Mile 356.2 – 365.6
There is a bit of lore, it seems, around the San Juan range. Maybe it comes from the CDT where it is common for hikers to encounter snow here earlier in the season. Or maybe because it contains the longest stretch of above treeline hiking on the CT. That, combined with a suboptimal weather report probably contributed to the alarming number of people in town warning us against setting out this morning.
We joked that if we listened to every such warning that we’ve received, we’d still be on the AT somewhere in New York probably. Still, we diligently checked the weather ourselves and concluded it would not be a significant factor in our plans.
Once again the volunteer shuttle was amazing as they drove us 30 minutes back up to the trail where we were picked up the day before. We just had a short hike planned to go as far up as possible while still able to find some shelter for camping. We’re planning a long day tomorrow to cross through as much of the exposed section as possible.
For today however, we appreciated the rest. If this were a longer hike, we would definitely be considering a zero about now as we are both feeling some accumulated fatigue from 20 consecutive days of hiking. But, with our final planned resupply complete, we have enough supplies to finish the trail and we’re committed to continuing through to Durango.
RocketWalk 