Continental Divide Trail – Day 64

July 26, 2023
Miles Today/ Total: 19.1 / 1092.4

The bed at the motel wasn’t the most comfortable, but I did sleep in until about 6:00am. I took another shower, got dressed, and packed up my backpack before heading down to breakfast.

I had some cereal, yogurt, and a waffle washed down with coffee. I went back upstairs and grabbed my backpack and headed out.

The trail followed a road out of town to the Ptarmigan Mountain Trailhead. When I arrived at the trailhead there was a large group of about 60 high school aged kids waiting to start a run up to Ptarmigan Peak.

They were still organizing so I started up the trail. It wasn’t long before they reached me and I stepped off the trail to let them pass. I talked to the organizer and it was a altitude camp for high school cross country athletes.

After they passed I continued up the trail. It was steep at the beginning, became more gradual in the middle, and became steep again at the end. I was getting close to the end of the trail when the kids started coming back down. I know they were just trying to be supportive, but their comments of “Good Job” and “Almost There” just made me feel old. In all fairness I was over 3 times their age.

The Silverthorne alternate does not summit Ptarmigan Peak, but cuts off and heads around the mountain to Ptarmigan Pass. Crossing the Pass the trail drops down into the valley and begins to follow the South Fork Trail towards Bobtail Mine.

This trail climbs out of the canyon and crosses several ridge lines in the high mountains before finally beginning a descent to Bobtail Mine. Descending the valley I saw 4 Moose and was able to get a good picture of a pair of cows.

I reached the mine and found a campsite on a 4×4 road just past it. I set up camp, cooked dinner, and crawled in my tent to update my blogs and get some rest. A really tough day with a lot of ascents and descents, but I’m feeling stronger every day.