After our third night in Steamboat, leaving is hard. Luckily we had prearranged a ride with a local that picked up the other guys. We enjoyed one last breakfast and overstayed our checkout time a little bit before finally making it back to the trail.
Our ride was nice enough to drop my off separately from everyone else since I had hike 3.5 miles further the other day. This gave me a good head start and I had most of the day to myself.
The trail was almost all uphill today and despite that, wasn’t too tough. It was a very gradual uphill with lots of flat and downhill sections. It’s our last real climb in Colorado.
I met a few day hikers today that had no idea about the trail. I also met a couple guys training for a 100 mile race. I gave them a little advice and they sprayed me with some bug spray. The mosquitoes were terrible.
After about 20 miles I decided to stop at a campsite along a cliff just beyond a lake. The views are often and there’s even a little cell phone service.
It’s hard leaving town, but views like this from my tent make it easier to deal with. Tomorrow might be my last day in Colorado. Pretty crazy.