Continental Divide Trail – Day 59

July 21, 2023
Miles Today/ Total: 19.7 / 1023.7

It started raining about 10:20 last night and I hit up and closed up my tent. It didn’t rain very long, but tried again around midnight. This time I could see lightning flashes in the distance, but they never got very close.

It was cold this morning and I didn’t want to get out of my bed. I was camped near the trail to Mt. Massive, one of Colorado’s 14ers, and there was a lot of foot traffic before daylight as people headed up the mountain.

I finally got up and around and was on the trail by 6:15. The trail started the day with a gradual ascent up to a ridge and then g do own the opposite side. This was repeated many times today as the trail made its way around Mt. Massive and headed toward Turquoise Lake. The trail descended to cross the inflow creeks to Turquoise Lake and then entered the Holy Cross Wilderness as it worked it’s way around Galena Mountain past several lakes and through some rocky slopes with great views.

Leaving the Wilderness it followed the west Tennessee Creek valley. The trail descended through pine forest and across several streams until reaching my campsite for the night on the North Fork West Tennessee Creek.

I set up camp, cooked dinner, and crawled into my tent for the night. I spent some time updating blogs and then settled in for another good nights rest.