to reach Copper Mountain for a late lunch on the final day and decided then that I needed a break from the trail to reset.
Our friend Veggie who we met on the PCT last year lives in Vail, 20 miles to the west of the CDT, and she picked up 4 of us and let us sleep at her house for a couple of days. Unfortunately the 7 members of the "association of elite athletes" have split up temporarily but hopefully we can rejoin in a week or few for a woodwind and kazoo concert. Vail is a popular ski town in the winter and boasts the largest ski area in the USA. It is a lot quieter in the summer and we love the relaxed vibe we get around this place. We had a chance to visit Crazy Mountain brewery as well a slacklining (tightrope walking) and playing vollyball in the park. This has been the perfect place to reset, finish all of our chores and relax.
2 and a bit more weeks of Colorado are left and we are all ready to hit the trail again. 1050 miles down, 11th July.
