Miles Hiked 218.9
Elevation 8,904 feet
Miles Hiked Today 15.8
Gena and I woke up about the same time. The morning was clear and cold. I had breakfast, packed up and left about 7:10 AM. Gena was right behind me. Because it was so cold, I had my wool undershirt and puffy down jacket on. As soon as I began hiking, I warmed up and had to remove everything about 20 minutes later. While doing so, Gena passed me.
The morning hike was pretty easy and I put on some quick miles. At 11:30 I started a 2,500 foot climb. I still haven’t adjusted to the altitude here in Colorado, and it’s hard to catch my breath when going up. It took me 2 1/2 hours to summit the mountain at an altitude of 11,903 feet. Ugh!
I thought this was a beautiful view as I descended from the mountain summit.
The rest of the day was a decent to my current campsite. Much to my surprise, Gena was there, so I setup my tent a short distance away. More hikers came in including the Russian and his partner. I was surprised to see them, because I thought they had gone to the Collegiate West trail. But I was also surprised that I was ahead of them. Small wonders!
