6/6 We bid goodbye to the beautiful tree cathedral, and crossed Rio Vallecito on a downed log. The day was uneventful, though far from unenjoyable. We hiked through aspen and fir and spruce and pine, emerald green grass and rainbows of wildflowers blooming everywhere. We stepped out of the way for about a dozen bicycles, …
6/5 A great night’s sleep with the sound of running water, and then we were working our way squishy trail again. We followed Canjilon Creek upwards for awhile, as it chuckled and burbled down toward the lake behind us. The top of the climb was a big spread of meadows, wet and muddy and sprouting …
6/4 Our little fir den stayed dark, shaded on all sides. I slept, or at least dozed, until 7:00, when the coffee was served and I got to work catching up my journal, the thing I was most looking forward to about today. That indulgence stretched until noon, and the luxury cannot be overstated. 7 …
6/3 It was a hard-starting kind of morning- for reasons unknown I’d lain awake most of the night, despite being utterly exhausted. Just the way it is sometimes. The day still arrives, the miles still need hiked. Dropping off the mesa through pretty sandstone blocks and delicious vanilla-scented pines brought us to a highway crossing …
6/2 Our leftover little climb was perfect to start the morning with, up through pines and sandstone, and from there we dropped down the back side of the ridge. I listened to several Outside Online podcasts, about grit and choice and what is hard core, and when the trail veered from the road and then …
Continue reading Day 46: A Real River and it’s Magical Canyon
6/1 Everything was soaked this morning. Sleeping bag, tent, all the gear. A thick mist floated through the trees from the lake. What great sleep! Finally cold enough the 10 degree bag didn’t feel like a sauna. Our first half mile past camp was a jumbled maze of blowdowns, made all the more exciting by …
5/31 I love this hotel. At 7:00 I went up the street to the circle K, where the coffee was surprisingly techy and not bad: a grind-and-perk-on-demand machine. The packing process was painful, every piece of gear strewn on every surface. That, and 8 1/2 days of food was past the limit of the food …
5/30 First light found us packing and drinking coffee, eager for town and its siren promise of breakfast burritos at a cafe. Our camp proved well chosen, as desolate, torn desert connected our last trees to the highway. The highway was quiet this holiday Sunday morning, and we planned our next few sections as …
5/29 We slept in, or slept in as best one can when on a schedule with the early light. 6:30 I cajoled for coffee, and Prana obliged. I spent hours patching up journal entries where I’d fallen asleep midway through, or only made haphazard notes because I was too exhausted to form sentences. The shade …
5/28 The protection circle must have worked, because we both slept great with no bad dreams. We traced our way up a few levels onto the sandstone mesa sides, flowers jeweling the way. An hour and a half in, still nice and early, we found Chimney standing in front of two coolers. “One is snacks, …
muddy shoe memoirs 