It sure was nice sleeping in a warm house, even if I was still on my sleeping pad on the floor. We wanted to hit the trail early because today we would be climbing Mt. Elbert, the tallest peak in Colorado and the second tallest in the lower 48.
Even though it was a Monday, the trail was crowded. Early in the morning we passed some fellow thru hikers as they were getting ready to start hiking. As we got farther from town we saw more and more day hikers.
We were the only people with overnight packs but we still managed to beat everyone to the top. (With the exception of a couple trail runners.)
On the way up the wind was nearly unbearable. It was hard to keep my hat on and nearly impossible to keep my hood up. Eventually, after almost 5000 feet of climbing from town, we reached the summit.
It’s not a terribly difficult summit, beyond the elevation. The trail was well built and there aren’t any technical parts.
There are also two trails up to the summit. This let us go up and over the mountain, cutting off a few miles of the CDT.
Our next goal was to get as close as possible to Leadville. We have a free place to stay there from a woman we met on the trail a week or so ago.
For most of the day, we could see the town, but we won’t make it to town until tomorrow. It’ll be 10 miles to the pass where we hitch into town.
After nearly 10,000 feet of climbing, we finally made it to camp at a lake. I could see a few fish jumping so I grabbed my rod and caught my first fish of the trail!
It’s not the biggest fish, but at least I didn’t carry this rod for nothing.
Just 10 more miles in the morning and I can get a big breakfast!