Continental Divide Trail – Day 75
August 6, 2023
Miles Today/ Total: 25.5 / 1,279.6
It rained off and on throughout the night. When I woke up this morning I could see lightning and hear thunder. I checked the weather forecast and it was showing rain until 8:00am. I rolled over and went back to sleep. It did rain pretty hard for the next hour or so.
The rain stopped about 6:00 and I slowly got around and got ready. The meadow I camped in was wet and the ground was a little spongy when I got out of the tent. I wiped everything down and packed up.
The trail continued through the trees along the ridge line for about 5 miles to Buffalo Pass. The trail then entered the Mount Zirkel Wilderness and started a lot of small ups and downs as the trail crossed ridge after ridge.
This went on for the rest of the morning and 1/2 the afternoon. I finally reached a ridge and passed by Lost Ranger Peak and the trail started a long descent toward North Lake. The trail went through a burned area and into a pine forest with a tremendous amount of blow downs and pine beetle kill.
I pushed through this area to the North Lake Access Point and found a campsite near the trailhead. I was the only one there and set up my tent, cooked dinner, and crawled inside as it was getting dark.
